The Fire Protection Podcast: Episode 48 – With New Regulations, Where do Foam, HFCs, and 3M™ Novec™ 1230 Go From Here??
3M and DuPont Covered Up the Dangers of PFAS
WI City Pursues Litigation Against PFAS Manufacturers
Private Wells in NC Being Tested for PFAS by Chemours
Dutch Government Holding 3M Responsible for PFAS Pollution
Firefighters Concerned about Exposure to PFAS
3 PFAS Manufacturers Will Pay $1.2B to Settle Contaminated Water Claims
Canada Adds PFAS to Toxic Chemical List
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Fire Likely Caused by Generator on Cruise Ship in Alaska |
Fire at Recycling Facility that had Frequent Visits from Fire Department |
WA Governor Signs Aerial Suppression Bill
Texas Passes Legislature to Require Fire Suppression System in Kennels
AIM Act – HFC Fire Suppressant Recycling Fact Sheet
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Flammable Tape Delays Boeing Spacecraft
Airbus Making a Deal to Sell 500 Planes to IndiGo
Defect on 787 Dreamliner Causes Boeing Stock Drop
Dreamliners Delivery Delayed Due to Defect
Boeing Sued for Fraud by Aerospace Company
Airbus Increased Delivery of Aircrafts
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Fire Erupted on Balcony of Cruise Ship |
New Mobile Battery Uses Salt-based Power Cells
Garbage Truck and Waste Facility Fires Caused by
Li-ion Batteries
Famous California Mansion Badly Damaged by Fire
Store Property Deemed Hazardous Due to Broken Fire Suppression System Pipe
1 Person Perished in Fire at Days Inn
New ConocoPhillips Project Will Add 20K Barrels of Oil to Daily Production
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Convergint Acquires Ballou Fire Systems
Altus Fire and Life Safety Acquires Priority Fire and Security
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Fire Suppression Systems Installed before 2010 May Not Be as Effective
Highlighting the Dangers of Li-ion Batteries
Are All Hotels Required to Have a Fire Suppression System?
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Massive Fire at Pallet Factory |
Most Popular Stories from Mid-May 2023 |
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Inspect Point
Regulation and new technology have, in tandem, created some new opportunities in fire protection as of late. Firefighting foam, HFCs, and other clean agents are being scrutinized for their harmful effects on humans and the environment. In the last few years, foam protection schemes have drastically changed with the banning of PFOS / PFOA products. These foam agents were tremendous at putting out high-challenge fires. What do we do now???
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3M, along with DuPont, are the targets of a new study alleging decades of covering up the dangers of PFAS
(BELGA/AFP via Getty Images)
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6/1/23
By Jeffrey Kluger
Time
The female employees at the DuPont chemical company’s Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, W. Va., were not given much of an explanation in 1981 when they were all abruptly moved away from any part of the factory that produced a category of chemicals then known as C8. They certainly were not told about their eight recently pregnant coworkers who had worked with C8 and given birth that year—one of them to a baby with eye defects and just a single nostril; another to a baby who had eye and tear duct defects; and a third with C8 in its cord blood.
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5/23/23
By Sabrina Lee
News 9 WAOW
WAUSAU, Wis. -- The city of Wausau will likely end up spending tens of millions of dollars to rid its water of PFAS, and now they're taking steps so taxpayers don't have to pay for it. The city was first approached by law firms about pursuing litigation against PFAS manufacturers last February, and now, they're finally ready to take action.
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5/23/23
By Zach Solon
WECT 6 News
WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Chemours continues to send letters to residents in New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, and Pender counties to determine if they are eligible for private well water testing. That testing for toxic PFAS compounds, including GenX, has been underway in the region since a consent order was first issued in 2019.
Chemours, the company responsible for spilling PFAS compounds into the Cape Fear River, is responsible for conducting the testing and identifying residents who may be eligible for replacement drinking water supplies like water bottles or filters.
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5/23/23
By Reuters
Yahoo! Finance
THE HAGUE-- The Dutch government said it would hold U.S. industrial group 3M Co liable for polluting the Western Scheldt river with potentially harmful substances known as PFAS or "forever chemicals".
3M said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters that it had received a letter from the Dutch government's legal representative and was studying its contents.
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Firefighters Concerned about Exposure to PFAS |
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6/4/23
By Amy Passaretti Willis
Port City Daily
NEW HANOVER COUNTY — “Who is protecting us, the firefighters, while we’re protecting the community?” Laura Leigh Bransford asked roughly 250 people at Cape Fear Community College.
Bransford, who has been a firefighter for New Hanover County for six years, was one of four panelists who spoke during a segment of the second annual State of the River. It’s hosted annually by Cape Fear River Watch, a daylong event featuring experts sharing issues impacting the natural resources of the region and the work being done to address them.
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New Hanover County Professional Firefighters Association president Benjamin Bobzien, NHC firefighter Laura Leigh Bransford, Haw River riverkeeper Emily Sutton and Dr. Ralph Mead close out the State of the River with a panel on PFAS impacting firefighters. (Port City Daily/Amy Passaretti Willis) |
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3 PFAS Manufacturers Will Pay $1.2B to Settle Contaminated Water Claims |
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6/5/23
News 24
Three major chemical manufacturers announced they will pay nearly $1.2 billion to settle claims that they contaminated water sources across the United States with harmful "forever chemicals" known as PFAS.
Chemours, DuPont and Corteva said in a joint press release that they had "reached an agreement in principle to resolve all PFAS-related drinking water claims" for areas serving "the vast majority of the United States population."
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Three major chemical manufacturers will pay a $1.2 billion settlement for claims that they contaminated water sources across the US. (Getty Images) |
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Canada Adds PFAS to Toxic Chemical List |
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May 2023
Government of Canada
Owing to the widespread use of PFAS combined with their ubiquitous presence in the environment, humans are continuously exposed to multiple PFAS, which have the potential to cause adverse effects of concern. On the basis of what is known about well-studied PFAS and the potential for other PFAS to behave similarly, and on the expectation that combined exposures to multiple PFAS increase the likelihood of detrimental impacts, it is proposed that the class of PFAS meets the criterion under paragraph 64(c) of CEPA as these substances are entering or may enter the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that constitute or may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health.
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Fire Likely Caused by Generator on Cruise Ship in Alaska |
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The cruise ship Sapphire Princess and the vessel Wilderness Discoverer in Glacier Bay National Park after a fire was reported on the smaller vessel. (U.S Coast Guard photo via Facebook) |
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6/5/23
By Michelle Theriault Boots
Anchorage Daily News
Nearly 70 people were evacuated from a small cruise ship in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park after a fire, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
There were no reports of injuries.
Crew members on the 178-foot vessel Wilderness Discoverer reported a fire at 7:30 a.m., the Coast Guard said in a statement. The boat is owned by UnCruise Adventures, a small-ship cruise company based in Juneau with itineraries in Southeast Alaska.
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Fire at Recycling Facility that had Frequent Visits from Fire Department |
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5/31/23
By Drake Bentley and Beck Andrew Salgado
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee and Wauwatosa fire crews fought a blaze for almost 24 hours at a recycling plant in the Menomonee Valley, which has received frequent visits from the fire department over the years, Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said.
Lipski said it is a possibility the cause of the fire may never be known, however, the fire chief did mention that in Milwaukee, and across the country, lithium-ion batteries have been a common source of fires.
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Wisconsin Department of Transportation cameras shows a fire at Materials Recovery Facility in Menomonee Valley (Wisconsin Department of Transportation) |
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WA Governor Signs Aerial Suppression Bill |
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5/25/23
By Olivia Harnack
Whitman County Gazette
COLFAX -- Gov. Jay Inslee signed Rep. Mary Dye’s aerial suppression bill into law Monday, May 15, culminating a seven-year effort to get the state to reimburse local fire districts for their costs of using helicopters and airplanes to attack a wildland fire when it initially breaks out.
“It would be really beneficial for us to have that asset before we need that,” said Whitman County Director of Emergency Management, Bill Tensfeld. “It gives responders an extra tool while they are making access to the fire.”
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Texas Passes Legislature to Require Fire Suppression System in Kennels |
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The Georgetown City Council voted Feb. 22 to implement changes to the city's fire code in animal-boarding facilities following the September fire that killed 75 dogs at the Ponderosa Pet Resort. |
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5/25/23
By Kailey Hunt
KETR
Sept. 18, 2021, was supposed to be the happiest day of Don and Pam Richards' lives. After dating for 25 years, the pair was finally getting married. Instead, the date would go on to mark a horrible tragedy in their lives.
That day, a fire broke out at the Ponderosa Pet Resort in Georgetown, where the couple had chosen to board their two 4-month-old dogs, Bunnie and Clyde, during their wedding weekend.
Seventy-five dogs, including Bunnie and Clyde, were killed in the fire. It was later revealed that the facility was not equipped with a fire sprinkler system or 24-hour staffing.
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AIM Act – HFC Fire Suppressant Recycling Fact Sheet |
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Back in December 2022, NAFED issued a Special Report entitled “Understanding the AIM Act and its Impact on the Fire Protection Market.” You may also recall the AIM Act was discussed in general at the 2022 annual conferences. At the time, NAFED advised it would continue to monitor and advise of updates as they become available. This May 2023 Special Report is being issued to advise the US EPA has released an updated Fact Sheet, “Fire Suppressant Recycling Under the HFC Allocation Program: Questions and Answers.” |
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Flammable Tape Delays Boeing Spacecraft |
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6/2/23
By Tim Fernholz
Quartz
If you want to imagine an engineer’s nightmare, here it goes: You’ve spent nearly a decade building a spacecraft, testing and re-testing the vehicle to ensure it can survive the extreme conditions onboard a rocket to orbit. Now, you’re preparing to launch NASA astronauts into space in a month.
Then, someone comes up to you. Do you remember the tape—the tape we wrapped around all the wires hidden behind panels in the spacecraft, to protect them from shorting out? Hundreds of feet of tape? Turns out that tape is flammable. We’re going to have to disassemble the whole spacecraft to see where it is and how to fix it, or else risk a potentially disastrous fire.
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Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on the launch pad in 2021. |
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Airbus Making a Deal to Sell 500 Planes to IndiGo |
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If finalized, the 500-plane order from IndiGo would be the largest-ever by volume. (Airbus) |
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6/4/23
By Jason Ma
MSN
Boeing rival Airbus is near a deal to sell 500 planes from the A320 narrow-body family of jets to India's largest airline, IndiGo, Reuters reported.
An order that size would make it the largest ever by volume, topping Air India's 470-plane deal in February.
The deal isn't finalized, but the European aerospace giant is the current frontrunner amid an industry gathering in Istanbul, sources told Reuters.
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Defect on 787 Dreamliner Causes Boeing Stock Drop |
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6/6/23
By Claudia Assis
MSN
Shares of Boeing Co. dropped 2% in midday trading after the aerospace and defense company said it found new problems with its 787 Dreamliner jets.
The defect, which is not a flight safety concern, is connected with a stabilizer fitting, and will lead the company to inspect every plane in inventory before delivery, Boeing said.
The inspections and required rework will affect timing of near-term 787 deliveries, but “at this time we do not expect that this issue will change our full-year guidance regarding 787 deliveries,” the company said.
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Boeing stock drops on warning about defect on 787 Dreamliner planes (Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images) |
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Dreamliners Delivery Delayed Due to Defect |
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The Dreamliner problem doesn’t present an immediate safety risk, according to Boeing. (Juliette Michel/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images) |
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6/6/23
By Andrew Tangel
The Wall Street Journal
Boeing said it would delay deliveries of its 787 Dreamliners in the coming weeks after discovering a new defect.
The Arlington, Va.,-based airplane maker said the defect is related to a fitting on the plane’s horizontal stabilizer, a wing-shaped surface at the tail of the plane. The company said the issue didn’t pose an immediate safety problem.
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Boeing Sued for Fraud by Aerospace Company |
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6/7/23
By Pat Ferrier, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Yahoo! News
A Fort Collins aerospace design and manufacturing company filed a civil lawsuit against aerospace behemoth The Boeing Co., accusing it of trade secret and copyright infringement, civil conspiracy, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract for stealing and misusing proprietary information.
The lawsuit by Wilson Aerospace LLC claims theft of intellectual property caused safety flaws in several aerospace and aviation products, including leaks aboard the International Space Station.
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Airbus Increased Delivery of Aircrafts |
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6/7/23
By Seeking Alpha
MSN
Airbus last month delivered 63 aircraft to customers, 34% more than in May 2022. The European plane maker this year has delivered 244 jets so far this year.
It also removed 17 plans from its order list, including 16 for Go First, the Indian airline that last month filed for bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported.
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Coming this Friday, 6/16/23 |
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New Upcoming Facebook Group where Industry Professionals can Discuss and Keep up with our Constantly Changing Industry |
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Fire Erupted on Balcony of Cruise Ship |
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5/29/23
By Jim Walker
Cruise Law News
A fire erupted on the balcony of a guest cabin on the Pacific Adventure cruise ship off the coast of New South Wales. The P&O Cruises’ cruise ship was carrying over 3,000 guests and a crew of over 1,000.
Newspapers reported that many guests were forced to evacuate from their cabins as the crew worked to extinguish the blaze. Accounts range that from several hundreds to over a thousand guests were displaced.
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New Mobile Battery Uses Salt-based Power Cells |
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5/30/23
By Jaron Schneider
PetaPixel
Anton/Bauer has announced the Salt-E Dog mobile battery, a 9kWh power supply that uses salt-based power cells instead of lithium — the first of its kind for motion picture and television production.
One of the production industry’s largest battery providers, Anton/Bauer says that its industry-first power source deliver consistent and reliable energy and addresses rising concerns over the carbon emissions associated with gas-powered generators or lithium-ion battery production. The company is positioning its Salt-E Dog system as a major milestone in sustainable power for the entertainment industry.
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Garbage Truck and Waste Facility Fires Caused by Li-ion Batteries |
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5/28/23
By Declan Bowring
ABC Radio Sydney
A fire that resulted in a garbage truck having to dump its load in a car park in southern Sydney has prompted calls for consumers to safely dispose of lithium batteries.
Firefighters say garbage truck fires caused by batteries are increasing, creating life-threatening situations for truck drivers and workers at waste facilities.
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Waste crews had to dump the garbage on to the street for fire crews to tackle the blaze. (Supplied: Bayside Council) |
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Famous California Mansion Badly Damaged by Fire |
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5/29/23
By Madilynne Medina
SFGATE
A massive fire occurred at a famous California mansion, the Monterey Fire Department said.
The home, which was the filming location for the 1959 movie "A Summer Place," suffered extensive damage from the fire.
Panholzer said the sole resident of the Victorian mansion tried to extinguish the fire through a window but was unsuccessful as the fire burned on the second and third floors. He said the resident made it out of the house and was not injured.
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The Monterey Fire Department responded on Friday, May 26th to La Porte Mansion, located at 1030 Lighthouse Ave, in Pacific Grove, California after reports of a major fire. |
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Store Property Deemed Hazardous Due to Broken Fire Suppression System Pipe |
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Exterior of former Sears store at Burnsville Center (City of Burnsville) |
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5/22/23
By Cory Knudsen
KSTP
A store property previously home to Sears at Burnsville Center has been declared a hazardous building, according to an agenda report from the city of Burnsville.
On Dec. 27, the Burnsville Fire Department reported to the Seritage SRC Finance-owned property at 14250 Buck Hill Road for a water leak.
The responders found a 3-inch fire suppression system pipe that was broken. It was also discovered that the building didn’t have a functioning fire alarm or heat, which are both required.
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1 Person Perished in Fire at Days Inn |
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Massive fire at the Days Inn in Kittery on May 17, 2023. (David S.) |
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6/5/23
By Ariana St Pierre
WGME
KITTERY -- Officials say they have identified the person who was killed in the massive fire at the Days Inn in Kittery last month.
On Monday, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the victim as 57-year-old Daniel Clarke of Manassas, Virginia.
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New ConocoPhillips Project Will Add 20K Barrels of Oil to Daily Production |
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6/6/23
By Alex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News
Yahoo! Entertainment
ConocoPhillips will develop the Nuna field, a project that will add up to 20,000 barrels of oil to Alaska's daily production, the company announced this month as the state debates higher oil industry taxes.
The oil giant acquired the relatively small field in 2019 from Caelus, a company from Dallas that still owns the potentially giant but remote offshore oil prospect in Smith Bay, off Alaska's North Slope.
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Convergint Acquires Ballou Fire Systems |
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6/6/23
TheBigRedGuide
Convergint, a global pioneer in service-based systems integration announced it has acquired Ballou Fire Systems, LLC, a Houston-based integrator that designs, installs, and services electronic life safety, security, and communications systems.
The acquisition brings an expert team to Convergint, expanding the company’s capabilities in the Houston and South-Central region and bolstering its service offerings with a focus on the healthcare, education, and commercial markets.
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Altus Fire and Life Safety Acquires Priority Fire and Security |
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6/1/23
By AE Industrial Partners
PR Newswire
Altus Fire and Life Safety, a full-service fire and life safety platform, announced it has acquired Priority Fire and Security, Inc., a provider of design, installation, monitoring, maintenance and repair services for fire and security systems in locations across Massachusetts. Priority Fire Founder and President Steve Prior will maintain an active role at the Company going forward. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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Fire Suppression Systems Installed before 2010 May Not Be as Effective |
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6/1/23
Safety4Sea
The bridge fire panel indicated a fire on deck 1, zone 4. Less than 30 seconds later, the fire detection system began to identify further alarms in multiple locations in the engine rooms.
The chief engineer left the engine control room and opened the watertight door to the aft engine room, and found it filling with thick black smoke. At approximately the same time, the vessel’s Hi-Fog fire suppression system activated at the thermal oil circulation pumps. The incident was announced on the PA system, and crew were directed to muster for firefighting and control. About four minutes later the vessel briefly lost electrical power but maintained propulsion. The bridge team reduced speed and maneuvered to drop anchor, stemming the wind and tide. Local VTS and Coastguard were informed of the situation and a lifeboat and two tugs were tasked to stand by.
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Highlighting the Dangers of Li-ion Batteries |
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5/25/23
By Barbara Barr
8 WGAL
Lithium-ion batteries are in a growing number of products these days. They're also causing more fires – some deadly. "Lithium-ion, with time, is taking over the rechargeable battery industry," Battery Warehouse owner Joe Luers said.
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are found in many popular items, including power tools, cell phones and laptops. "With the advent of lithium-ion, it's been able to reduce size, weight and increase capacity," Luers said. But that condensed power can create a ticking time bomb.
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Are All Hotels Required to Have a Fire Suppression System? |
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5/25/23
By Dan Lampariello
Fox 23
A deadly fire at a hotel in Kittery became so intense so quickly because firefighters say it didn't have a sprinkler system, which has raised some questions about the safety requirements for these types of buildings.
The Days Inn that burned in Kittery was built in 1956, long before the days that fire suppression systems, like automatic sprinklers, became standardized. It wasn't until 36 years later, in 1992, that those systems would be required under state law.
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Most Popular Stories from Mid-May 2023 |
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