Gov. Gavin Newsom's letter criticized what he described as the company's plans "to reconstitute its board with hedge fund financiers, out-of-state executives and others with little or no experience in California and inadequate expertise in utility operations, regulation and safety."
"Since NFPA and State Farm first partnered together on Preparedness Day, the number of projects has grown tremendously. We are pleased to provide 150 communities with a grant to fund their wildfire risk reduction activities on May 4," said Vickie Hodges, P&C underwriting analyst at State Farm.
Barry Brickey, public education and information officer for the Kingsport (TN) Fire Department and voice of Sparky the Fire Dog®, as the recipient of the 2019 Fire and Life Safety Educator of the Year Award.
The commission proposed a vertical location accuracy metric of plus or minus 3 meters relative to the handset for 80 percent of indoor wireless 911 calls, tentatively concluding that location accuracy metric—within 3 meters above or below the phone—would be sufficiently accurate to identify the caller's floor level in most cases and would be technically feasible under the timeframes established in the Enhanced 911 rules.
Incidents cited in the Safety Spotlight document include the BP Texas City refinery explosion and fire, ConAgra Foods and Kleen Energy natural gas explosions, and the Imperial Sugar combustible dust disaster in Georgia in February 2008. Each example discusses standards or guidelines that were developed following the incident.
Phase 2 of the Inquiry will examine issues that include the high-rise tower’s original design and modifications, fire and safety measures in it at the time of the fire, and where and why the fire began.
"New York prohibits residential burning during the coming high-risk fire season to reduce wildfires and protect people, property, and natural resources. The ban has been extremely effective in reducing the number of wildfires, and we're encouraging New Yorkers to put safety first," New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said March 12.
PG&E told regulators in 2013 that it intended to replace much of the infrastructure on the Caribou-Palermo line, including towers and wires, according to the report. However, the company resubmitted that plan in 2014, 2015, and 2016, postponing the planned work.
Tools for firefighter safety provided for by the bill include safety alerts for managers, a database to track on-the-job injuries and wildland firefighter deaths, and GPS locators for firefighting crews.
"Every single one of the dedicated men and women who serve as fire inspectors are absolutely critical to the department's ability to protect life and property in our city," said First Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. "Simply put, our Bureau of Fire Prevention makes our city safer every single day."
"It is encouraging that the rate of mortality slowed in 2018. However, 18 million trees are an indication that the forests of California are still under significant stress," said Thom Porter, CAL FIRE's director and California's state forester. "The stress of drought, insects, disease, and prolific wildfire will continue to challenge the resilience of the state's forests."
More than half of PG&E's 70,000-square-mile service area is in extreme or elevated fire-threat areas. The plan includes the expansion of PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoff program to include all electric lines that pass through high fire-threat areas, both transmission and distribution.
A fire on Jan. 26 destroyed a partly constructed, 141-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel in the city, with damage estimated at $20 million. Two restaurants in the same strip mall were set afire on Feb. 4 and Feb. 7.
"Through this process, we will prioritize what matters most to our customers and the communities we serve – safety and reliability. We believe that this process will make sure that we have sufficient liquidity to serve our customers and support our operations and obligations," said PG&E Corporation Interim CEO John R. Simon.
"Our new paramedics will bring life-saving medical training to our most serious medical calls, while our newly promoted chiefs, captains, and lieutenants will provide critical leadership at the more than 1.5 million medical emergencies FDNY members respond to," Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said. "Together, these members in their new roles, and every EMT, paramedic, and officer will continue to demonstrate that FDNY is not only the busiest emergency medical service in the world, it's also the best."
A two-alarm fire in a large commercial building downtown did relatively little damage Jan. 24 because the fire was in the attic area and was being held in check by fire sprinklers, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue reported.
Wildfires burn twice as much land area each year, on average, as they did 40 years ago, and the threat continues to increase. In 2018, California saw its deadliest and most destructive fire, the Camp Fire, burn more than 150,000 acres and kill 85 people.
PG&E said this week that it will expand its system-wide Community Wildfire Safety Program, which was implemented following 2017 wildfires as an additional set of precautionary measures intended to further reduce wildfire threats.
Firefighter Christopher J. Roy, 36, died Dec. 9. Seven other career officers from the department have died in December fires in 2011 and 1999.
According to the NFPA, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 800 home fires per year between 2012 and 2016 that started with decorations (excluding Christmas trees), and said fires caused an annual average of two civilian deaths, 34 civilian injuries, and $11 million in direct property damage.