Fundamentals of fire protection
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Week 8 Final project - Fundamentals of fire protection
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Week 8 Final project - Fundamentals of fire protection
Norfolk, Virginia, is my community. Housing •144,827 occupied apartments, either owned or rented • Buildings' age and quality: 1953, with 92.8 percent in livable condition. • The percentage of vacant, neglected, or ravaged buildings is 8.2
• Accessibility to campuses or temporary or shifting demographic averages thirty miles away Residents • Population Density is 664 residents per square mile • Average Age: 40.7 years • Gender: fifty-three percent female and forty seven percent male • Household/ Family Structures: 2.0 people per household • Persons with Disabilities: 11 percent under the age of 65
Economic Data • Family Income is $76,048 • Median Income is $56,361 • Population Economic Projections is $544,851 • Poverty Rate is estimated at 8.4% • 290 people live on public aid • 1100 people living in public housing
Human-Made Risks
Midwest Refined Grains of Virginia is a grain processing facility on Norfolk's southern end. They are close to housing units and infrastructure, with many manufacturing plants and
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enterprises located nearby. Wet milling and distillation are used to process corn products. They contain highly flammable and volatile ethanol and alcohol (Phillpotts, 2016). Several trains are loaded at this plant or within a short distance of it. Owing to the high concentration of flammable
materials near the Midwest Refined Grains industry, there is a high risk of fires and injuries.
Midwest Generation is a power plant that serves the Chicago metropolitan area. They generate a significant amount of electricity by burning coal as well as other fossil fuels. They use
high temperatures to generate high energy that can be transported over long distances by wire, opening up several possibilities for fires and accidents. Fires at this site can rapidly spread to nearby wooded areas and a local residential area not far from the power plant. This facility, like Midwest Grain, operates twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, but it does shut down multiple times a year for repairs and routine maintenance.
Norfolk Paperboard Company makes a variety of cardboard items in various shapes and sizes. They dry cardboard goods with heat and hold a lot of flammable substances on the property (Phillpotts, 2016). If a fire broke out in this building, which houses many cardboard items, it would spread quickly and burn intensely. It poses a threat to heavily populated, close-
knit communities within the structure.
Safety-Kleen Systems, Corporation is a waste management company that serves the commercial, manufacturing, and automotive sectors. The company is right next to a landscaping company and next to a wooded field in Norfolk county. Safety-Kleen Systems have a used oil recycling system that collects and recycles oil from commercial, manufacturing, and vehicle companies. As a result of their services, they have much-used oil and cleaning supplies. According to Phillpotts (2016), the majority of these are flammable and will burn for a long time
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if ignited. They even run the risk of leaking oil or other chemicals, putting humans and animals in danger (Phillpotts, 2016).
Risks That Are A Result of Natural Occurrences According to a FEMA survey, the likelihood of fire outbreaks is higher in Norfolk, Virginia, where forest fires are more likely to occur. Storms can brew up rapidly and cause severe damage to homes and their occupants when combined with early summer heat and cool nights, as well as flatlands for a long distance. Tornadoes will wreak havoc on everything in their
way, and the densely populated city of Norfolk is no exception. If a tornado struck, the area covered would be severely damaged. It will be impossible to get everyone to safety on time from
many nursing homes and senior living areas. Tornado damage can result in additional fire risks, as well as leaked gas or downed power lines. Community Initiatives
By keeping up with inspections and ensuring that businesses use safe fire prevention measures, the fire protection bureau will reduce the risks. The plants are operational around the clock, seven days a week. The Mid-West Generation plant has only two primary entrance paths. As a result, onsite teams and safety professionals will significantly assist first responders in initiating preliminary measures if an accident occurred (Victoria, 2012). Containment is vital in an accident since anything that spreads could impact surrounding homes and businesses. According to Victoria (2012), daily inspections by city inspectors and local fire marshals will also favor this facility, ensuring that it complies with fire safety codes and fire prevention requirements. Accident management plans and a disaster action plan should be communicated to all workers of these establishments.
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Companies must adhere to strict safety and fire safety procedures to keep the buildings and their surroundings secure. Members of these community initiatives should check in regularly
to ensure that they are up to date. All of these facilities will have to follow state and city waste management legislation. The venting systems for the dryers' hot exhaust air will also need to be washed on a regular basis. Lint may accumulate in the vents, causing a fire. Since the businesses are in town, traffic can make it difficult for first responders to get to the location. Because of its proximity to residential residences, the chance of property damage and other accidents is more significant. Hence these community programs are essential in preventing fires.
Funding
Via federal sponsorship of the National Fire Plan, Firewise Virginia Community Hazard Mitigation Funds are made available to organized groups to help at-risk communities minimize or prevent possible wildfire hazards. All of the grants have an eighty-twenty matching requirement. If you apply for a US$1,000 grant, for example, the group must be willing to pay two hundred dollars or offer US$200 in volunteer programs to obtain a one-thousand-dollar rebate ("Firewise Virginia Community Hazard Mitigation Grant Program", n.d.). The match does
not have to be monetary; it may be in the form of volunteer efforts. Before the reimbursement, invoices and the relevant documents will be needed. The group may apply for several mitigation programs aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires. The group must have undergone a wildfire hazard identification during the past five years and moved toward recognition in the NFPA's Firewise USA program ("Firewise Virginia Community Hazard Mitigation Grant Program", n.d.). Staffing
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Fire safety functions initiatives can be given priority, and the staffing needed to accomplish specific tasks can be calculated by assessing the risks presented to a group. According to Johnson (2017), the argument for personnel and budget criteria can be presented using the program and organizational guidelines given in NFPA 1730. The five-step system is given in the annex section of NFPA 1730 for determining minimum staff numbers (Johnson, 2017). This might impact fire operations by ensuring that fire services respond to emergencies after they happen and try to avoid or mitigate the consequences of them happening in the first place. It is assumed that the fire department will serve as a risk management body for their community on a proactive basis. In conclusion, in order to reduce the risk of fire disasters, an effective plan is needed. Considering the various age groups in our society, enforcing these measures will ensure that the appropriate level of assistance is provided, particularly to those currently using medical devices and difficulty completing an actionable plan for themselves. Obtaining help from various stakeholders and special interest groups would provide the necessary resources and funding to create a strategy that the community will use. With the right priorities and strategies in place, our
society will see a significant improvement in evacuating and planning for disasters before, during, and after they strike.
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References
City-data. (n.d.). Norfolk, Virginia (VA) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news
. City-
data.com. Retrieved 26 May 2021, from http://www.city-data.com/city/Norfolk-
Virginia.html.
Firewise Virginia Community Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
. Dof.virginia.gov. Retrieved 26
May 2021, from https://dof.virginia.gov/wildland-prescribed-fire/wildfire-preparation/
financial-assistance-programs-for-wildfire-preparation-and-suppression/firewise-virginia-
community-hazard-mitigation-grant/.
Johnson, A. (2017). Staffing and Activities for Effective Fire Prevention Organizations
. Firehouse. Retrieved 26 May 2021, from https://www.firehouse.com/community-risk/article/12302072/staffing-and-activities-for-
effective-fire-prevention-organizations.
Phillpotts, C. (2016). Fire Risk Assessments Norfolk - Morgan Fire
. Morgan Fire. Retrieved 26 May 2021, from https://www.morganfire.co.uk/fire-risk-assessments-norfolk/.
Victoria, L. P. (2012). Community based approaches to disaster mitigation.