NFPA Journal - July/August 2017 - 6

Editor's Note by Scott Sutherland

Executive Editor, NFPA Journal

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Scott Sutherland
ssutherland@nfpa.org

Pattern & Urgency
attern has a way of emerging as you put together a
magazine.
For this issue, it started
at the end of May, when we
read the "Wildfire" column submission by
Lucian Deaton ("Structural Lessons," page
77). Lucian offered a thought-provoking take
on the wildland/urban interface problem,
where he urged wildland firefighting agencies to take a closer look at how the fire
service has addressed emerging problems
in structural firefighting, especially home
fires. Those problems stem from a shifting
dynamic involving construction materials
and methods, as well as the contents of
modern homes, all of which can produce
more aggressive fires. As Lucian pointed
out, that scenario has a lot in common with
today's wildfire dynamic, where an abundance of fuel and a changing climate are
producing more of the "megafire" events for
which traditional wildland firefighting techniques are no match. From a 10,000-foot
vantage point, Lucian's connection is both
apt and timely.
Then came June, when a pair of international events-one structural, one
wildfire-brought a terrible clarity to the
global fire problem. On June 14, the Grenfell Tower fire in London ("Tower Blaze,"
page 14) killed at least 79 people; building

materials were in part to blame, including
flammable exterior cladding, material that
has since been discovered on hundreds of
residential buildings throughout the country. Within days of the Grenfell Tower blaze,
wildfires swept across Portugal (page 21),
killing more than 60 people.
As we were going to press, NFPA's president, Jim Pauley, issued a public statement
that offered a sobering assessment of that
global fire problem ("The System is Broken,"
page 16). Addressing Grenfell Tower, the
wildland fires in Portugal, and a host of
other recent events, Pauley posed an enormous question in just four words: "How did
this happen?" The complex answer illustrates
the magnitude of both the problem and the
work necessary to address it, both of which
underscore the critical mission of NFPA.
That kind of pattern indicates not just
where the news exists, but the urgency that
underlies the news. In its mission, initiatives, and partnerships, NFPA expresses its
own urgency in how it addresses the global
fire problem. Part of the mission for the staff
of NFPA Journal is to capture that urgency
in the pages of this magazine, and to
encourage a shared sense of urgency among
our readers. As you browse the stories in
this issue, I hope you'll come to the same
conclusion I did: that there is much to be
done, and that the time to do it is now.

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of the contributors and does not necessarily represent the official position of
NFPA; the meaning and intent of NFPA codes and standards can be obtained
only through NFPA's published procedures for requesting formal interpretations. The contents of this magazine may not be reprinted without the written
permission of NFPA. NFPA Journal is a registered trademark of NFPA.

6 | NFPA JOURNAL * J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 1 7

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