InfoGram 41-08: October 23, 2008

This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

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Freight Terminal Issue

In a recent article at FireEngineering.com, Steven De Lisi discussed the unique dangers of unloading, sorting, and reloading hazardous materials (hazmat) at freight terminals. Totes, drums, and pails containing hazmat intermittently move through American freight terminals raising the possibility for a major incident. His survival tip explains that this risk is an issue for emergency responders, because responders usually focus their attention on more traditional hazmat facilities such as industrial plants and storage warehouses.

From Mr. De Lisi's article, the Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) discerned the reasons why hazardous materials at freight terminals have the potential to disrupt or degrade the critical infrastructures of first responders and their communities:

• The rough handling of containers at these facilities is not uncommon.
• Forklift blades occasionally damage containers.
• Loading dock fires occur sporadically.
• Freight handlers generally have limited training and experience dealing with hazmat.
• Affixing or removing hazmat placards is not standardized among terminals.
• Hazmat placards are not always removed on a timely basis after unloading is accomplished.
• Some terminal employees are unaware of local and state codes that mandate fire department notification when a hazmat release occurs.
• Some emergency departments may be unfamiliar with the hazard class, type of containers, average volume, and frequency of hazmat shipments at the freight terminals in their jurisdiction.

According to Mr. De Lisi, "first responders should definitely be concerned about the freight terminals that may be in their community." Being knowledgeable about the terminals, hazmat presence, and people who work there "can go a long way to ensure that everyone goes home."

Apparatus Standard Revised

New requirements that affect Emergency Services Sector (ESS) purchases of all vehicles used for structural firefighting, mobile water supply, rescue situations, hazardous materials releases, and other incidents not involving wildland firefighting, are included in the next edition of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1901, "Standard for Automotive Apparatus." The requirements are effective for apparatus ordered on or after 1 January 2009.

Apparatus are an essential and costly resource for emergency departments and agencies. FireChief.com recently highlighted some of the requirements that will be introduced in the next 1901 edition. The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) understands that a number of the new requirements intend to increase responder and vehicle safety. The following is a partial list of the new requirements to assist ESS leaders in revising apparatus purchase specifications and budgeting for additional costs.

• Vehicles must be equipped with an electronic vehicle data recorder (similar to the "black box" on aircraft), that will keep a second-by-second record of the vehicle speed, acceleration and deceleration, engine speed, throttle position, antilock braking system events, master warning light switch position, date and time, and other conditions on a running 48-hour loop.
• All seats must have a sensor that sounds an alarm when a seat is occupied and the seat belt is not fastened. The alarm also activates if the belt is buckled before the seat is occupied.
• Tire pressure indicators: A visual indicator or monitoring system to show when air pressure is low.
• Traffic safety equipment: Five 28-inch-high fluorescent orange traffic cones with double reflective markings, 5 illumination warning devices such as flares, and 1 traffic safety vest that meets current ANSI standards for each seating position.
• Fifty percent of the rear-facing vertical surface of all vehicles will have to be covered with 6-inch reflective red and yellow stripes in a chevron pattern sloping downward from the center of the vehicle at a 45-degree angle.
• Vehicles will be subject to a maximum speed limit that varies according to the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and the water or foam tank capacity.
• Aerials equipped with "envelope controls" will be allowed to operate without fully extending the stabilizers.
• Trailers and other towed equipment will be subject to requirements under NFPA 1901. Areas covered include suspensions, brakes, hitches, electrical systems, work lights, warning lights, and reflective markings.
• The upcoming NFPA 1901 requires vehicle manufacturers to provide a list of all items that do not comply with the standard or that need to be installed in order to comply. Customers will be required to sign an acknowledgement that these items must be corrected or installed before the vehicle is placed in emergency service.

» Read NFPA 1901 versus Insurance Services Office apparatus requirements

Wildfire Information Portal

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) funding supports a new wildfire portal that aggregates relevant fire-related information from public and private sources at one Website. It offers Emergency Services Sector (ESS) personnel current information, at no cost, as they plan for and respond to the significant challenge of wildfires that strains the infrastructure assets of many sector departments and agencies.

The Wildfire.fetch Website pulls information about active wildfires from NASA, InciWeb (Incident Information System), GeoMAC (Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination), and the U.S. Forest Service Wildland Fire Assessment System. It also incorporates content from thousands of news sites, and federal, local, and state agencies, and the photo-sharing Website Flickr, and videos from news agencies and YouTube, all displayed on annotated geospatial maps.

Wildfire.fetch collects and sorts information, using techniques that include proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning methods that automatically analyzes relevant data from thousands of structured and unstructured Web data sources, including "deep Web" information. Deep Web (also referred to as Deepnet, the invisible Web, and the hidden Web) information is World Wide Web content that is not part of the surface Web indexed by search engines. Deep Web content is estimated to be 500 times the amount of content found on the surface Web.

The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center notes that the centralization of information is a time-saver that can help to keep all responders updated. The Wildfire.fetch portal is currently in beta form (i.e., technical preview) for demonstration purposes.

Credits for NFA Courses

The Emergency Management and Response Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) learned that Emergency Services Sector (ESS) personnel, especially those who need Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) to maintain certification in their states or professional associations, can now earn them for National Fire Academy (NFA) on-campus courses they attend in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Students who attend NFA on-campus classes, designated with an "R," will receive from 5.0 to 8.0 CEUs for each course. Course length determines the number of CEUs granted. The CEUs will be printed on the students' end-of-course certificates, so they will have immediate documentation of their work. In announcing the CEU award program, the U.S. Fire Administration clarified that CEUs cannot be granted for on-campus courses taken before October 1, 2008.

"There can be no doubt, the continuing pursuit of education is critical to our nation's fire departments as new technologies and new challenges present themselves in every community," said U.S. Fire Administrator Greg Cade. "CEUs are important in many professions, reflecting the recipient has maintained a minimum standard of continuing education to keep skills current," Cade said. "This new NFA effort may benefit up to 8,000 students each year."

» View NFA course descriptions and schedules