NFPA, State Farm Open Wildfire Preparedness Project Awards Application
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and State Farm have launched the project funding awards application period for its sixth national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day on May 4, 2019, which helps communities prepare for and reduce their risk of wildfire damage.
State Farm is providing funding to NFPA for the Preparedness Day event and a portion will be awarded to 150 neighborhood wildfire risk reduction projects being implemented on May 4. Preparedness Day gives people of all ages a chance to plan and participate in a risk reduction or wildfire preparedness activity that makes their community a safer place to live.
During Preparedness Day 2018, more than 500 projects were undertaken in 32 states and the District of Columbia. Of those projects, 150 received funding from State Farm for activities that helped make residents and firefighters safer when wildfires happen.
According to reports, on average, wildfires burn twice as much land area each year 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 claim the lives of 85 people. Wildfires once described by “seasons” are now burning earlier and later in the year across the United States.
“NFPA and State Farm are pleased to be working together again on this, our sixth Preparedness Day campaign,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA vice president of Outreach and Advocacy. “Since our initial launch of Prep Day in 2013, we have watched participation continue to grow. In 2018 we saw devastating wildfires affect communities in California and across the United States, but we are encouraged and inspired by the number of residents who feel empowered to take the necessary action with regard to wildfire safety.”
For more information about Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, funding awards, project ideas and free resources to download, visit wildfireprepday.org. Project applications can be submitted through March 1.
Fire Trends for 2019
ESO, a data and software company serving fire departments, EMS and hospitals, has released the trends it predicts will have the biggest impact on fire departments in 2019. According to ESO, visibility and accessibility to data will continue to be important, mental health and wellness will grow in awareness, response to large-scale events will remain in the spotlight, and budget scrutiny will increase.
“In 2019, fire departments’ usage of data will evolve and play a vital role on both the operational side as well as helping create a narrative for the community,” said Shelley Koegler, vice president of Fire for ESO. “Mental health and overall wellness, in particular cancer and cancer prevention, will gather momentum as topics of discussion in the industry.”
The top ESO fire predictions for 2019 include:
Awareness of mental health and overall wellness: Departments will need to create programs to prepare, educate and respond to mental and physical health needs, including budget consideration, preventative measures, and the potential impact on other resources. From a software perspective, ESO will begin to see functions and features that create reporting and automatic flags to help agencies develop proactive programs for responders.
Large-scale events will place funding challenges and response times in the spotlight: Large-scale events will continue to occur and bring into sharp focus funding challenges, response times, mutual-aid resources, etc. Many large-scale events are regional in nature; however, the response to these types of events tends to be national in scope as departments from around the country send people and equipment to assist. Data will play an increasingly important role to help firefighters improve response planning and objectively provide responses to criticism of managing large-scale fires.
Visibility and accessibility to data: In 2019, the value and importance of data and data insights will increase as departments across the country leverage data to determine long-term impacts of code changes and to help shape implementation of service delivery enhancements. Additionally, data will help fire departments create a narrative that can easily be shared with government officials and citizens.
Budget scrutiny: Budget scrutiny will continue to be an issue in 2019 and budget pressure will ratchet up. According to ESO’s 2018 Fire Trends Report, fire-related calls accounted for 30 percent of all calls while EMS-related calls accounted for about 70 percent of all calls, which will increase scrutiny around investments and budget dollars related to fire. Tracking of dollars to create benchmarks and measure relevant outcomes, including anticipating needs during large-scale events, will improve conversations with city council and local governing bodies.
For more information, visit esosolutions.com. To download the complete 2019 Fire Predictions whitepaper, go to tinyurl.com/FirePredictions.
NVFC Opens Registration for Training Summit
Registration is now open for the fifth annual National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Training Summit, which will take place June 14–15, 2019, in Portland, OR.
The two-day seminar will provide an opportunity to participate in valuable classroom training as well as exchange ideas and best practices with attendees from across the country. The conference is open to all volunteer firefighters, EMS providers, department leadership, and other fire department personnel nationwide. Attendees will be able to select 6 out of 12 breakout sessions to attend, with sessions addressing critical issues in first responder health and safety, recruitment and retention, and fire prevention.
To help more first responders attend, a travel stipend is available for select attendees. Stipends will be awarded on a monthly basis, with deadlines on the first of the month from February–April. The stipend will reimburse up to $600 for any combination of the following: hotel room nights, ground and air transportation, and the event registration fee. Full details and criteria are available on the application form. To be considered eligible for the travel stipend, you or your department must be a current member of the NVFC. Membership options and benefits can be found at www.nvfc.org/BeYourBest.
To register or to learn more about the Summit, visit at nvfc.org/summit.
VFIS Turns 50
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This Month in Fire History
Feb. 2, 1978, Chester, PA—Wade Dump Fire leads to cancer deaths of 20 first responders
Feb. 7, 1904, Baltimore, MD—Great Baltimore Fire destroys more than 1,500 buildings
Feb. 7, 2009, Victoria, Australia—Black Saturday brushfires kill 170
Feb. 18, 1969, Crete, NE—Anhydrous ammonia train derailment kills 9
Feb. 14, 1995, Pittsburgh, PA—Bricelyn Street house fire kills 3 firefighters
Feb. 14, 2000, Houston, TX—McDonald's restaurant fire kills 2 firefighters
Feb. 20, 2003, West Warwick, RI—Station Nightclub fire kills 100
Feb. 23, 1991, Philadelphia, PA—One Meridian Plaza high-rise fire kills 3 firefighters
Feb. 24, 1989, Orange County, FL—Lake Buena Vista gift shop fire kills 2 firefighters
Courtesy NFPA
