Video: Kathleen Almand, executive director of the Fire Protection Research Foundation provides an overview of the project.

The study was conducted in collaboration with commercial and industrial insurer FM Global and contained two test series conducted at their research facility. The first evaluated the free burn fire growth patterns of three types of common Li-ion batteries stored in cardboard cartons with an external ignition scenario. The second evaluated the performance of sprinklers in protecting analogous commodities. Videos from three fire tests, which were part of the research, can be viewed on YouTube.

It was learned through this project that cartoned Li-ion batteries burn similarly when compared to other cartoned commodities in the early stages of fire growth. This is valuable information in understanding how to protect this commodity in storage facilities. Precluding battery involvement in the fire prior to sprinkler actuation makes us optimistic that water-based suppression systems, similar to those that are typically recommended for a variety of storage scenarios, is a viable option for Li-ion battery storage.

The Foundation’s report, “Li-ion Batteries Hazard and Use Assessment Phase IIB: Flammability Characterization of Li-ion Batteries for Storage Protection” is a summary of the companion detailed testing report by FM Global.

• Flammability Characterization of Lithium Ion Batteries for Storage Protection (M39)
• A Risk-Based Decision Support Tool to Assist Fire Departments in Managing Unwanted Alarms (T11)
• Emergency Responder Research to Practice (T02)
• The Intersection of Fire Safety and Sustainable Building Design (T35)
• Best Practices for Emergency Response to Incidents involving Electric Vehicle Battery Hazards (T40)
• Looking Ahead: The Fire Protection Research Foundation’s Strategic Research Agenda (W48)

For a full listing of conference sessions, please visit the education session listing.  We hope to see you there!

From the point of view of the fire department, a response to a condition that does not need fire department action in order to avoid loss is both a waste of resources and a needless risk of injury during the response. Response to unwanted alarms is an issue that is receiving increasing attention at the community level. 

This project was initiated by the Fire Protection Research Foundation to develop and implement a tool that can be used at the community level to assess risk, sand cost/benefit of strategies to reduce these risks, including appropriate emergency response protocols, enforcement of inspection and maintenance requirements, community education, etc. The goal of this project was to develop a practical, model-based tool that can be used by local fire departments with local data (to the extent possible) when deciding among courses of action to deal with unwanted alarms. The tool uses a generic model, combined with local data when available and national data when necessary, to estimate costs, fire losses and other impacts of strategies. 

Three reports were produced for this project. The first is a literature review, Development of a Risk-Based Decision Support Tool to Assist Fire Departments in Managing Unwanted Alarms, the second, Development of a Risk-Based Decision Support Tool to Assist Fire Departments in Managing Unwanted Alarms, is a report that describes the tool and the underlying model that estimates costs, losses and other impacts for alternative strategies. It includes national data needed for calculating fire losses under alternate strategies. A third report, Development of a Risk-Based Decision Support Tool to Assist Fire Departments in Managing Unwanted Alarms, details a local data form that was also developed to collect data for use in the tool.

If you are interested in exploring the application of this methodology in your community, please contact the Foundation for more information. 

In the PC World video below, Nick Barber shows you how to migrate your Google Reader subsciptions to a new RSS reader. He uses Takeout, Google’s way of providing your information in a format you can take with you to other programs. He turns his Google Reader subscriptions into a file that can then be used with different RSS readers. 

Looking for more information about Google Reader’s impending shutdown? You can read about three alternatives to Google Reader here. 

If all of this sounds too complicated but you still don't want to miss out, you can always subscribe to our blog's RSS feeds again, adding them to another RSS feeder directly from our blog. 

To begin to address these research challenges, the Foundation held a Research Charrette on Wednesday afternoon, February 27^th, 2013 in Orlando Florida, in conjunction with SupDet 2013.  The goal of the Charrette was to use the collective knowledge and experience of the fire protection leaders participating to take the first steps towards addressing each of the following challenges:

• What do we need to know to determine equivalencies between water mist and sprinkler protection for selected suppression scenarios?
• How do we measure the impact of high clearance of sprinklers over industrial (factory) operations?
• What more do we need to know to apply the NFPA 13 obstruction rules for ESFR sprinklers?
• What are the validation priorities for new research underway on sprinkler protection installed on sloped ceilings over storage?

The proceedings from the Charrette are now available here.

Separation distances are specified in many NFPA codes and standards and have been
developed over a number of years with varying technical basis. The Foundation
has initiated a project to revisit of the historical basis of selected requirements, and develop information and guidance which may inform a sound technical basis for adjusting these distances. 

We are seeking those with an interest and expertise in this field to serve on the project advisory panel, which will provide input, review and guidance to the project. If you have a background in hazard assessment, code enforcement related to hazardous materials and NFPA 400 or have other expertise to bring to the topic and are interested in serving, please respond to kalmand@nfpa.org

In her latest NFPA Journal column, Almand discusses how she and other researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Underwriters Laboratories, and other organizations outlined the dangers the fire service may face when responding to today's home fires. Another task was to develop an action plan that could guide future research on this issue.

"Much of the Foundation's research program already focuses on how new technology affects fire hazards and changes to NFPA codes and standards," says Almand. "Perhaps this new initiative will accelerate implementation of that work into the home fire safety arena."

Read the entire column in March/April edition of NFPA Journal.

Join us!

In general, the requirements within relevant codes and standards should be harmonized in order to simplify the planning, design and construction requirements for gaseous hydrogen refueling stations from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. This harmonization has already been accomplished to a large degree due to the continued efforts of the responsible Technical Committees (TCs). This report offers a fresh look at the current requirements and offers suggestions for the continued improvement of hydrogen codes and standards.

Download the complete report to read about the current requirements and suggestions. Below, a video with Martin Gresho, P.E., FP2FIRE, Inc. (one of the project's contractors) discusses this report.