Future of auto extrication?

Would, could, should this type of machine be used for auto extrication,

building collapse? Could be the future of rescue tools?

Raytheon-Sarcos Prototype Power Loader

from MAKE Magazine by Sean Michael Ragan

It rolls on tracks instead of walking, but this ditch-witch style tracked chassis retrofit with a pair of giant waldos is pretty much the power loader from Aliens. This video showing it in action is a great news segment from Ed Yeates of Utah’s KSL-TV, right up to the point where they start talking about the system as an “equalizer” opening up jobs to women “that might’ve otherwise been closed just based on strength issues.”

Last time I checked, guys, there aren’t a lot of men running around out there who can wave 200-lb steel I-beams around with one arm, either. Still, in all, an extremely cool toy developed by Raytheon-Sarcos (Wikipedia), the same folks who produced the XOS-series powered exoskeletons we’ve featured here before. [via Gizmodo]

Restaurant Building Fires Report

New report From USFA and FEMA  - Where does your NFIRS information go, here is one example.

Restaurant Building Fires Emmitsburg, MD – The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) United States Fire Administration (USFA) issued a special report today examining the characteristics of restaurant building fires. The report, Restaurant Building Fires, was developed by USFA's National Fire Data Center and is based on 2007 to 2009 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).

Apr 12: This new report from USFA examines the characteristics of restaurant building fires from 2007 to 2009, during which an estimated 5,900 fires occurred annually causing $172 million in property loss.

According to the report:

• An estimated 5,900 restaurant building fires occur annually in the United States, resulting in an estimated average of 75 injuries and $172 million in property loss.
• The leading cause of all restaurant building fires is cooking at 59 percent and nearly all of these cooking fires (91 percent) are small, confined fires with limited damage.
• While cooking is the leading cause of all restaurant building fires as well as the smaller, confined restaurant building fires, electrical malfunction is the leading cause of the larger, nonconfined restaurant building fires.
• Nonconfined restaurant building fires most often start in cooking areas and kitchens (41 percent).
• Deep fryers (9 percent), ranges (7 percent), and miscellaneous kitchen and cooking equipment (5 percent) are the leading types of equipment involved in ignition in nonconfined restaurant building fires.
• Smoke alarms were reported as present in 44 percent of nonconfined restaurant building fires. In addition, full or partial automatic extinguishment systems, mainly sprinklers, were present in 47 percent of nonconfined restaurant building fires.

Download HERE

• Restaurant Building Fires (PDF, 829 Kb)

Another Resource rewind - Abandoned Buildings

This has been out for a while. This information is available for you to read and use if it is related to your area of response. The Abandoned Building Project Toolbox from interFIRE

Abandoned Building Project Toolbox - interFIRE, A site dedicated ...

Links from Inter Fire’s Web site

Presentations
Background Paper- PDF, Word
Evaluation Field Manual- PDF, Word, Board Up Specifications
Evaluation Form- PDF

Background Materials
Building Evaluation- PowerPoint
Building Evaluation Lesson Plan- PDF, Word
Building Security- PowerPoint, PDF, Word
Community Group Talk- PowerPoint, PDF, Word
Community Group Leader- PowerPoint, PDF, Word
Fire Department Operations- PowerPoint, PDF, Word

Speakers Notes
Building Evaluation- PDF
Building Security- PDF
Community Group Talk- PDF
Community Group Leader- PDF
Fire Department Operations- PDF

Support Materials
Abandoned Building Support- PDF
Firefighter Fatality Investigation Report 2005-09- PDF
Houston NIOSH Report- PDF
NIOSH Report Worcester- PDF
US Park Service Preservation Brief- PDF
Sample Floor Plan- PDF
Worcester Task Force Report- PDF

Online Presentation- Vacant and Abandoned Properties
Media Produced by The Public Safety Education Network

More

Watch This Presentation - Public Safety Education Network

USFA

• Coffee Break Training: Abandoned Buildings (PDF, 178 Kb)

• Abandoned Building Project Toolbox

Rewind–Art of Reading Smoke

Those of you that haven’t seen, taken the course or even aware of it. This is must take class to take, video below is recent fire that shows a good example of what the class can provide you in the way of knowing the conditions that surround the fire scene. Learn when to commit! This stuff is basic fire science use it. Are you part of the solution or part of the problem?

LINKS:

Art of Reading Smoke PowerPoint Art of Reading Smoke PowerPoint. Share · Tweet. Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Thanks to Dave Dodson for providing this download to FirefighterCloseCalls.com

Art of Reading Smoke - Fire Training On Youtube 2 min - Jun 20, 2007 - Uploaded by FireEngineering. Dave Dodson shows how us how to "read" the smoke that fire fighters encounter on the fire scene. From Fire Engineering.

Dave Dodson - Reading Smoke 10 min - Sep 17, 2009 - Uploaded by CTBS2010
Firefighter Life Safety

Dave Dotsons Web Site: Response Solutions - Your home for "Reading Smoke" & Firefighter ... The ART of Reading Smoke is a new decision-making approach to rapid size-up at structural fires. This course was developed and refined by Dave Dodson www.readingsmoke.com/

Springfield, VA on Fire

Resource for you

Carbon monoxide -- CO -- the silent killer. You can't see it, you can't smell it, and it's the #1 cause of poisoning deaths in the world. The people most at risk? Firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs - first responders who are called on to risk their lives to save others, everyday.
It's a medical fact that CO exposure -- even moderate levels - can impact your short and long-term health. This film will motivate you to lower your CO risk by taking important precautions at the scene of a fire, so you can live longer and healthier and be around to enjoy life's most precious moments. Narrated by Randolph Mantooth, known for playing Johnny Gage on the hit TV show Emergency! Content of this video endorsed by the IAFF, IAFC, and FDNY. For more information 

The Silent Killer Home :: CO Fact Sheet :: Resources :: Order DVD

Order this CD HERE Free

Watch it HERE

New USFA Report

USFA Releases Attic Fires in Residential Buildings Report

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) issued a special report today examining the characteristics of Attic Fires in Residential Buildings. Developed by USFA's National Fire Data Center, the report is based on 2006 to 2008 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).

According to the report:

• An estimated 10,000 attic fires in residential buildings occur annually in the United States, resulting in an estimated average of 30 deaths, 125 injuries, and $477 million in property damage.
• The leading cause of all attic fires is electrical malfunction (43 percent).
• The most common heat source is electrical arcing (37 percent).
• Almost all residential building attic fires are nonconfined (99 percent) and a third of all residential building attic fires spread to involve the entire building.
• Ninety percent of residential attic fires occur in one- and two-family residential buildings.
• Residential building attic fires are most prevalent in December (12 percent) and January (11 percent) and peak between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m.

Haz Mat resource

National Hazardous Materials Fusion Center is a responder-driven data collection, analysis and education Web site. It was set up between the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). The site is a free, voluntary, confidential, and secure Web-based resource that serves as a data and information network for hazmat teams; first responders; federal, state and local agencies; and the private sector.

http://www.hazmatfc.com/Pages/Home.aspx

Resources on the WEB

I haven’t posted any resource links for a while. Here is an updated list of resources that are FREE.  Also been seeing some ICS software out there that cost $. Why I do not want to put down supply and demand, here are some government resources and others that you already paid for, why not use them? Information fro the EPA web site below!

EPA CAMEO MARPLOT, ALOHA Good software for hazardous materials, there are other programs here and databases of information.

• MARPLOT version 4.1.2 (for Windows) released (September 29, 2010)
• MARPLOT version 3.3.3.1 (for Macs) released (December 2009)
• CAMEOfm version 2.1 is released (November 2009)
• Tier2 Submit 2009 is released (November 2009)
• ALOHA version 5.4.1.2 is released (April 2009)
• CAMEOfm Training Schedule
• CAMEO Companion tutorial (PDF, 12.6MB)

Visit their Downloadable Programs page to download software and other electronic files, including the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet, an ArcView Extension for ALOHA (allows ALOHA threat zones to be displayed in ArcView), and various technical explanations of the CAMEO software suite.

ERG (Emergency Response Guide) From The D.O.T.

Internet interactive ERG2008 English version

Internet interactive GRE2008 Spanish version

Powerpoint training presentation on the ERG 2008 English and Spanish version

ERGO2008 free downloadable database in three languages

ICS FORMS  - FEMA NIMS compliant ICS forms HERE

USFA Publications USFA provides information resources in many formats, including books, pamphlets and DVD's,free of charge. Customers can use our online catalog to order from over 400 publications and other information products. You do not need to register to download products in this catalog.

Fire Instructor resources here at: 

NFA TRADE Repository- LSU FETI

TRADE's Virtual TRADEing Post. You can browse the CDs by clicking on its name. You can search by topic. The search result will locate the CD location of the topic you are searching for.