Workplace Violence Part II

This is Part II of the uncomfortable topic on Workplace Violence Do your incident response plans (e.g. Site Security Plans, Emergency Action Plans, Emergency Response Plans, or other appropriate plans) cover emergency coordination activities? How is the response...

Workplace Violence Part 1

We’re going to begin a multipart discussion on an uncomfortable topic, “Workplace Violence” in today’s post.  Workplace violence can run the gamut of a co-worker or student having a bad day and barricading themselves in an office, to the more horrific events...

Weather Related Emergencies

With the severe weather that has been around, I thought this would be a good time to talk about weather related emergencies, training using tabletop scenarios  prior to an event and the use of Blazemark® pre plans for your facilities. Often times, we hear great...

Preplanning Pays the Best Dividends

One of the points that we keep hearing from clients is, “Preplanning pays the best dividends." It is the least expensive thing that can be done and pays off with the best return on investment. Most companies cannot insure for their R&D efforts, so actively...

Know Before You Go

In Their Own Words: Know Before You Go  Here is an excellent video that talks about the reasons that preplanning is so critical. Listen as Jack Murphy (author of a Fire Engineering article "Concrete Tilt-Up Buildings: What You See on the Outside Is Not What You Get on...

Response to Facilities Equipped With Specialty Suppression Systems

Industrial Fire World Spring 2020 Greg Jakubowski, P.E., CSP, FSFPEINDUSTRIAL FACILITIES often present hazards unique to their field of endeavor. These risks require facilities be equipped with specialized fire suppression or detection systems...

Concerns of Spraying Flammable & Other Sanitizing Agents for COVID-19

Thoughts from Greg Jakubowski (P.E., CSP, FSFPE)I have heard, and have had my own concerns regarding the use of various pressurized sprayers for "disinfecting" emergency vehicles and other confined spaces using materials that are flammable. My take, and you are...

One More Reason To Have a Preplan…

Crews fighting NuStar blaze found locked gates, inactive fire suppression, officials say. Matthias Gafni Oct. 18, 2019 As firefighters descended on the volatile blaze engulfing two giant tanks at a fuel-storage facility in Crockett on Tuesday, they reached the front...

Hydraulic oil fire: Inside the realm of hot work, hydraulics, recovery at Tyson

Full article here. Five weeks after the smoke thinned from a hydraulic oil fire that knocked out operations at the Tyson cattle processing plant near Holcomb, the details of a mysterious flash that ignited the blaze remain hazy. The reconstruction process is underway,...

Guide to taking your fire preplan to the age of Star Trek

Train wreck, working commercial fire, plane crash, terrorist act, active shooter, hazmat or just a plain regional public event like a state fair or concert…how do you communicate pre-incident plans across emergency disciplines, government support agencies and NGO’s?...

Airport Emergency Plan (AEP) Development, Training, Sharing and Execution

Is your airport ready for an emergency?  Airports vary widely in size and complexity; from small general aviation airports, to mid-size regional airports, to large-hub airports.  However, they all have one thing in common, the potential for emergencies.  An airport...

Pre-Incident Planning For Wildfires

We saw west coast units mount record breaking full-scale wildfire responses this past fall.  We saw areas from suburban towns through those characterized as mountainous terrain that are heavily covered in brush and set near National Forests completely engulfed....

Benefits of Pre-incident Plan Drawings

Properly drafted and labeled drawings are a vital piece of a property pre-incident plan.  Drawings can be equally beneficial during both the planning and fire scene operations at properties in the fire company’s response area. During the planning phase, fire officers...

Determine Nursing Home Compliance with Updated Life Safety and Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Four victims have been identified from a fire that destroyed a senior citizens home in West Chester, PA.  All apparently died of smoke inhalation but the case remains under investigations as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Fire was through the roof when...

Mutual Aid and Pre-Incident Planning

So, how have you devised your mutual-aid plans? Are they informal or formal written agreements? Do you participate in a local, regional, or statewide plan? Do you know what is expected of your department, and do your mutual-aid partners know what is expected of them...

Protecting History’s Critical Infrastructure

Every year, on Christmas morning reenactors cross the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey at Washington's Crossing, recreating the historic event of George Washington crossing the Delaware to attack the Hessian troops stationed in Trenton New Jersey.  This...

Pre-incident Planning In The Modern IT World Should Be Off Of The Corporate Network

In high risk, high reward research environments facilities staff, environmental health and safety, and risk managers understand the need for pre-incident plans at several levels. First, nothing can go wrong!  Unlike many other business functions, the R&D and...

Four Problem-Solution Areas For Financing Your Own Risk

What is “financing risk?” Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) take on a lot of risk in search of great reward. While you might be happy to take that risk, that risk often bites you in the rear and someone has to cough up money to pay for it. If this sounds a lot...

Pre-Incident Planning Could Have Saved Millions In Aircraft Destroyed By High Expansion Foam

I got the call early one Labor Day morning, "Can you come into work early? There has been a foam release at one of the hangars and we need some extra manpower." I’m an Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) Captain at a small regional airport in New Jersey. The...

Keys To Protecting Faith Based Organizations From Emergencies

Gone are the days where institutions only had to worry about medical or weather emergencies.  Today we see blatant hostility toward the religious rights of people of faith. This "open season" against religious facilities includes religious houses of worship, childcare...

Trivia Question: BIM is?

Survey says? Nah, not Family Feud, that's a Jeopardy question.  What is... Building Information Modeling? Correct, BIM is both a best practice process and 3D modeling that building designers use to create a project with integrated information to be shared with all...

OWNER’S RESPONSIBILITY FOR FIRE PROTECTION

It's 2pm in the afternoon and you get a call that your main corporate center is on fire with employees trapped on the upper floors.  As a manager, panic starts to kick in as you mentally go through your preparation for this day asking, "Did I do everything I was...

Lessons Learned From Pool Chemical Warehouse Fire

August 4, 1989 just before midnight on a Friday night, a passing police officer notices smoke/fire coming from a large building on Philmont Ave in Lower Moreland, PA. The building was used for storing pool chemicals; and manufacturing/storing hot tubs. Previously, the...

Its About Time To Take Disaster Planning For Events Seriously

How many more times will we need to see an active shooter at an event, a stage fail at a concert or a car go through a large gathered crowd before we start preplanning?  Anywhere a large gathering occurs presents the possibility that an incident may happen that will...

Hurricane Harvey shows municipalities and business need mandated emergency operation plans

Most states have codes that hold elected officials responsible for the protection of their citizens in case of a disaster.

Although sprinkler systems can do much to aid firefighters, crews must still be ready for a major battle

Hotels and condo/apartment buildings of wood-frame (Type 5) construction that are up to four stories tall have sprung up across the country. You can find them in cities, suburban areas and even in rural areas near highway interchanges. Almost universally, these...

FUNDING OPTIONS FOR PREPLANNING FOR FIRE DEPARTMENTS

JOHNSTON, R.I. - For organizations and agencies working to prevent the frequency and severity of fire in their communities, but that also face ongoing budget constraints that can hamper their best efforts, some additional relief may be in sight. FM Global, one of the...

Fire Planning Associates Partners With Hopewell Twp. Fire District and Capital Health Systems at NFPA 2012 Conference

Fire Planning Associates teamed up with the Hopewell Township Fire District (Mercer County, NJ) and Capital Health Systems to present "Pre-Incident Planning During Construction — Case Study of New Hospital Complex" at the 2012 NFPA Conference and Expo in Las Vegas....

NIOSH Recommends Preplanning – How Are You Doing With This?

Numerous NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation Reports Recommend Preplanning - How Are You Doing With This? Even in Large Single Family Dwellings - "Career Engineer Dies and Fire Fighter Injured After Falling Through Floor While Conducting a Primary Proscar Search...
Pre-Incident Planning For Wildfires

Pre-Incident Planning For Wildfires

We saw west coast units mount record breaking full-scale wildfire responses this past fall.  We saw areas from suburban towns through those characterized as mountainous terrain that are heavily covered in brush and set near National Forests completely engulfed....

Benefits of Pre-incident Plan Drawings

Benefits of Pre-incident Plan Drawings

Properly drafted and labeled drawings are a vital piece of a property pre-incident plan.  Drawings can be equally beneficial during both the planning and fire scene operations at properties in the fire company’s response area. During the planning phase, fire officers...

Mutual Aid and Pre-Incident Planning

Mutual Aid and Pre-Incident Planning

So, how have you devised your mutual-aid plans? Are they informal or formal written agreements? Do you participate in a local, regional, or statewide plan? Do you know what is expected of your department, and do your mutual-aid partners know what is expected of them...

Protecting History’s Critical Infrastructure

Protecting History’s Critical Infrastructure

Every year, on Christmas morning reenactors cross the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey at Washington's Crossing, recreating the historic event of George Washington crossing the Delaware to attack the Hessian troops stationed in Trenton New Jersey.  This...