The latest report from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) details the U.S. fire loss statistics from 2006. In sum, there were 1,642,500 fires, an increase of 2.5% from 2005. There were 278,000 fires in vehicles. Outside property fires increased by 4.1% to 840,500. Every 19 seconds, a fire department responded to a fire somewhere in the nation.
A fire occurs in a structure once every 60 seconds; a residential fire occurs every 78 seconds. Fires in vehicles occur at a rate of one every 113 seconds. There is an outside property fire every 38 seconds. Nationwide, there was a fire death every 62 minutes and a civilian fire injury every 32 minutes.
Preliminary results of the Firehouse.com poll in which we asked whether you think the low-pressure alarm on your self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) should activate when 50% of your air is used or remain at the current alarm threshold: 22% of the respondents indicate that it should alarm at 50%, while 78% say it should remain where the current alarm threshold is located.
In this issue, we are proud to publish the latest installment of the Volunteer Run Survey. The survey begins on page 52. This has always been and continues to be one of our most popular features in Firehouse®. The survey is accompanied two important articles about volunteer recruitment — "Help Wanted" and "Confessions of a Quitter."
Wildfires continue to burn across many states, as predicted earlier in the fire season. As of Aug. 15, 2007, there were 58 large fires burning in 16 states. Idaho and Montana led with 19 and 15 fires each, totaling 1,026,819 acres. Other states battling wildfires were Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. On a scale of 1 to 5, the National Preparedness Level was 5. It has since been reduced to Level 3. Year to date, as of Sept. 13, there were 69,636 fires, compared to last year, when there were 81,881 fires. Acres burned this year compared to last year were 7,539,360 versus 8,693,994. The photo on this page of the smoke rising from a wildland incident taken from space shows the "Zaca Fire" in California's Los Padres National Forest. The fire burned over 240,000 acres in eight weeks. Now California is approaching the season of the Santa Ana winds. We'll see what happens.
In January 2006, during a fire in the Bronx, NY, six firefighters were trapped and forced to jump from a fourth-floor window. Two were killed and four critically injured. Governor Eliot Spitzer recently signed a bill that goes into effect 60 days after signing requiring New York fire departments to provide safety ropes and component system. This bill requires any employer who employs a firefighter to provide safety ropes and system components for use by such firefighter; requires the employer to routinely inspect such safety ropes and system components; it exempts employers in the City of New York. To see the law, go to http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A07785.
