NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 11
READERS
RESPOND TO
NFPA JOURNAL
emergency lights illuminate the egress
path in the event of a power outage,
which will enable us all to get out safely.
MARK CONROY
Senior engineer
Brooks Equipment Company
Charlotte, North Carolina
(The author is a member of several
NFPA technical committees)
Clarifying standards for flameresistant clothing
To the editor:
A recent issue included a Q&A with a
fire dancer who is also a member of the
NFPA 160, Standard for the Use of Flame
Effects Before an Audience, committee
["Playing with Fire," Dispatches, May/
June]. The article concerned me; it
was attention-getting, but it did not go
as far as it could to educate the NFPA
family on the proper standards to use for
flame-resistant clothing.
The article pointed out that the fire
actor was told she needed clothing
that complied with NFPA 701, Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame
Propagation of Textiles and Films. But
the article did not point out that this
standard is not intended for clothing.
There is a reason why many melting
materials will pass NFPA 701. While
the standard is for textiles, such as curtains, the testing in this standard does
not assure the prevention of burns to
workers-it only assures that smallscale fires will be impeded. The article
could have pointed out that, while
NFPA 701 might have been required by
the fire marshal or authority having
jurisdiction, it was in fact not applicable to clothing. The article could also
have pointed to NFPA 2112, Standard
on Flame-Resistant Clothing for Protection of Industrial Personnel Against
Short-Duration Thermal Exposures
from Fire, or to NFPA 1975, Standard on
Emergency Services Work Apparel, but
it should never have left the impression that the fire marshal was correct
in recommending flame-resistant melting clothing for a worker to wear in
any situation.
We need to get this message out. I
tried to get a tentative interim amendment (TIA) in for NFPA 701, since it is
still often misused for clothing, though
ANSI 107 and other standards have
tried to clarify this. While my TIA was
rejected, I will make sure to submit a
public comment in the next cycle.
I love what NFPA does and generally I
am totally supportive of its efforts. I was
a founding member of NFPA 2112, and
I contribute to NFPA 70E, Standard for
Electrical Safety in the Workplace. I have
spent 25 years of my career trying to
make it clear just how dangerous melting materials are on human bodies in
fires-I just hate having to fight a good
curtain standard to do it. Your recent
article was a great chance to communicate that clarification, and I would love
to see more editorial oversight to catch
such excellent opportunities.
HUGH HOAGLAND
Senior consultant
ArcWear Arc and Flash Fire Test Labs
Louisville, Kentucky
Sprinklers and sustainability
To the editor:
I read Birgitte Messerschmidt's recent
"Research" column on the need for a
more detailed understanding of the
environmental impacts of fire ["Full
Effect," May/June]. As I read it, I
thought that she would surely refer to
the proven fact that automatic sprinklers are a significant sustainability
device-when deployed, 98 times out
of 100 a few sprinklers are able to control a fire and send the alarm. Thanks
to sprinklers, we are able to avoid the
massive black clouds, such as those
described in the column, that are
produced when a fire burns out of
control. But no mention of automatic
sprinklers was made in this regard.
Mention is made, however, of the
environmental concern and proven
problem of contaminated water runoff
from manual firefighting operations that
are deployed to fight large, out-of-control fires in commercial and industrial
facilities. The 1986 Sandoz agrochemical
storehouse fire is a good example. Suppression operations at the fire, which
occurred in the Schweizerhalle industrial
complex in Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland, released toxic agrochemicals into
the air and resulted in tons of pollutants
entering the Rhine river, turning it red
and causing a massive fish kill. The
storehouse was not protected with automatic sprinklers. A properly designed fire
sprinkler system and a properly designed
floor drainage system connected to
a properly designed containment/
impound end point on the property
would have totally prevented this environmental disaster, as well as saving the
building and most of its contents.
Needless to say, I was disappointed
that the column made no mention of
automatic sprinkler systems as sustainability enhancers in this column.
JOHN SHARLAND, P.E., FSFPE
NFPA life member
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Birgitte Messerschmidt responds:
The intent of the column was not to
discuss sustainability but to focus on
the environmental impact of fire. As
the reader rightly points out, there is
research available that shows the benefits
of sprinklers in reducing fires and their
environmental impact. The challenge is
that the environmental impact of fire is
not well understood, since research has
been lacking. The point of the column
was to bring awareness to this important area of research and inform readers
about the work we are doing on it here
at NFPA. Had I jumped straight to the
potential solution of using automatic
sprinklers, the importance of understanding the underlying problem would
have been lost. By understanding all the
impacts of fire, we can better argue for
investing in fire safety equipment such
as automatic sprinklers.
CORRECTION
As a result of an editing error, the
September/October "Research" column
misidentified this year's Fire Prevention Week. We regret the error.
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - November/December 2020
Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 5
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 6
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 7
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 8
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 9
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 10
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 11
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 12
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 13
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 14
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 15
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 16
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 17
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 18
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 19
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 20
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 21
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 22
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 23
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 24
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 25
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 26
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 28
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 29
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 30
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 31
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 32
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 33
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 34
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 35
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 36
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 37
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 80
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover4
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