North American Fire Training Directors (NAFTD) is collaborating with Microsoft to deliver: “Dyslexia and Fire Service; Tools and Techniques to Ensure Accessibility and Success”, a webinar discussing navigating education with dyslexia and practices to empower individuals with dyslexia to achieve more in their career.
Through panel discussion and demonstration, this webinar will explore current practices on ensuring individuals with dyslexia are provided accessible content to personalize their learning experience and achieve success during fire service training and education. Speakers include:
Ken Willette, NAFTD Executive Director
Rachel Berger, Director of Decoding Dyslexia MN, individual with Dyslexia and Microsoft Disability Tech Specialist will demonstrate free and accessible Microsoft technology tools available to individuals with dyslexia.
Ms. Natalie Parkinson of the Shropshire UK Fire Rescue Service, recipient of 2019 British Dyslexia Association Organization Award.
Dr. Burton A. Clark, EFO, a globally recognized fire service education and training leader and individual with dyslexia.
“NAFTD recognizes that up to 20% of the population struggles with dyslexia. As a trainer of over 900,00 firefighters annually, it’s critical State and Provincial Training Directors ensure the success of all learners who attend fire service training. We are proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this initiative.” John Cunningham, Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Fire School and NAFTD President. “Microsoft is committed to empower every person on the planet to achieve more and shares this with the NAFTD’s commitment to its members. Microsoft learning tools break down barriers commonly experienced navigating dyslexia in educational environments and the workplace to turn disability into ability. As an individual with dyslexia and parent of, I’m proud to take part in these partnerships to support and build more inclusive communities.” Rachel Berger, Microsoft.
At least two people have been seriously injured in a house explosion in Ashford, Kent earlier today.
Firefighters were called to the scene shortly before 8am this morning following reports of a loud explosion in the Willesborough area. Seven fire engines, a height vehicle, as well as a team from the Technical Rescue Unit attended the initial response as responders tackles the blaze.
A South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) spokesperson: “We can confirm our attendance at an incident in Mill View, Willesborough, Ashford, following an explosion reported to us shortly before 8am today (4 May). Ambulance crews including our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) have attended the scene along with police and fire colleagues. The air ambulance service also joined us at the scene.
“Two patients have been taken to hospital in London with serious injuries. A further five patients have been taken to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford with injuries thought to be less serious.”
“We remain at the scene in support of our emergency service colleagues.”
The cause of the explosion has not yet been confirmed, but is not being treated as suspicious.
As live events return to the UK, The Emergency Services Show at the NEC, Birmingham, 7 and 8 September 2021 will be the first opportunity for the entire UK emergency services community and its supply chain to get together. The transformational power of new and emerging technologies will be the central theme of the expanded and enhanced trade show, which features over 450 exhibitors, more than 90 of which are new.
The Emergency Services Show uniquely brings together police, fire and rescue, ambulance, search and rescue services, their partners and suppliers. It is the one place where visitors can explore innovative technologies, see the latest equipment, share experiences, exchange best practice and learn from each other.
Adapting to the new challenges created by COVID has heightened the demand and pressure on our emergency services. Diverse and innovative emerging technologies have been rapidly deployed in a period of unprecedented change and are the core theme of the exhibition and accompanying programme of over 80 CPD-accredited seminar sessions in five theatres.
Foremost among technology exhibitors are leading support organisations for the emergency services sector, including the police National Enabling Programmes (NEP), Police Digital Service, techUK, and the Home Office Emergency Services Network (ESN), which will replace the current Airwave service used by the emergency services in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and transform how they operate.
Learning new skills and promoting technology collaboration will continue to underpin the exhibition floor and content theatres.
Sponsored by MSA Safety, The Emerging Technologies Theatre will showcase the most cutting-edge technology and equipment used in operational response. In addition, it will cover how the emergency services can use data and technology more efficiently, including overcoming the organisational challenges presented by the pandemic.
A new feature of the 2021 show, Future Policing is supported by an influential Advisory Council chaired by Lord Hogan-Howe, the former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. Showcasing the latest innovations available for the police sector and sponsored by Audax, Future Policing has the full backing of the Police Federation of England and Wales and the Police Superintendents’ Association, and will feature a two-day, CPD-accredited high-level conference featuring a line-up of senior speakers.
The Vehicle Innovation Theatre will focus on one of the fastest growing areas of innovation in the sector that includes everything from vehicles with electric, hybrid and decarbonised drivetrains, to smart and connected vehicles that serve as communications hubs and mobile incident command units.
The Learning & Development Theatre connects personal development with the overarching theme of emerging technologies to feature a series of seminars designed to help professionals enhance and upgrade their personals skills and proficiency, enhancing their careers. It will also focus on operational improvements as the emergency services have dramatically and dynamically pivoted their ways of working.
Topics explored in the Health & Wellbeing Theatre will include tackling historically neglected health and safety issues and the unique mental health challenges facing the emergency services working in difficult and high-pressured environments, as well as under COVID.
Technologies on display in the exhibition include connected and smart vehicles, satellite communications, GIS and mapping technologies, ruggedised mobile computers, tablets and phones, data, cloud storage, wearable tech, connectivity, UAVs/drones, hybrid and electric vehicles, virtual and augmented reality training, body-worn cameras and other video capture systems. Among more than 90 organisations exhibiting for the first time in 2021 are Linkwave Technologies, Bullitt Group, Halo Technologies and BiTEA.
Enabling ICT applications will also be showcased, including control room systems from new exhibitors like APD Communications and Hexagon, data management, mobile apps for emergency service and public use and the multiple technologies being used to speed and aid collaboration. The exhibition floor also continues to feature innovation from leading names in search and rescue, extrication, training, protective clothing and uniforms, medical equipment, vehicles and vehicle equipment and outsourcing.
The NEC Venue Protect programme ensures all participants in The Emergency Services Show enjoy a COVID-safe and secure visit with comprehensive social distancing measures and enhanced cleaning and sanitisation.
Free-to-attend and based again in Hall 5 and the Outside Area at the NEC, The Emergency Services Show 2021 will for the first time be co-located with the Safety & Security Event Series; The Fire Safety Event, The Health & Safety Event, The Security Event, The Facilities Event and newly launched National Cyber Security Show, creating the UK’s largest event dedicated to the protection of people, places and assets.
Parking at the NEC for show visitors is free. Register in advance for free entry to all six events with a single pass at: www.emergencyuk.com
EUSAS recently organised a successful online European Conference on the topic ‘Artificial intelligence in fire detection and security – without the hype’. It showed once again the importance of technological development for an industry endeavored to protect lives with a particular relevance to the fire and security industry.
The conference opened with a discussion on what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is. The general concepts as well as the history and starting blocks of AI were discussed. Also, the current application fields for AI in Smart Living as well as important requirements for the realization of intelligent Smart Living services were presented. Focal point for the fire industry were the presentations during the session on the benefits and opportunities of AI for fire detection and security.
Artificial Intelligence and Fire Safety
In his presentation Guillermo Rein of the Imperial College London presented an innovative fire protection system that combines building sensors, computer modelling, and artificial intelligence (AI). It is called The Fire Navigator and aims to forecast the movement of a fire inside a large building, providing the fire brigades with essential information about flames and smoke ahead of time. It bridges the gap between fire safety and Building Information Modelling by making use of the data already produced by high-rise building sensors such as smoke and heat sensors.
A fast and simple cellular automata model assimilates sensor data, and via inverse modelling and genetic algorithm techniques it uncovers the ignition location, time, flame spread rate and smoke velocity. A test case with synthetic data was shown for a real iconic building in London. The Fire Navigator concept would be specially suited for the protection of higher risk buildings like high-rise and hospital, or key infrastructure like tunnels and power plants.
Sensor technology
Paul van der Zanden, General Director of Euralarm, elaborated on the connection between AI and the fire industry. He took a holistic approach by defining AI as ‘’Technology used to add value and/or improve the outcome of an existing or new process/system’’. The fire industry has a wide scope and covers many aspects.
Within Euralarm fire safety is seen as an ecosystem and therefore fire safety should be part of the development process. Assuming that everything is done in the design to prevent a fire from starting there still is a chance that a fire incident will happen. A key factor which defines the impact from this incident is time. Timely detection and sensitivity for unnecessary alarms have a relation with each other. Both factors can be improved by using new technologies including AI technologies.
The question is if we can use other future spin-off developments from the AI world for the fire safety world. The introduction of new sensor technologies available could be one of these spin-offs. With an example from AI sensor technology development Paul van der Zanden showed how the future fire detection can be brought to a next level.
AI-related vulnerabilities
In his presentation Ibrahim Daoudi of CNPP presented the vulnerabilities related to the use of artificial intelligence on security/safety products. There are mainly 3 categories of vulnerabilities. The first category consists of adversarial attacks where the aim is to generate data sufficiently modified to mislead the model. The second category concerns physical attacks. It is in fact based on adversarial attacks but applied to real objects. The third category is the traditional attacks on information systems leading to the poisoning of the model itself or its training data. All three the vulnerability categories were discussed and explained.
Temporal Deep Learning
Utilizing temporal information is crucial to detect smoke in video sequences. In his presentation Andreas Wellhausen of Bosch Sicherheitssysteme GmbH presented the work on temporal approaches based on Deep Learning that are applied to Video Smoke Detection. Two methods were elaborated.
Firstly, a combination of convolutional neural networks (CNN) and long-short-term-memory networks (LSTM), secondly the inflated 3D architecture (i3D), which consists of 3D convolutions. These are two state-of-the-art approaches to extract spatial and temporal information out of video sequences. A new way to detect and localize smoke within such sequences was presented, called cell-wise classification. Furthermore, the advantage of temporal approaches over CNN methods, which are commonly used for detection problems in Computer Vision, was shown.
Training AI on synthetic data
Philip Dietrich of Bosch Sicherheitssysteme analysed the idea of using synthetic data to train Deep Learning Systems for Video-Based Smoke Detection algorithms. Compared to real data, gathering a large-scale database is significantly easier for synthetic data. It was shown how Deep Learning networks can be trained on synthetic videos.
The results were compared with real data. As a mean of bridging the domain gap between real and synthetic data, the concept of domain adaptation will be introduced. By forcing networks to extract similar features from real and synthetic data respectively, potential artefacts in synthetic data may not be learned by the network. Experimental results support the hypothesis, that domain adaptation improves the generalization on real data.
Legislation and outlook
While the rapid adoption of AI creates exciting new opportunities for industry and individuals alike, it also poses an important question: does current laws apply to AI? Tadas Tumėnas of Orgalim discussed if and how this new technology should be regulated. He outlined the state of play of AI in Europe. He focused on the definition of AI which should be the essence of the EU legislative framework and presented the Commission’s work related to AI.
In the last presentation Lance Rütimann, chair of the Fire Section of Euralarm, said that if the fire safety industry does not take on the task of working with legislators, regulators, and standardisation bodies in defining the aforementioned regulatory landscape, then someone else will. This is because the use of Artificial Intelligence to protect lives and assets makes good sense. Understandably, the path ahead is not clear, and there are many, many questions. The fact that the results of the work of the fire safety industry makes the world a safer place for millions of people is the best motivation to set the focus on a new horizon.
Leading Survitec brand Crewsaver is keeping Dave “Dinger” Bell safe on his unassisted solo row across the North Atlantic with an array of specialist equipment, some of which has been designed specifically for the treacherous crossing.
Weather permitting, Bell, 49, a former Royal Marine, believes the May 2021 row from New Jersey to Falmouth, UK – a 2710 nautical mile route that will pass over RMS Titanic – will take between 90 and 120 days.
While the mainly self-funded NY2UK row started off as a personal challenge with Bell reluctant to tell anyone about the planned crossing, close friends encouraged him to row for charity.
So far, he has raised £7500 for the Special Boat Service Association and Rock2Recovery. Bell is also using his row to promote www.bravery.org.uk, the extreme sports clothing company founded by his veteran friend Toby Gutteridge, who was shot and paralysed on a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
“Sponsorship support is a vital contribution to the NY2UK challenge,” said Survitec Commercial Director Matthew Bridge.
“Dinger’s Crewsaver lifejacket has been specially adapted not to activate upon contact with water, so as to avoid inflation in the exposed cockpit of his one-man ocean rowing boat. It has also been fitted with a hood in anticipation of the huge swells he faces in the North Atlantic. The route takes him across the lower part of ‘Iceberg Alley’ where the water is very cold and survival times can be short.
This is a very difficult and commendable challenge for some very worthy charities. I encourage everyone to donate what they can in support of these important causes.
“While we are immensely proud to have donated equipment to this extraordinary human endeavour, we hope it will never have to be activated.”
Dinger Bell was living in Jamaica in 2013 when he had this idea of rowing back to the UK.
“I thought I’ll buy a boat, load it with food, get a good sat nav and row home,” he said. “But in my ignorance of ocean currents and weather systems, I soon realised it’s not possible to row from the Caribbean into the tradewinds. It wasn’t that I wanted to row the North Atlantic, I just wanted to row west to east.”
Bell bought his second-hand boat – a 7.6m long, 1.4 wide Peter Bosgraaf design, re-christened Billy No Mates – for £15,000. And since 2016, he has spent almost twice that fitting it out with hydraulic steering and autopilot, new hatches, solar panels, batteries, a new water maker, and all manner of other modifications.
When Dinger sets out from Liberty Landings, he faces extreme conditions, not least a route renowned for its cold and stormy, inconsistent weather patterns but also one that takes him through the notorious Georges Banks and the Grand Banks, where the Andrea Gale disaster unfolded. This event was made famous by book and film The Perfect Storm.
“You have deep ocean swells hitting shallow waters, that’s what jacks the size of the waves up. It is a very dangerous place to be, so I am very thankful to Crewsaver for donating the Crewsaver equipment. I could need it.”
Other than Billy No Mates – the boat itself is always the safest of havens – Bell’s survival equipment includes a Crewsaver immersion suit, lifejacket and safety line, a pair of McMurdo EPIRBS and two Fast Find Personal Locator Beacons (PLB).
One of these will be fitted to a safety harness worn while rowing, the other to Bell’s lifejacket. Both PLBs provide the ability to summon help if he becomes separated from his boat and other emergency gear.
Although two thirds of those that have attempted to row across the North Atlantic have failed, the New York to Falmouth crossing – referred to as the “classic route” – is particularly difficult due to the unpredictable, inclement weather. Only twelve crews have managed to row the route in more than a century.
The first successful crossing was in 1896 by two Norwegian fishermen. Since then, only one person has rowed this route solo. That was Ollie Hicks, in 2005. However, he was forced to take a resupply after running out of food. This means the ‘classic’ route has still never been rowed solo and unsupported.
Dinger Bell hopes to be the first. To support Dinger in his NY2UK row charity, please visit: www.ny2uksolorow.co.uk or ny2uksolorow on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. To donate visit: fundraising
Five people have been injured, and hundreds more evacuated after an oil refinery in Indonesia caught fire.
The Balongan refinery, run by oil firm Pertamina is one of the largest in the country and feeds fuel to the greater Jakarta area. The nearby village of Balongan has now been evacuated, with up to 500 residents being moved to evacuation centers.
In a virtual press conference earlier today, Pertamina president director Nicke Widyawati said: “The fire is now under control and is expected to be fully extinguished in four or five days, there are no casualties (involving Pertamina staff) in the incident.”
Although there have been no confirmed deaths as a result of the fire, one worker at the refinery is said to have died after suffering a heart attack, and there are further reports of missing people following the explosion.
Warringtonfire Australia, part of the Element Materials Technology Group, is hosting a Fire Protection in Buildings webinar designed to inform participants about legal responsibilities under the National Construction Code, compliance, and the role of voluntary third party certification schemes.
In the event of an incident, all parties can be considered liable for contributory negligence, so it is important that organizations, contract managers and engineers are aware of how they can legally and contractually manage risk.
The free, half-day webinar will run on Thursday 25 March from 10:00 a.m.-2:15 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time. The webinar is designed for individuals working in:
Building surveying
Care homes
Construction
Educational establishments
Facilities and estate management
Commercial building owners and managers
Fire and rescue services
Healthcare
Public housing and real estate providers
Local, state and national government
Passive fire protection product manufacturers,
Risk assessment companies
The webinar speaker panel is made up of industry experts from across Australia’s construction and regulatory sectors and their topics will include ‘a regulator’s perspective;’ ‘third party certification;’ ‘a builder’s perspective;’ and ‘approvals in the building industry.’
Warringtonfire has applied for four hours of CPD in principle, and if applicable, certificates will be issued after the event.
Leading life-safety systems manufacturer, C-TEC, is heading up a live London Build Online panel discussion.
Featuring a host of top industry experts, innovators and influencers, “Raising the grade: the evolution of fire protection in residential dwellings – how new fire detection and alarm system technology can better protect people and property” will take place on Thursday 18th of March at 1:30pm and focus on the following key topics:
How new fire detection and alarm system technology can be utilised to make people safer post-Grenfell
How property can be better protected, reducing the societal loss of people’s homes and the need for re-housing and care following a fire
Why interfacing local ‘Grade C’ monitored fire alarm systems to a landlord system cloud-based connectivity benefits building occupants, landlords, firefighters and other stakeholders
Why it is vital to consider all of a dwelling’s occupants, current and future, to ensure systems are inclusive and meet the demands of the Equality Act
The panel will also review ‘real-life’ applications where new technology is being used in residential buildings to great effect and question why, despite its proven success, there appears to be a reluctance by some to use it.
Said Andy Scott, C-TEC’s Projects Director: “We are delighted to be hosting a London Build Online panel discussion as it’s a fantastic opportunity to examine the issues raised by Grenfell and explore how new technology can be used to protect people and property in the future. As the panel will be taking live questions from the audience throughout, I’m confident it will be a super-interactive, stimulating and engaging session, and certainly of interest to anyone involved in managing fire risk in residential buildings.”
The National Volunteer Fire Council have confirmed the date for its annual virtual training summit.
The online conference will take place on Friday, May 21, from 12:00 – 6:00 pm EDT. The event provides those within fire and EMS the opportunity to in classroom training on key health, safety, and leadership topics as well as share ideas and best practices with volunteer responders from across the country.
The agenda will include eight breakout sessions and one general session, all focused on critical topics impacting the volunteer fire and emergency services. Attendees can register for individual courses or for the full day of free training. More details and registration links will be available soon at www.nvfc.org/summit.
If you have any questions regarding the event, Contact Rachel Buczynski, program manager, at rachel@nvfc.org or 202-887-5700.
The International Water Mist Association (IWMA) has announced that a third series of webinars on fire protection with water mist will take place this spring, on 15th, 22nd and 29th April 2021. Registration is free of charge.
The first event will deal with “Water Mist for Building Protection”, such as historic and high-rise buildings as well as social housing. The topic on 22nd will be “Water Mist for industrial Applications” and the series will come to a conclusion on 29th April when attendees will learn all about “Water Mist for the Oil and Gas Industry”.
The programme for the three events will be published consecutively, the programme for 15th April can be viewed on the IWMA webpage from today onwards. The registration process for all three events will start on 8th April. News updates will be available on the IWMA homepage.
IWMA general manager Bettina McDowell says: ”A further series will take place either in October 2021 or January 2022. This very much depends on whether the 20th International Water Mist Conference (IWMC 2021) will take place in October or not. 2021 will again be a year during which nothing is certain, but we are flexible and will surely provide those interested in water mist with news, information and knowledge.”
