April 2018
Published by the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal
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Recognizing hard work and dedication in fire prevention and safety
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ast month I had the pleasure of awarding the Golden and Silver Sparkys while attending the annual Oregon Fire Marshals Association Annual Business Meeting in Bend, OR.
It’s always an honor to see the great work being done in fire prevention and safety, as well as meeting the people and the organizations that are behind this great work.
I presented the Golden Sparky to Umatilla County Fire District #1 Public Educator Gretchen Erickson.
For the past 14 years, Gretchen Erickson has visited elementary schools throughout the Hermiston School District teaching students how to keep themselves and others fire safe. Over the years, Gretchen’s lessons have had an enormous positive effect on hundreds of school children.
Proof of Gretchen’s lifesaving affect on her students came in 2009 when Jazmin Silva, then a student at Desert View Elementary School, kept a cool head as things heated up during a fire at her home in January of that year. Shortly after black smoke starting filling the air in her home, Jazmin remembered Gretchen‘s lessons and grabbed her 5-month old cousin, took her 2-year old cousin by the hand, and told her 7-year old cousin to hold onto her shirt as Jazmin led them outdoors to safety.
It is always great to see solid proof that fire safety education can have a positive affect on our youth.
The Pendleton Lions Club has embraced fire safety as one of their highest priorities.Their subsequent work in this area is why they were awarded the Silver Sparky. Club members have dedicated countless hours and resources to the elimination of fire related injuries and deaths in their community through their smoke alarm installation efforts.
The Pendleton Lions Club is dedicated to the vision of having working smoke alarms in every residence in Pendleton. They have raised more than $1,000 to purchase smoke alarms, and in partnership with the Pendleton Fire Department they have distributed and installed hundreds of them in area homes. In addition, the club has collaborated with the OSFM and PFD on a focused effort in a low-income area of the city to ensure each residence has a working smoke alarm. Last October, club members, local volunteers, and members of the fire department installed 50 smoke alarms in this area of town in one weekend.
(I encourage you to read the accompanying article about how the fire chief spurred the Lions Club to action.)
Our state is extremely fortunate to have people and organizations such as these working to keep citizens safe from deadly home fires. Like Sparky, Gretchen Erickson and the Pendleton Lions Club are communicators of life saving messages and they take pride in making a positive impact in their community.
I know there are many others throughout the state that work hard on fire prevention and safety education, and I look forward to recognizing them in the future.
Thanks for all you do!
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Oregon State Fire Marshal Jim Walker
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State Fire Marshal Jim Walker (far left) awards the Golden Sparky to Gretchen Erickson, with Umatilla County Fire District #1. Next to Gretchen is Pendleton Fire Marshal Scott Goff and former Hermiston Fire Marshal Tom Bohm.
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Members of the Pendleton Lions Club pose with Pendleton Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Penninger (far left) and State Fire Marshal Jim Walker (far right).
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Chief's words make an impact
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L
ast month, State Fire Marshal Jim Walker presented the Silver Sparky award to the Pendleton Lions Club, who have embraced fire safety as one of their highest priorities.
Working with the Pendleton Fire Department they have raised money to purchase smoke alarms and distribute and install hundreds of them, with the help of the fire department, in area homes.
When asked about the reason the Lions Club chose smoke alarms as their focus, they pointed to Pendleton Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo and his words to club members during a speaking tour he gave when first arriving at the fire department in 2015.
"When I arrived to Pendleton, one of my first objectives was to get out into the community and get to know folks, said Chief Ciraulo. “I got on the ‘speaking circuit’ to all the various service clubs in town, including the Lions Club.”
“Often times when I give a public speech, I share with the group my experiences as a firefighter over the last three decades in three different states (California, Washington, and Oregon). I share my passion regarding smoke alarms based on my experience of recovering dead bodies from structure fires where there were no smoke alarms or the alarms had no batteries."
“I told members of the Lions Club that my primary goal as the new Chief in Pendleton is to ensure that no life is ever lost due to the lack of a smoke alarm (or a non-working one).”
After Chief Ciraulo’s speech to the Lions Club, they approached Ciraulo to ask how they could help. Over the course of the following months, club leadership and the chief developed a plan and began implementing it to ensure that every home in Pendleton would have at least one working smoke alarm.
They subsequently raised more than $1,000 for the project (to purchase and install smoke alarms) and partnered with the OSFM to obtain even more smoke alarms. The Lions Club then recruited local college students and other groups to assist with the installation process.
"At the end of the day, I am inspired and impressed by the commitment that the Pendleton Lions Club has demonstrated in ensuring that every home in our community has a working smoke alarm. In my opinion, it is the fire department’s responsibility to build a coalition within the communities they serve to address the fire problem they face. The Lions Club, along with other groups, are assisting our department in ensuring that our city is the premier city in Eastern Oregon.”
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Hazmat by rail emergency response coordination plan complete
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A
s directed by House Bill 3225, signed by Governor Brown in 2015, and established in OAR 873-120-0520, the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) has been tasked with developing a state agency coordination plan for response to oil and hazardous materials transportation by rail emergencies. This plan was developed in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of Transportation, and Office of Emergency Management (OEM), along with many other state agency partners. The plan complements existing local, state, and federal plans, and is intended to serve as an incident annex to the state’s emergency operations plan (EOP).
You can view the plan online
.
Some key features of the plan:
- Guides the coordinated state agency response to railroad emergencies involving oil or hazardous materials
- Defines the roles and responsibilities of state agencies in responding to the unique characteristics of different hazardous materials
- Discusses the specific authorities, capabilities, and assets that state government has for responding to hazmat by rail incidents
- Discusses the integration of the concept of operations with other elements of the Oregon Emergency Operations Plan, including the unique organization, notification, and activation processes and specialized incident-related reactions; and
- Defines guidelines for notification, coordination, and public information dissemination by state agencies during emergency response and subsequent recovery operations.
This plan is expected to be a living document as OSFM will review the plan annually with partner agencies and test it regularly through tabletop and functional exercises. In the coming months, the OSFM will be engaging OEM on the next steps to include this plan into the state EOP.
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News from the Analytics & Intelligence Unit
by Program Coordinator Dave Gulledge
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Image Trend Elite
As you may have heard, the Oregon Fire & EMS Bridge™ (aka Fire Bridge), is being replaced with a newer version of the product called Elite. The Image Trend Elite system has been up and running for some time now as the vendor continues to roll out the various modules users are familiar with in Fire Bridge. Ultimately, all of the features from Fire Bridge will exist in Elite. The remaining major components are estimated to be introduced by the end of 2018.
What is available in Elite now are the run forms (for both fire and EMS), inspections, training & activities, and inventory/maintenance modules. Local agencies also now have the ability to migrate their NFIRS run data from Fire Bridge to Elite. This process will need to happen at some point for each local fire agency. Contact the Analytics & Intelligence Unit for information on how to migrate your NFIRS data from Fire Bridge to Elite.
At some point, after all of the components have been made available in Elite, we will be turning off Fire Bridge, therefore every agency currently using Fire Bridge will eventually need to switch to Elite. We are encouraging local fire agencies to switch sooner rather than later, to make for a smoother transition. To do this, simply contact the Analytics & Intelligence Unit and we will get you started. We will also provide training and ongoing user support of the Elite system.
2017 Oregon Local Fire Agency Profile
The Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal Analytics & Intelligence Unit annually requests information from the state's local fire agencies. The purpose in collecting this information is multifold. In addition to ensuring the OSFM has the most accurate and current contact information for each agency, the collection of this information permits aggregate data on Oregon's fire service to be compiled. This information is often essential when seeking grants. Other organizations and agencies from the local to the federal level, as well as agencies from other countries, often seek this aggregated information to advance the role of the fire service.
The Analytics & Intelligence Unit emailed the
link
to the 2017 Oregon Local Fire Agency Profile on February 26, 2018.
Please do not resend previous years profiles for your agency.
We ask that you use the
link
to access, complete, and submit the 2017 Oregon Local Fire Agency Profile no later than April 27, 2018
.
Information collected will be used in the 2017 Annual Report Supplement and posted on the OSFM website.
- Agency Contact Information
- Population & Valuation Resources
- Personnel Resources
- Staff Contact Information
-Fire Chief
-Fire Marshal
For questions or more information, please contact the Analytics & Intelligence Unit at 503-934-8250 or by email at
osfm.data@state.or.us
.
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by Deputy State Fire Marshal David Mills
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Statutory Requirements for Fire Protection Water Supply
Q:
I am working with a privately owned water system serving a small community in Oregon. They are working on system planning for expansions, and are developing requirements for upcoming system improvements. Is there a statutory requirement to supply water for fire protection?
A:
Yes, under Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 476.030 and 476.120, the state fire marshal is responsible for promulgating rules and regulations which establish minimum standards for the protection of life and property from the dangers of fire. In addition, ORS 479.200 establishes a minimum standard for water supply and fire flow for certain public buildings as defined in ORS 479.010(1)(i). Municipalities, water districts, or fire protection districts also have statutory authority to establish their own standards for water supply and fire flow standards. (ORS 264.342, 478.910 and 478.924).
To meet this responsibility and to promote uniformity, the state fire marshal adopts by Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) a state fire code. In turn, we assure that locally adopted fire codes in both exempt and non-exempt jurisdictions are consistent with minimum state fire code standards.
The Office of State Fire Marshal adopts a statewide fire code by rule OAR 837-040-0010 - Fire and Life Safety Regulations, entitled the
Oregon Fire Code
(OFC). The
Oregon Fire Code
is generally adopted every three years, coinciding with the publication of a nationally recognized fire code. Effective July 1, 2014, the 2014
Oregon Fire Code
was adopted which is based upon the 2012 edition of the
International Fire Code
, as published by the
International Code Council
, and as amended by the Office of State Fire Marshal.
Fire protection water supply and fire flow from hydrants for fighting fires is generally under the authority of the fire code official (i.e., the fire chief or fire marshal) and local water purveyor.
Chapter 5, specifically Section 507 of the
Oregon Fire Code
entitled Fire Protection Water Supplies, requires that adequate fire protection water be provided to premises upon which new buildings are constructed or onto which a building is moved, from either outside of the jurisdiction or another location within the jurisdiction.
SECTION 507 FIRE PROTECTION WATER SUPPLIES
507.1 Required water supply.
An
approved
water supply capable of supplying the required fire flow for fire protection shall be provided to premises upon which facilities, buildings, or portions of buildings are hereafter constructed or moved into or within the jurisdiction.
Note that this section states that the water supply must be capable of supplying the required fire flow to the premises; however, the means by which the fire flow is supplied is determined by the policies of the local jurisdiction, such as a pumper taking suction from a hydrant, tanker, or lake (also see Appendices B and C of the
Oregon Fire Code
for further information on fire flows and fire hydrants).
The next sections address the water supply. It reads:
507.2 Type of water supply.
A water supply shall consist of reservoirs, pressure tanks, elevated tanks, water mains, or other fixed systems capable of providing the required fire flow.
507.2.1 Private fire service mains.
Private fire service mains and appurtenances shall be installed in accordance with NFPA 24.
507.2.2 Water tanks.
Water tanks for private fire protection shall be installed in accordance with NFPA 22.
A good water supply consists of an adequate source of water, distribution system, and proper pressure for delivery. If the water source is not reliable, it should not be considered as an acceptable water supply. The reader is then directed to the appendices for fire flow and hydrant criteria.
507.3 Fire flow.
Fire flow requirements for buildings or portions of buildings and facilities shall be determined by an
approved
method. See Appendix B.
507.5 Fire hydrant systems.
Fire hydrant systems shall comply with Sections 507.5.1 through 507.5.6. See Appendix C.
Appendix B of the OFC, sets forth minimum fire flow requirements for one- and two-family dwellings and commercial buildings, and offers a method for determining fire flow and its duration that could be approved by the fire code official. In areas that do not have a water supply, such as rural areas with no conventional water storage and distribution system, the jurisdiction may choose to utilize the methods contained in NFPA 1142,
Standard on Water Supplies for Suburban and Rural Firefighting,
the
International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC),
or the Insurance Services Office's
Guide for Determination of Needed Fire Flow.
Appendix Table B105.1 OFC, bases fire flow on the type of construction and the square footage of the fire flow calculation area. All calculations in the table are based on a 20 psi residual pressure.
The provisions of Section B103 provide for increases, reductions, and specific alternative methods for determining flows. In addition to Section B103, Sections 104.8 and 104.9 also provide the fire code official with authority concerning modifications and alternative methods.
The local fire chief or fire marshal is responsible for determining fire department access and water supply. These two components work together to provide the fire department with sufficient access to buildings to enable efficient fire suppression and rescue operations.
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2018 Task Force Leader Symposium wrap-up
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T
he third Oregon State Fire Marshal Task Force Leader Symposium was held at the end of February. 120 current and future task force leaders attended the event at Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond. The symposium has grown steadily since its inception in 2016, and has proven to be an effective venue to communicate expectations, provide training, and present changes to personnel who are key to the success of structural fire response in the state.
One of the key changes presented during the 2018 TFL Symposium was the standardization of flagging. One of the prevalent challenges of the 2017 season was the lack of standardized flagging among resources and teams. The following standards have been adopted, and will be communicated at a number of venues prior to the 2018 season.
Hazard Flagging:
- General Hazard: red & white striping with ‘HAZARD’ pre-printed
- Bees: yellow & black striping with ‘BEES’ pre-printed
- Hazard Trees: orange with black skull & cross-bones with ‘KILLER TREE’ pre-printed
- Water Supply: blue with ‘WATER’ pre-printed
- Escape Route: hot pink with ‘ESCAPE ROUTE’ pre-printed
Structural-Specific:
- Triaged structures will be flagged with light purple flagging with ‘TRIAGED’ pre-printed. Resources are asked to write the date, time, and task force identifier on the flagging.
- Occupied residences within evacuation zones will be flagged with white flagging with ‘OCCUPIED’ pre-printed. Again, personnel should include identifying information on this flagging.
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A panel discussion closes out the 2018 Task Force Leader Symposium. Panel participants (left to right) Rich LaBelle, Damon Schulze, Dale Borland, Ian Yocum, Scott Magers, and Mariana Ruiz-Temple. The panel was facilitated by Les Hallman.
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Flagging will be provided by the OSFM at the incident; resources are not being asked to carry or provide flagging for these purposes.
The success of the mobilization program relies on task force leaders to serve as exactly that – leaders to the personnel they supervise. OSFM would like to thank our state’s task force leaders for their dedication and recognize their time commitment during and outside of incident response. Kudos also to the departments who support their personnel attending the symposium. While it does not provide a certification, it is an excellent opportunity to learn tricks of the trade and increase proficiency.
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Smoke Alarm Installation Program training
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he Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal Smoke Alarm Installation Program (SAIP) provides smoke alarms to Oregon fire agencies to install in residences that are unprotected.
Due to changes with the program, training is required for all agencies who choose to participate. If you would like to participate in the program and you did
not complete training in 2017 or 2018
, please see the below information and links for available training dates.
The OSFM is offering free one-hour webinar trainings on the SAIP.
Topics include:
- Project planning and ideas
- Smoke alarms and installation
- Safety materials
- Program eligibility, changes, and requirements
Upcoming webinars:
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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