NASA Technology May Help Protect Wildland Firefighters
By Kathy Barnstorff, NASA Langley Research Center
NASA research into flexible, high-temperature space materials may someday improve personal fire shelter systems and help wildland firefighters better survive dangerous wildfires.
NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service to see if flexible thermal protection system technology being developed for space entry vehicles could also work to protect firefighters caught in a raging forest fire.
Two NASA Langley researchers, Anthony Calomino and Mary Beth Wusk, reached out to the Forest Service following the tragic loss of 19 firefighters in the Yarnell Hill fire.
“I was watching the news after the loss of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, and I thought, ‘What if the firefighters had been cloaked in some of the spacecraft heat shield materials we had spent years developing?’” Wusk said.
Wusk and Calomino reached out to the Forest Service’s National Technology and Development Center (T&D) in Missoula, MT, and Fire Shelter Project leads Anthony Petrilli and Mary Ann Davies. The NASA researchers found that the T&D team was already reviewing the fire shelter design and new materials technology with the goal of producing an improved shelter by 2018.
NASA and the T&D team formed the Convective Heating for Improvement for Emergency Fire Shelters (CHIEFS) team. CHIEFS team lead Josh Fody and student interns at NASA Langley immediately began screening candidate materials solutions using a number of test and design methods.
NASA researchers presented preliminary thermal test results to the Forest Service Fire Shelter Project leads. The next step was to design full-sized prototypes, have them manufactured, and test them in a real world environment. T&D will partner with the NASA engineers and the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, to conduct real fire tests in a remote section of Canada’s Northwest Territories. The prototype fire shelters will be instrumented to collect thermal and heat flux data inside and out during the experiments.
The NASA researchers who have seen video of previous tests say it is a unique testing environment. The professionals set a controlled fire in a section of forest that contains the sensor-instrumented shelters, while scientists and engineers monitor the blaze from a safe distance. The test is over quickly as the flames burn through the area where the tents are placed. Data is taken on that configuration and the team moves onto the next possible candidate.
NASA Langley engineers say what they’re testing is their first generation of materials. They expect that what they learn from the full-scale burn tests will lead to another generation of shelter designs with better protection that will improve the safety of wildland firefighters.
Mini-Doc Features Wildland Firefighter/New Mom
Katie Corrigan is a new mom. She is also a wildland firefighter for the National Park Service in Everglades National Park in Florida. Located adjacent to the Miami metro area and its 6 million people, Everglades National Park encompasses 1.5 million acres.
Corrigan is featured in Shell Rotella’s “Unsung: A Life in the Day of Hard Work” series. In this mini documentary, Corrigan works with her team to manage a 10,000-acre prescribed burn with the goal of stimulating natural plant growth and reducing the risk of a larger, uncontrollable burn. She discusses how she is excited as a new mom to share what she does with her new baby daughter: “I hope she realizes someday that hard work pays off,” she says.
To watch the entire video, go to: http://www.firehouse.com/video/12094501/fire-video-shell-honors-wildland-firefighter-mother.
TargetSolutions Presents 2015 Training Officer Recognition Award
TargetSolutions and the IAFC’s Volunteer & Combination Officers Section have named Brad Pinsky of the Manlius, NY, Fire Department as the 2015 Training Officer Recognition Award winner.
“This is a great honor,” said Pinsky, who serves as the department’s assistant chief and was nominated by Manlius’ Mayor Paul Whorrall.
The Training Officer Recognition Award acknowledges outstanding performance as a training officer, which Pinsky has displayed for years working as Manlius’ assistant chief and municipal training officer. Under Pinsky’s guidance, the department changed the volunteer staff’s training requirements. In the past, volunteers needed 35 hours to stay current. Now, the department’s 70 volunteer firefighters need 50 hours—a 43 percent increase—and to complete a mandatory proficiency test.
“Since 2010, Chief Pinsky has written hundreds of lesson plans and has taught and led at least 50 drills each year,” said Whorrall. “He organizes two live fire events each year for the full department. Approximately 25 firefighters attend each Tuesday night drill and his lesson plans are used throughout the week to instruct the remainder of the volunteer and career staff.”
TargetSolutions’ Executive Vice President Thom Woodward said Pinsky has made a tremendous impact on the training practices and procedures of his department and said it is an honor to recognize him jointly with the VCOS.
NFFF Announces New Award at Firehouse Expo
During the opening ceremonies of Firehouse Expo, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) introduced The Arthur J. Glatfelter Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Contributions to Support and Further the Mission of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
“Art was a true gentleman who cared deeply about the well-being of all fire service members, and he guided the Foundation’s efforts to serve the survivors of the fallen and help prevent future line-of-duty deaths,” said Chief Ronald J. Siarnicki, executive director of the NFFF. “The Board of Directors created this prestigious new award to recognize others who follow Art’s lead and demonstrate extraordinary service to the Foundation.”
Glatfelter, founder of the Glatfelter Insurance Group founded the Volunteer Firemen's Insurance Services (VFIS) in 1969 to fill a need for insurance coverage for the nation's fire and emergency services. Today, VFIS is the world's leading provider of insurance coverage as well as education and training programs for the emergency services community.
Glatfelter was instrumental in establishing and building the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in 1981, and he served on the Board of Directors of the NFFF from 1995 to 2005. He worked with Congressman Curt Weldon to establish the Congressional Fire and Emergency Services caucus, was a founding director of the CFSI, and served on the board of FEMSA.
For more information about the NFFF, visit www.firehero.org.
This Month in Fire History
September 1, 1923, Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan
Earthquake conflagration kills 142,807
September 3, 1991, Hamlet, NC
Chicken processing plant fire kills 25
September 7, 1926, Drumcollogher, Ireland
Movie theater fire kills 50
September 8, 1934
SS Morro Castle fire kills 135 off New Jersey coast
September 11, 2001, New York, NY
World Trade Center attacks kill 2,666
September 13, 1970, Los Angeles, CA
Ponet Square Hotel fire kills 19
September 17, 1872
First sprinkler system patented by P.W. Pratt
September 20, 1929, Detroit, MI
Study Club fire kills 22
September 25, 2003, Nashville, TN
Nursing home fire kills 14
September 26, 1936, Bandon, OR
Conflagration destroys 386 buildings and kills 13
Courtesy of NFPA
