Posts in category: Americas – Events

Rosenbauer America have signed a five-year partnership with the city of Nashville. The contract was awarded to Rosenbauer with the support of local dealer, North American Fire Equipment Company, Inc (NAFECO), and is effective through 2026.

“This new partnership with the city of Nashville marks an exciting new era,” said John Slawson, CEO and President of Rosenbauer America. “We are dedicated to satisfy all facets of the department’s current and upcoming needs through apparatus solutions, component offerings, after sales service and strong dealer relations.”

The city of Nashville has submitted an initial order of eight custom Rosenbauer pumpers equipped with CleanAir Scrubbers, which will be in service to support firefighters and the community. An additional 47 CleanAir Scrubbers that will be retrofitted into the existing Nashville fleet.

Rosenbauer fire trucks have been leading firefighting innovation for more than 145 years. The pumper is the backbone of the fleet, responding to every incident as the first due piece of equipment. Rosenbauer offers more body construction options than any other manufacturer: 

• The Rosenbauer Commander custom fire chassis offers indisputable reliability. Engineered entirely with the goal of reduced maintenance stress, Rosenbauer broke away from industry practices by purposely using as many off-the-shelf components as possible. 
• The EXT heavy-duty body is perfect for extreme-duty, high call volume areas, such as large metropolitan districts. Rosenbauer conquered the demands of hard work with our FX formed aluminum body option for decades. 

“We are thrilled to bring top-of-the-line Rosenbauer products and services to the city of Nashville,” concluded Slawson.

Rosenbauer is working to form partnerships with progressive, large-scale departments that are looking for more in a vendor relationship. Through these unique partnerships, Rosenbauer will provide full services support to men and women across the country working the front lines.

For more information about Rosenbauer America, visit www.RosenbauerAmerica.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

Registration for 2021 NFPA Business Meeting voting and NFPA Technical Meeting debate and voting is now open. For the second year in a row, these meetings will be held in an electronic format due to the coronavirus pandemic. These are two separate events.

The Business Meeting will include the annual state of the association remarks from NFPA President and CEO Jim Pauley and NFPA Board of Directors Chair Amy Acton, as well as the presentation and voting for the Board of Directors slate of candidates. The Technical Session is where discussion and voting occur on standards up for debate.

Business Meeting

• Voting for the Board of Directors slate of candidates begins on June 21, 2021 and will run through June 23, 2021 at 5:00 pm (EST).
• Voting will be open to NFPA members who have been members for the required 180-day period.
• Register to vote here.

Technical Session

• The NFPA Board of Directors, at the recommendation of the Standards Council, has approved Temporary NFPA Technical Meeting Convention Rules for 2021. The meeting allows NFPA members and the public to express positions on all Certified Amending Motions (CAMs) as approved by and included in the Report of the Motions Committee and Agenda that are posted effective today.
• Electronic debate opens on June 14, 2021 and will close on June 25, 2021 at 8:00pm (EST). The electronic debate is open to all NFPA members and non-members. There is no need to register to participate in the debate.
• As at all Technical Meetings, each relevant technical committee, correlating committee, and authorized maker of a CAM may provide a position statement, which can be reviewed on the tech session site prior to the start of debate.
• Voting for CAMs opens on June 28, 2021 and closes on July 2, 2021 at 8:00 pm EST. Only those that have met the 180-day NFPA membership eligibility requirement and who have registered are eligible to vote for the CAMs.
• Once registered to vote, NFPA members will receive instructions on downloading the designated Technical Meeting app, as well as information on how to electronically vote.
• To participate in this year’s event or for answers to questions, visit nfpa.org/2021techsession

During the Technical Meeting, NFPA members and the public are encouraged to participate in the debate on each CAM by submitting position statements and acknowledging the name and date stamp being supported or countered. All submitted position statements will be posted in a daily report as the debate continues. All participants will be prompted to use an existing NFPA profile or create a profile before submitting position statements.

The standards that have CAMs and that will be subject to debate during this year’s Technical Meeting are:

• NFPA 10 Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers
• NFPA 13 Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems
• NFPA 72® National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code®
• NFPA 80 Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives
• NFPA 291 Recommended Practice for Fire Flow Testing and Marking of Hydrants
• NFPA 318 Standard for the Protection of Semiconductor Fabrication Facilities
• NFPA 501 Standard on Manufactured Housing
• NFPA 1123 Code for Fireworks Display
• NFPA 1225 Standards for Emergency Services Communications
• NFPA 2001 Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems

On or around July 6, NFPA will publicly post all results at nfpa.org/2021techsession. Any successful CAMs will be forwarded to the responsible committee(s) for ballot (if applicable) and in accordance with the Regulations Governing the Development of NFPA Standards.

The Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA) has announced that it will host the first-ever Wildfire Prevention Summit on May 4, 2021. This daylong, virtual event will cover the four primary causes of wildfire ignitions (arson, accidental, roadside and utility infrastructure) with a focus on roadside and utility infrastructure ignitions in the Western United States. Representatives from federal and state organizations and utility leaders from the states of California and Arizona will deliver presentations and serve on panels during the Summit, which is free to attend courtesy of the event’s Platinum Sponsor, Perimeter Solutions.

“The intent of the Wildfire Prevention Summit is to provide the opportunity for interchange and dialogue regarding current issues, best practices and emerging solutions,” says Chief Bob Roper, Policy Advisor for the WFCA. “The sessions during this event will share a national perspective and also provide an overview of regional, statewide and local initiatives.”

Chief Roper and Perimeter Solutions CEO Edward Goldberg will kick-off the event, providing a general overview on the current state of wildfires. Nearly two dozen speakers are scheduled to participate in the Summit, which will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Some of the featured sessions include:

· National Perspective of the Wildfire Problem, presented by Victoria Christiansen, Chief of the United States Forest Service

·  Utility Regulator Perspective of the Wildfire Problem, presented by Caroline Thomas Jacobs, Director, Wildfire Safety Division, California Public Utility Commission

·  Panel Discussion – Current Efforts and Challenges in Wildfire Prevention: Sumeet Singh, Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at PG&E; Brian D’Agostino, Director of Fire Science and Climate Adaption, SDG&E; Donald Daigler, Director of Business Resiliency, Southern California Edison

Wes Bolsen, Business Director for Wildfire Prevention and Protection at Perimeter Solutions, will serve as the moderator for the utility panel discussion. “The 2020 wildfire season in the Western United States was one of the most active on record. Great strides have been made over the past few years with containing and reacting to active wildfires, but with the increase in intensity and frequency of wildfires, it is critical that we focus on the ignition sources and proactive approaches that departments of fire protection, utilities, transportation agencies, other businesses and even individuals take to preventing wildfires, and that is one of the messages we want to purvey during the Wildfire Prevention Summit,” says Bolsen.

For more information on the 2021 Wildfire Prevention Summit, and to see the full agenda and register to attend, visit www.wildfirepreventionsummit.com.

The 2021 National Wildfire Mitigation Awards nominees have been confirmed by the Wildfire Mitigation Awards committee. This year’s recipients have earned the highest commendation for innovation and leadership in wildfire mitigation. They are:

MARSHALL TURBEVILLE – Northern Sonoma Fire Protection District/CAL FIRE | Geyserville, Calif.

As a battalion chief with the CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit and fire chief for the Northern Sonoma County (NoSoCo) Fire Protection District (FPD), Turbeville personifies the consummate firefighting professional. Over the course of his career in Northern Sonoma County, Turbeville has secured funding for the creation of Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) for Mill Creek and NE Geyserville and CWPP updates for the Lake Sonoma Watershed, Fitch Mountain, and the County of Sonoma (which all together cover upwards of 2,000 square miles and 600,000 residents).

His fuels mitigation work includes establishing, training, and deploying a NoSoCo FPD fuels management team that has provided hundreds of miles of vegetation management services and thousands of residents with defensible space home inspections and counsel for home-hardening. Turbeville has also dramatically improved wildfire mitigation and response as a founding member of COPE Northern Sonoma County, a non-profit fire safe council that covers about 330,000 acres and more than 100,000 residents.

COURTNEY HAYNES – West Region Wildfire Council | Montrose, Colo.

As a wildfire mitigation specialist for the West Region Wildfire Council (WRWC), Haynes works with the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) to serve a six-county-area—called the “West Region”—roughly 5.6 million acres in size. In coordination with CSFS, Haynes regularly makes site visits to assess wildfire risk, recommend home-hardening strategies, and educate homeowners about WRWC’s cost-share program. She has made measurable improvements to the program, including boosting its reach and increasing participation to 134 homeowners (who in turn established defensible space and reduced fuels on 725 acres). In total, her cost-share program work has helped to protect at least 619 homes from wildfire.

Haynes has exceeded all of WRWC’s annual targets by engaging 788 residents across 40 at-risk Wildland Urban Interface/Intermix (WUI) communities in Colorado’s “West Region.” Her leadership has been instrumental in: (1) 485 homeowners in 22 WUI communities disposing of 262,885 cubic feet of slash, (2) Trout Lake (a community in San Miguel County) developing a Community Assessment for wildfire risk, and (3) the Ouray County Land Use Planning Commission strengthening the Wildfire Mitigation Section of its Land Use Code.

JESSICA KIRBY – Snyderville Basin Recreation District | Park City, Utah

Jessica Kirby has profoundly shaped public perceptions of wildland fire. As the acting open space management supervisor for the Snyderville Basin Recreation District, Kirby oversees 2,300 acres of trails and forest. She has formed partnerships with Summit County officials, local fire and sheriff agencies, and homeowners’ associations to improve existing wildfire emergency response plans, create Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP), and encourage Firewise program participation.

Having lost her own home to wildfire several years ago, Kirby understands the urgency of addressing wildfire risk. She has made it her goal to protect Communities at Risk from wildfire. Navigating limited budgets in multiple communities, she has transformed the landscape in Summit County, improving an emergency access route between three communities, implementing a 50-acre fuel break, treating 200 acres of mixed vegetation, and leading community outreach efforts that challenge the “it won’t happen here” attitude.

The Wildfire Mitigation Awards program was established in 2014 by the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to help demonstrate the tremendous societal value wildfire mitigation efforts provide.

“State forestry agencies know firsthand it’s always wildfire season somewhere in the United States. The 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Awardees know this too,” said Joe Fox, NASF president and Arkansas state forester. “In their own ways, this year’s winners have ensured the safety of thousands through their wildfire mitigation efforts. We congratulate them for receiving this honor and thank them for their dedication to this critically important work.”

“Wildland fire remains a pressing issue for us. The threat to our environment, property, and lives demands our attention,” said Chief Richard Carrizzo, IAFC president and chairman of the board. “This is why I am honored to congratulate this year’s National Wildfire Mitigation Award winners for their exceptional leadership and contributions to risk-reduction efforts in their communities. Keep up the good work and stay safe.”

“The Wildfire Mitigation Awards continue to serve as a meaningful opportunity to recognise the many contributions to wildfire safety. The National Fire Protection Association congratulates the 2021 recipients of the Awards and thanks them for their accomplishments and outstanding efforts to reduce fire risk in their communities,” said Michele Steinberg, director of the Wildfire Division at NFPA.

“We’re proud to be a part of this annual effort to recognise such dedicated individuals in the area of community wildfire mitigation,” said Patricia Grantham, acting director of Fire and Aviation Management for the USDA Forest Service. “The work of mitigation specialists often goes unnoticed, but can make a tremendous difference to communities impacted by wildfires.”

The 2021 Wildfire Mitigation Awards will be presented at the Wildland-Urban Interface Conference in Reno, Nevada, scheduled for November 14-15, 2021. The nominations period for the 2022 Wildfire Mitigation Awards opens today. For more information about the awards program and how you can nominate your mitigation hero for national recognition, visit www.stateforesters.org/mitigation.