Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) and the International Association of Fire Fighters
have prepared an educational resource for fire chiefs, firefighters, and
public officials to summarize and explain the key results of a landmark
study on the effect of the size of firefighting crews on the ability of
the fire service to protect lives and property in residential fires.
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Graphics in the education kit clearly illustrate the results of the NIST fire staffing report. Credit: NIST |
The study, Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiments,
was published by NIST last April. The study is the first to quantify
the effects of crew sizes and arrival times on the fire service’s
lifesaving and firefighting operations for residential fires. Little
scientific data on the topic had been previously available. The research
demonstrated that four-person firefighting crews were able to complete
22 essential firefighting and rescue tasks in a typical residential
structure 30 percent faster than two-person crews and 25 percent faster
than three-person crews. (More information on the study is available at http://www.nist.gov/bfrl/fire_research/residential-fire-report_042810.cfm.)
“The results from this rigorous scientific study on the most common
and deadly fire scenarios in the country—those in single-family
residences—provide quantitative data to fire chiefs and public officials
responsible for determining safe staffing levels, station locations and
appropriate funding for community and firefighter safety,” says NIST’s
Jason Averill, one of the study’s principal investigators.
The educational toolkit was developed to provide policymakers with a
quantitative and qualitative understanding of the research. The toolkit
was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to
Firefighters (FIRE Act) grant program. The toolkit contains a bound copy
of the report, a brochure of the executive summary for use in public
meetings, a DVD with side-by-side video comparing the timing of various
tasks for different crew sizes, fact sheets on key findings,
time-to-task results, and results on the effect of crew size on the time
to apply water on a fire, the fire growth rate, and occupant exposure
to toxins. A press release describing the study, stakeholder quotes, and
public statements by principal investigators are also included in the
toolkit.
The toolkit may be requested by sending email to shildebrant@iaff.org or jason.averill@nist.gov.
The partner organizations contributing to this study— the International
Association of Fire Chiefs, the Commission on Fire Accreditation
International, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute—also will make the
toolkits available.
The Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiments, NIST Technical Note 1661, can be downloaded at: (http://www.nist.gov/manuscript-publication-search.cfm?pub_id=904607).
Media Contact: Evelyn Brown, evelyn.brown@nist.gov, 301-975-5661
