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Ten years ago this week, The Station Nightclub in Rhode Island caught fire during a concert when pyrotechnics ignited insulation and spread to the ceiling. The fire killed 100 people, bringing renewed national attention to fire safety in public places.
Fires such as this one often have historic consequences (PDF, 209 Kb) on building and life safety codes; in this case it motivated improved sprinkler codes and better permitting in the use of pyrotechnics indoors. Unfortunately, a similar nightclub fire in Brazil last month killed over 200 people, showing lessons learned are not always influential enough to reach across international borders.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducted an investigation to determine cause of the fire, evaluate evacuation methods and to recommend changes based on the findings. The primary recommendations within the control of state and local governments include:
In January, the president signed the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 into law. The Act includes a major provision affecting tribal disaster requests; specifically, it allows federally recognized tribal governments the ability to apply directly to the president for federal emergency aid and disaster declarations.
Before this revision to the Stafford Act of 1988, tribal governments were required to request aid through a state governor. Often, tribal lands span multiple states and disaster aid requests had to be made in all states involved. State aid request approval times can vary greatly and have a serious impact on tribal lands.
Tribal leaders lobbied for the change, which was supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the White House. FEMA is addressing procedural issues and interim guidance will be released within the near future.
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate breaks down the important changes and gives examples of how this will improve the tribal disaster assistance process and how this affects the procedures for both state and tribal leaders.
(Source: FEMA Tribal Affairs)FEMA is working to create single-topic or single-audience pages, making a one-stop shop experience for specific emergency and disaster management groups. The most recent release is the “Academia and Resilience” site geared toward campus security, emergency management, faculty, administration and students. The site collects FEMA programs pertaining to education such as:
The Academia site falls under the FEMA Private Sector section which aims to develop better disaster mitigation, response and recovery through public-private coordination.
(Source: FEMA Academia and Resilience)The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and FEMA have declared March 3-9, 2013, as National Severe Weather Preparedness Week. The theme this year is to encourage individuals to “Be a Force of Nature” by not only taking the time to be prepared for severe weather themselves but also by encouraging others to prepare.
The site supplies downloadable talking points, social media tools, presentations, logos, sample press releases and blog posts. Regional emergency management outreach efforts can utilize these customizable documents for public education campaigns on the severe weather threats to their area.
Most states have their own preparedness weeks throughout the year focused on severe weather common in their region. NOAA maintains a listing of these and the nationally-recognized weather awareness weeks.
Emergency managers can also direct families and businesses to FEMA’s Ready.gov site for preparedness plans and tips. Ready.gov highlights specific natural or man-made hazards; lists steps to take before, during and after them and provides the public with additional information and resources through a variety of media outlets.
(Source: NOAA)Adobe Acrobat (PDF)/Other Help
February 21, 2013 InfoGram (PDF, 162 Kb)The U.S. Fire Administration/EMR-ISAC does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, and does not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
This INFOGRAM may contain copyrighted material that was not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. EMR-ISAC personnel believe this constitutes "fair use" of copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material contained within this document for your own purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
DHS and the FBI encourage recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and/or the FBI. The DHS National Operation Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by email at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov.
The FBI regional phone numbers can be found online at www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm
For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by email at NICC@dhs.gov.
When available, each report submitted should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.
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Last Reviewed: February 21, 2013
#CoffeeBreak training: Firefighters, take a moment today to assess your personal safety & related SOPs http://t.co/5uOpv3Wdcm May 22, 2013 @ 2:18 PM ET
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