NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 21

GETT Y IMAGES

New™ by NFPA Journal video released
on YouTube a month
prior as proof that
hand sanitizer can
spontaneously
ignite if left in a hot
car. The problem
was people seemed
to misunderstand
the content of
the video, which
indicated that the
flashpoint of many
ABHS is around 63
degrees Fahrenheit.
Some confused
flashpoint, a technical term used
to characterize
the propensity of
a liquid to burn,
with ignition temperature. When a
liquid's flashpoint is
reached, the liquid
starts to give off
enough vapors to
ignite in air-but
those vapors still
need to be met with
an ignition source to
catch fire.
In a followup blog
and video published
by NFPA, Guy Colonna, director of
Technical Services
at NFPA, offered a
clarification: "After
you have those
vapors come off
because of that
low flashpoint, you
ultimately still have
to get enough heat
from whatever the
ignition source is
to be able to ignite
that, and that's called the ignition temperature. The ignition temperature of
the [ABHS] are going to be something
in excess of 700 degrees Fahrenheit."
Studies show a vehicle sitting in the
scorching summer sun won't get above
200 degrees Fahrenheit.
NFPA's clarifying blog and video
were picked up by USA Today, the popular fact-checking website Snopes, and
dozens of local news sources. Additionally, the Western Lakes Fire District
deleted its original post and wrote a
new one to apologize and clear up the
confusion.
"The open flame comment was to
remind people that when hand sanitizer
is wet on any surface it will ignite when
exposed to flame," the department
said. "With the recent increase in utilization of this product we wanted to

remind our customers that it's important not to allow this to occur ... We
apologize for any confusion."
Quincy, MA
FPW theme announced
In June, NFPA announced the theme of
its 2020 Fire Prevention Week public
education campaign: "Serve Up Fire
Safety in the Kitchen." This year's Fire
Prevention Week will kick off October 4
and run through October 10.
"Cooking continues to be a major
contributor to the home fire problem,"
said Lorraine Carli, NFPA vice president
of Outreach and Advocacy. "The good
news is that the vast majority of these
fires are highly preventable. This year's
Fire Prevention Week campaign works to
better educate the public about where
potential cooking hazards exist and
basic but critical ways to prevent them."
The campaign theme is particularly
timely this year, Carli added, given the
coronavirus pandemic. "As the public
may continue to avoid restaurants for
some time and opt instead to do more
cooking and entertaining at home, the
potential for home cooking fires will
likely increase as well," she said. Some
fire departments in the United States
have already reported an uptick in
kitchen fires during the pandemic. In
Durham, North Carolina, for example,
kitchen fires were up 88 percent in midMay, according to local news reports.
Go to firepreventionweek.org to learn
more about this year's FPW campaign.
Washington, DC
Policy Institute report sheds light on
2019 Ecosystem successes, failures
A new report from the NFPA Fire & Life
Safety Policy Institute examines fires and

other incidents from 2019 through the
lens of the NFPA Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem, indicating how each represents
a breakdown of one or more of the eight
components included in the Ecosystem.
The report examines well-known
incidents like the Notre Dame cathedral
fire of July 2019, as well as lesser-known
incidents including a daycare fire in
Erie, Pennsylvania, in August that killed
five children. "Safety is not luck," the
report says. "It is the joint effort of
knowledge, preparation, oversight, and
vigilance. This joint effort requires the
strong and reliable performance of all
eight of the Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem
components. Weakness in one or more
components creates conditions that
attract risk." You can read the full report
at nfpa.org/ecosystem.
For a list of Ecosystem successes and
failures from the past two months and
a brief explanation of the Ecosystem
in general, see this issue's "Ecosystem
Watch" on page 13.
Quincy, MA
New NFPA Podcast out
The new NFPA Podcast series launched
in June, with episodes on the legal
cannabis industry and energy storage
systems.
Hosts Jesse Roman and Angelo Verzoni, who also hosted the NFPA Journal
Podcast, are joined by other NFPA staff
members, including Derek Vigstol and
Robby Dawson, on the series, which
will feature new episodes every second
and fourth Tuesday of the month. On
tap for July are episodes on remote
video inspections and residential fire
sprinklers.
"Great mix of stuff," reads a recent
Apple review of the new show. You can
listen and subscribe by visiting nfpa.org/
podcasts.

ECOSYSTEM FAIL
The fire that devastated Notre Dame cathedral
in 2019 is part of a new Ecosystem report by the
NFPA Fire & Life Safety Policy Institute.

N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

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http://www.nfpa.org/ecosystem http://www.firepreventionweek.org http://www.nfpa.org/postcasts http://www.nfpa.org/postcasts http://NFPA.ORG/JOURNAL
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2020
