Ray O’Brocki, CFSC Fire Service Relations Manager
Mar 19, 2019
More than 100 fire protection engineers and code officials in two states obtained fire safety during construction training in the second week of March from one of the Construction Fire Safety Coalition’s (CFSC) partner members.
On Tuesday, March 12, Integra Code Consultants principal Rob Neale delivered a two-hour session to the 2019 SFPE Greater Atlanta Fire Safety Conference at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Georgia. The next day, he provided the 2019 California Fire Prevention Institute a four-hour version in at their annual conference in Buellton.
“CFSC’s efforts are important to promote and sustain,” Neale said. “While there is a great awareness among fire safety professionals of the consequences of these significant fires, there seems to be little action from code officials and consultants promoting construction fir safety plans.” When asked how many in the two audiences developed or required fire safety plans, only one hand was raised.
After reviewing significant construction fire losses from the last five years, the presentations focused on how industry professionals and code officials could get involved with the Coalition to reduce the frequency and severity of losses, including basic code enforcement and fire prevention strategies.
Regrettably, the second presentation had to be updated from the first after two more major construction site fires were reported in the US: a Boston, Massachusetts, high-rise and a Bozeman, Montana, mid-rise hotel.
Neale reminded the audiences the solution to these fires “is not rocket science: we know the way forward with basic fire prevention and security practices, we just have to be willing to enforce them.”
Attendees were provided website access to CFSC’s free resources and membership.