Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Disaster Management
Harrowing, and Then Some (with Related Videos)
By Glenn Bischoff (glenn.bischoff@penton.com)
Confined-spaces rescues arguably are the scariest, most challenging incidents that a fire department faces....
FEMA Launches Mobile App for Disaster Preparedness (with Related Video)
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
The app lets citizens enter their family emergency meeting locations; review safety tips on what to do before, during and after a disaster; view a map of shelters and disaster-recovery centers across the U.S.; and read the agency’s latest blog posts on disaster incidents and response....
TV, Landline Still Citizens’ Preferred Way to Receive Emergency Notifications
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Federal Signal's 2011 Public Safety Survey found that 90% of Americans feel that some form of improvement is needed to public emergency-awareness communications where they live, Joe Wilson said. ...
NIST Interviews Joplin Residents to Determine Community’s Response To Emergency Communications
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Researchers will collect information on injuries and fatalities, human behavior, situational awareness, and emergency communications delivered prior to and during the tornado....
Fugate Testifies About FEMA Cost-Cutting, Disaster-Relief Allocations
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Fugate said the agency has increased its oversight of mission assignments, contracts and grants to secure funding in the DRF, the primary account used to fund disaster-assistance programs for states and local governments....
Stafford County FD Takes Mother Nature’s 1-2-3 Punch
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
First responders were ready for the worst, said Rob Brown, chief of the Stafford County (Va.) Fire and Rescue Department. He discusses his department’s preparation, including how his team survived nature’s 1-2-3 punch and his request for an IAFC Go Team. ...
Turning Point
A FIRE CHIEF Special Report
A decade ago, America was rocked to its foundation by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was a watershed event for the nation and for the fire service that protects it. Here, five chiefs reflect on that day of infamy and offer their perspectives on how it changed them and the service they care so much about....
NIST Studies Joplin Tornado Warning Time Against Death Toll, Structural Engineering
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
The second phase of the study will examine the pattern, location and cause of injuries and fatalities, and how these numbers were affected by emergency communications and the public response....
NIST to Study Joplin Emergency Response, Structural Engineering
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Its team of researchers will review the widespread destruction across a range of building and construction types, along with the large death toll despite a comparatively substantial warning time....
Needles in a Haystack
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
After a massive tornado crushed Joplin, Mo., the city's first responders faced an overwhelming search-and-rescue operation....
Fugate Testifies Before Indian Affairs Committee on Emergency Preparedness for Native Communities
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
FEMA will review portions of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief & Emergency Assistance Act to determine how FEMA can work more directly with local tribal communities, among other actions....
Missouri US&R Task Force Used Canines, GPS to Help with Joplin Search Efforts (with Related Video)
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
When Joplin (Mo.) first responders needed assistance following a devastating tornado, Fire Chief Mitch Randles called on Missouri Task Force 1, the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team based in Boone County. ...
Fugate Explains National Response Framework to House Transportation, Infrastructure Committee
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Fugate highlighted FEMA's recovery capabilities and programs that can be provided when a state requests federal assistance for presidentially declared disasters of all sizes, including catastrophic events and terrorist attacks. ...
FEMA, FCC Announce First Nationwide Test of Emergency Alert System
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct the first nationwide test of the emergency alert system (EAS) on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. EST....
FEMA Rep Describes Role in Joplin Tornado Response (with Related Video)
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Within 12 hours, FEMA incident-management teams and eight mobile communication units were stationed in the city helping local responders, Carolyn Stonner said....
Ariz. Chiefs Take Proactive Role at Wallow Fire
By Janet Wilmoth (janet@firechief.com)
Because of the magnitude of the fire, the Arizona Fire Chiefs Association dispatched a representative to the Incident Command System. Not since the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski Fire burned more than 500,000 acres has the AFCA dispatched members to assist in a wildfire....
Forest Service Chief Tidwell Testifies to Senate About 2011 Wildfire Response Readiness
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Tidwell testified that the Forest Service is prepared for the 2011 wildland fire season and is staffed to provide appropriate, risk-informed and effective fire management consistent with the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy....
USFS Deploys 2,500 Firefighters to Wallow Fire; Springerville FD Helps (with Related Video)
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
The Wallow Fire currently has consumed nearly 389,000 acres of Arizona’s Apache National Forest and may beat the state’s largest fire on record, 2002's Rodeo-Chediski blaze, which burned 468,638 acres. To fight it, the U.S. Forest Service has deployed more than 2,500 interagency firefighters through a joint incident command system in the area, said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell during a press conference....
Hurricane-Preparedness Briefing Attendees
Obama Holds High-Level Hurricane Preparedness Briefing with State, Federal Officials (with Related Video)
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco and National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read briefed the president on federal preparations for the upcoming hurricane season and FEMA’s whole communication approach to disaster management. ...
FEMA Praises Joplin Fire Chief Randles, First Responders
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
Deputy Administrator Rich Serino noted in his blog how the community came together to provide aid and emotional comfort when they, themselves, had lost everything. ...
Before the Unthinkable Occurs
By Robert S. Cook
Every fire department nationwide lives with the possibility of a mass-fatality incident, but very few of them are prepared to handle such events — which are very different from anything else they experience. Here's what you can do to prepare for the day that everyone hopes to avoid....
Key MFI Response Components
A list of some of the things that you will deal with during a mass-fatality incident. ...
Missouri Mutual Aid Activated for Joplin Tornado Response (with Related Video)
By Mary Rose Roberts (maryrose.roberts@penton.com)
The Kansas City Fire Department reportedly is overseeing rescue operations in — sending all rescue trucks and 35 firefighters — because the local fire department was incapacitated. ...
DHS Cuts UASI Grants for 31 Cities
By Janet Wilmoth (janet@firechief.com)
No longer eligible for UASI grants are Tucson, Ariz.; Sacramento, Calif.; Jacksonville, Fla., Honolulu; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Oklahoma City; among others. ...
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