The total cost of fire in the United States is a combination of the losses caused by fire and the money spent on fire prevention, protection, and mitigation to prevent worse losses.
Specifically, the facility failed to adequately train workers on respirator selection, use, storage, and maintenance; did not supply positive-pressure filtered air to all work cabs; did not label containers of coke-contaminated clothing; allowed food and beverages to be consumed in an area with visible accumulations of coke-oven emissions; and more, according to investigators.
In its fifteenth OSHA inspection since 1974, the company was charged with nine willful, four repeat, and 17 serious violations, including hazards of confined space entry and combustible dust.
FEMA's United States Fire Administration (USFA) issued a special report today examining the characteristics of grill fires on residential properties. The report, titled "Grill Fires on Residential Properties," was developed by USFA's National Fire Data Center and is further evidence of FEMA's commitment to sharing information with fire departments and first responders around the country to help them keep their communities safe.
The stored materials uncovered by inspections included xylene, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, paint wastes, petroleum distillates, flammable liquids, sodium hydroxide, waste aerosols, and broken fluorescent bulbs, among others.
The first study to quantify the effects of crew sizes and arrival times on lifesaving and firefighting operations, it was conducted by NIST with help from fire service organizations.
Bruce Evans, assistant chief of business and support services at the North Las Vegas Fire Department, will receive the James O. Page EMS Achievement Award during the IAFC event in Las Vegas.
"Community Arson Prevention" is the theme this year. The week begins today and continues through Saturday.
Susan P. Baker, considered a pioneer in injury prevention, will receive one of public health's most important honors May 6 at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.
The application period will close May 28. The grants help fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS units with staffing, training, and equipment.
The sixth annual event by New York City's Department of Buildings includes events in each of the five boroughs. Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri and others visited an 11-story building under construction in Brooklyn on Monday.
Whether cancer risk rises becasuse of their exposures to smoke, soot, and other contaminants in the line of duty is the point of the study.
Failing to hear smoke detectors and take quick action is the major reason adults 65 or older are more than twice as likely as any other age group to die in a home fire.
Russell Rees, who heads the Victorian Country Fire Authority, said the agency will undergo "great change" once the commission hands up its recommendations in July, and a new chief should be in place then.
A comprehensive wildfire management strategy will be developed with help from state, regional, local and tribal leaders, the three secretaries -- Tom Vilsack, Ken Salazar, and Janet Napolitano -- announced Wednesday.
"Our inspection found that the blades on this and other saws lacked the guarding designed to prevent just this type of accident," said Diana Cortez, OSHA's area director in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Cited violations against the company include failing to provide safe work practice procedures for hot work in a confined space, failing to prevent cutting operations in the presence of explosive atmospheres, and the lack of procedures for summoning resuce and emergency services.
And in recognition of its 175th anniversary this year, the commercial property insurer is making longstanding clients eligible for a membership credit rate of 20 percent.
A $746,438 grant to the National Fire Protection Association from FEMA backs the national awareness campaign, "Faces of Fire," to communicate fires' impact. NFPA and two allied groups also are developing accreditation programs for home fire sprinkler contractors.
NFPA is joining with SAE International to co-sponsor the event. NFPA published an article recently about the hazards emergency responders may face when responding to electric vehicle accidents, and the association is developing a responder safety training program with a $4.4 million DOE grant.