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Facilitator: Eric Ciccone (617) 285-6261 www.DormRoomFire.com |
Newsletter Volume = II |
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Contents: Harvard Contract=
or =
2 Northeastern U =
3 Tuft’s Fire Marshall =
3 AFSCC =
&nb=
sp;
4 College Fire Safety Officer News: NFPA Paul Caulderwood David Kevill of Spectrum Painting Company
AFSCC CONFERENCE. |
Northeastern University’s Fire Marshal |
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of classroom while the building was empty.=
There
was no sprinkler head in the vicinity of source of fire and Peter sta=
tes
that if he had the fire resistant Pyroblok dorm room paint on the wal=
ls
he would have limited the smoke damage and flame spread. In the photo above Peter is l=
ooking
at the world’s largest coating machine. =
(continued
page 2) |
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TUFTS FIRE MARSHALL SPEAKS AT NFP= A |
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Even if the current NFPA speaker is not sporting a flame neckti=
e.
Paul Calderwood now the |
the Assistant Fire Marshall at Tufts University Paul spoke from=
the
heart on the topic of Off Campus Fire Safety. He knows from professio=
nal
experience how lethal off campus housing can be. In 2003 a tufts student died in |
<=
!--[if gte vml 1]> an off campus fire. The apartment was a crawl space over a garage. The fire department believed they where
putting out a garage fire. =
=
(continued page 3) |
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Harv=
ard
Painting Contractor Tests The Wate=
rs =
One of
the biggest challenges for any campus fire safety officer is to make =
sure
that the facilities department is on the same page as health and safe=
ty department. David Kevill President of Spectrum Painting Comp=
any,
plans on testing the waters, but that does not mean he is going to ju=
mp
in the David is going to do a pilot dorm room project a=
t One of the biggest challenges for any campus fire
safety officer is to make sure that the facilities department is on t=
he
same page as health and safety department. This is especially true in=
a
large university with sizeable physical plant personnel and outside c=
ontractors.
Turf battles can happen, |
(although it is important to point out that Davi=
d is
not experiencing any turf battles.) His pilot project approach is a proactive way to
effect change on any campus without rocking the boat. Painters are use to being in charge of aesthetic=
s.
When they learn that they can become part of a dorm room fire safety
program just by changing the paint they use they sometimes experience=
feelings
of trepidation. Questions like “Is it toxic. Is it difficult to
work with?” are common and the answer is no to both questions. Understandably the painter may
still resist change. It is important to educate the applicator that f=
or
years they have been applying layers of paint on the walls. This actu=
ally
adds fuel to a fire. A =
wall
assembly is not tested with multiple layers of paint on it, especiall=
y to
the degree that regular college painting programs produce. |
Flames can easily run over the wall surface igni=
ting
the room contents even in masonry constructed dorms. Older layers of =
lead
based paint can contribute to the deadly mix. Rapid flame spread quickly ignites the synthetic
plastic and foam room contents which release a toxic black smoke that
becomes more deadly than the fire itself. Pyroblok fire resistant paint represents new tec=
hnology
in intumescent paint. It can be painted directly over multiple layers=
of paint
creating a true fire barrier. This new dorm room paint can limit flame
spread and smoke propagation. Today a painter can provide passive fire protect=
ion
without additional labor costs. Sometimes it’s not the cost that
provides the barrier but just the fear of something different. |
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R=
20;As
far as I am concerned The University has a moral obligation to make sure =
that
these students are safe.”
Fire Mars=
hall Paul
Caulderwood &nbs=
p; speaking
at the 2006 NFPA Conference in |
The machine is affectionately known as “Ki=
ng
Kong” at Bradford Industries in Bradford Industries is the home of Pyroblok intu=
mescent
fire resistant coatings and materials. King Kong coats all of the air
bags for the domestic auto industry. ( |
The Mars landers.) The auto air bag provides much needed redundancy=
for
vehicle occupants. Too much reliance on seat belts leaves the occupan=
ts
vulnerable. Back in the day detractors would argue that it was
unnecessary to have air bags when a seat belt was employed properly. =
Similarly, the technology exists today to provide student housing housing fire |
resistant paint that augments existing fire protection systems for little addi=
tional
costs in passive redundancy. College fire safety officers know that too much
reliance on smoke detectors or fire sprinklers can leave students
vulnerable with deactivation or even failure of the mechanical system=
s. |
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Tuft=
s Fire
Marshall Speaks at NFPA(cont’d) |
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They where shocked to learn that someone actually li= ved in a “hole in the wall” over the garage. Paul’s speech emp= hasized the tools available for campus fire safety officer to help safeguard stud= ents even when they do not live on campus. Colleges should develop a written agreement with pri= vately incorporated fraternities that spells out how they will operate. This agreement should point out housing issues and operating procedures for so= cial gatherings. There has to be provisions that allow unannounced fire life safety Inspections and fire drills. Treat them as they are a University building. Most of these fraternities are associated = with national chapters that have attractive financing available to improve the fire protection systems. |
One program instituted a=
t Tufts
was to tie life safety inspections to the City Lodging House Licensing Pr=
ogram.
The Fraternities need to renew this license yearly. After graduation each
year, we coordinate inspections with the It can be a more difficu= lt to bring the privately owned homes into the fold, but one method is to have = the University list the apartments available to the students but, have them p= re-inspected by the Unviversity. Sometimes the kids want to be independent of the University but no matter where they go to sleep they are still associated with The University. “As far as I am concerned The University has a moral obligation to make sure these students are safe.” |
We have a group in “I want you to look at the color of the smoke = in the unprotected room. It is black.” Thirty plus years ago light gray sm= oke was common in these fires. Now you have heavy black smoke from fast moving fi= res because of the man made materials, plastics and foams. Fires burn hotter = now. Twice the BTU’S on average. The protected room emitted a light gray smoke. Fifteen minutes into the fire and the conditions where still tenab= le. |
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AFSCC CONFERENCE June 27, 2006 |
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“ Passive features have oft=
en
been referred to as redundant, which implies duplication resulting
in overprotection. It is the position of the
|
Richard=
Licht
President of the Their upcoming Annual meeting on June 27-28, 2006 in The following interesting read comes directly from their web
site…. |
rated floors, walls and ceiling assemblie=
s,
fire rated doors and curtains, fire rated glazed openings, protection=
of
joints and penetrations, structural fire protection, smoke and heat
vents, fire and smoke dampers, fire extinguishers, standpipe outlets,
hose racks and similar passive, containment/control features.<=
/span> ------------------------------------------------=
------------------------ Fire Resistant Coatings College & University Representat=
ive: Eric
Ciccone Phone (617) 285-6261 Fax (781) 592-6214 E-mail o=
fficials
and designers on fire and smoke protection issues; |
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