On this episode of Fire Marshal's Corner, Ed Comeau talks with NIST Fire Protection Engineer Dan Madrzykowski about kitchen fire safety and Vision 20/20 Project Manger Jim Crawford about program efforts.
Jim gives an update on the recent activities of the program, including information about the recently-launched Vision 20/20 Fire Prevention Advocacy Toolkit. This resource can help communities justify the impact that fire prevention programs are having in saving lives, property and dollars which is vitally important in this day of severe budget cutbacks, many of which are hitting the fire prevention bureaus. Jim also discusses the new DHS Fire Prevention and Safety Grant that was awarded to Vision 20/20 to continue its activities and fund a new round of community risk reduction projects in Alexandria, VA; Cleveland, OH; Palm Beach County, FL; Rosemount, MN and Washington, DC.
Ed then talks with Dan, who offers a detailed overview of the Vision 20/20 Strategy 4 project that is looking at kitchen fire safety technology. There has been a tremendous amount of activity in this area over the past year involving partnerships between NIST, NFPA Research Foundation, State Farm Insurance and others. Kitchen fires are the leading cause of home fires and cause a tremendous amount of property damage so there is a lot of interest in trying to find methods to reduce, or eliminate, these fires.
Dan gives an overview of various projects that the building and fire research lab at NIST are working on in fire fighter safety and a number of other fields.
