Here are some of the news articles that have come across my desk in the last couple of weeks:
One Fort Hood victim barricaded door to save others – USA Today
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Fire in the Hall: What Boards Don’t Know About Fire Safety Can Kill People – Habitat
“But the further you are from the fire, [the less you] want to leave the safety of your apartment” — with its fireproof door — “and go into a smoke-filled environment.”
According to New York City law, this information is supposed to be given to every apartment in every co-op, every condo, every rental building and ever dormitory every year — including a page you stick to the back of each apartment door.
“It’s called the Fire Safety Guide, and it’s mailed out either in October during Fire Prevention Week or in January with the [City’s requisite] window-guard notice,” says Bullock. Co-op / condo boards and managers download the three-part document from the “Residential Fire Safety Guide and Notices” page of the FDNY website.
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Framingham fire inspector faces corruption charges – Boston Globe (This is the town I live in – so disappointing. 🙁 )
A Framingham fire inspector has been indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury on charges of accepting a corrupt gift, falsifying reports in exchange for services, and obstruction, officials said.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan’s office said the indictments allege that Todd Young entered a Framingham body works business on Jan. 17 wearing his Framingham Fire Department uniform.
After identifying himself as a Framingham firefighter and fire inspector, Young allegedly said he would not issue fire code violations if he received free services from the business, prosecutors said.
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Livingstone president calls city’s presentation ‘irresponsible’ – Salisbury Post
“The way this was presented was inflammatory, and it was tantamount in my opinion to you walking into movie theater and, seeing that the exit light is not working properly, yelling ‘fire,’” Jenkins said. “Looking at what we are talking about here, it is not that serious.”
The outstanding code violations include missing or damaged fire doors and exposed wiring, he said, and replacement doors and light fixtures have been ordered. An improperly installed gate and a parking problem also have been fixed to accommodate emergency vehicles, he said.
Jenkins acknowledged that Livingstone has had more than 1,000 fire code violations in the past four years and accrued more than $63,000 in fines, the most in city history. He said the college has been working diligently to address the violations and said he thought the city agreed.
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Leading cruise liners carry leaky lifeboats, have faulty cranes, and defective fire doors – The Standard
A forum organized in Washington by the US National Transportation Safety Board heard about the problems on Tuesday.
Captain Eric Christensen of the US Coast Guard said 140 cruise ships – the majority of them flagged in other countries – were inspected in US ports in 2013.
The most commonly deficient parts were fire screen doors that fail to close properly, followed by lifeboats with leaky hulls, engines that didn’t start or faulty davits – the cranes that lower them into the water.
“Means of escape” came third on the list, followed by improper storage areas and inadequate emergency drills and crew training.
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Quebec daycares step up security in wake of Gatineau shooting – CBC News
Unlike fire safety plans, lockdown procedures are not mandatory at daycares in Quebec. They are mandatory at Quebec schools.
A spokesperson for Quebec’s ministry in charge of daycares said there’s no plan to make lockdown plans mandatory.
Still, daycare owners like Mona Donnelly told CBC News they called police after last year’s daycare shooting looking to improve their safety procedures.
“Whether it’s mandatory or not, for us it’s important that we’re supported in that, so that there is some sort of protocol out there that says, ‘OK yes, what we’ve done is right, is good, is OK’,” said Donnelly, the general manager of Bambinos Universe Early Childhood Centre in Shawville, Que., northwest of Gatineau.
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Fire Investigators: Bedroom Door May Have Saved Minneapolis Man’s Life – Channel 5 ABC
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Fire Official Says Door Molding Prevented People From Exiting Loews Theater – Word on the Shore
“There was dust in the smoke detector in theater number 14, which is the new IMAX,” Mego said. “As we were investigating, police received a report that patrons could not exit theater number seven because the door was locked, it was blocked. At that time I sent the police department over there to check it and they said they didn’t see anything.”
“As we’re getting ready to leave, a couple patrons came up to us and said the door is blocked and they were concerned,” Mego continued. “At that point, I was working with the fire alarm to get that back up and sent some fire fighters to check the door.”
Mego said a black rubber molding strip got caught underneath exit door of theater seven and caused the door to become stuck and hard to open. He said the door was not locked.
“First off, the doors don’t lock, there’s a panic hardware,” he said. “They took a little extra give and shove to open, but they opened up.”
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Welders working nearby blamed for Back Bay fire – Boston Globe
Hasson declined to comment on how long it took for sparks to turn into the flames that consumed 298 Beacon St. He said there was no record of a permit taken out for welding at the address.
The department has a series of regulations for welding that are similar to national voluntary standards set by the National Fire Protection Association, based in Quincy.
In obtaining a permit, a welding company typically agrees to have a “fire watch” present, a firefighter or someone else knowledgeable in preventing and stopping fires. That fire watch must remain at the scene for at least 30 minutes after the work is completed to make sure flames are not sparked. No fire watch was present at the construction site on Beacon Street, Evans said.
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Building a Robot Firefighter – Boston Globe
Search-and-rescue robots that roll on wheels or caterpillar treads were deployed during disasters such as the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Last year, a hose-wielding robot from South Korea tackled a major fire in Illinois. And in May, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police used an unmanned drone to find an injured man who was lost in a remote area of Saskatchewan, in what may be the first case of a drone aircraft saving a life.
Now the US government and world-class universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Worcester Polytechnic Institute are developing humanoid rescue robots, two-legged machines designed to climb stairs, open doors, operate fire hoses, even drive emergency vehicles.
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Virginia District’s School Security System Helps Capture Sex Offender – Campus Safety
Michael Anthony, 35, arrived at one of the district’s middle schools on April 1 to pick up his girlfriend’s son, where he was required to check in through the schools Lobby Guard security management system, Roanoke Times reports.
Established in August 2013, the system mandates all visitors to swipe their ID cards, which the system then checks against the national sex offender registry. Anthony’s card immediately alerted the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Sex Offender database and confirmed that he was a convicted sex offender.
Anthony was denied access to the school, and was later arrested by the Virginia State Police Sex Offender Investigative Unit.
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Regarding the Livingston College piece, just how does a fire door go missing?
I’m struck by the comments in the local paper’s feedback section. Paraphrased, “if the college is fined for (breaking the law), they won’t be able to afford to obey the law”. No thought of “if there’s a fire fatality, the victim will be dead”.