School Safety --A Fire Service Perspective

William A. Steenbergh, MPA, CFPS, CFEI, EMT-P

Who Am I & Why Am I Here?

DISCLAIMER(S)

• Paid vs. Volunteer Fire Departments

• Fire Service vs. Law Enforcement

GOALS & OBJECTIVES• Give everyone some things to think about

• Prompt the initiation of a dialogue in your school (if it doesn’t already exist)

• Express a point of view that may be different from what you’ve heard before

Topics• Local Fire & EMS Service

• All Hazards vs. Active Shooter

• FD Response to your school

• Education / Fire Prevention

• Bus Accidents & Off-Site Emergencies

• Juvenile Firesetters

• Q & A (time permitting)

“Knowing how to respond quickly and efficiently in a crisis is critical

to ensuring the safety of our schools and students. The midst of a crisis is not the time to start

figuring out who ought to do what.

At that moment, everyone involved – from top to bottom – should know the drill and know

each other.”

Margaret SpellingsUS Sec of Education 2005-2009

Local Fire & EMS Service• School Districts & Fire Districts

– Have you ever met him/her (THEM !!)

– Attendance at safety team meetings?

– Drills, walk-throughs & tabletops?

• Paid / Combination / Volunteer– Who, how many & how long to get here?

– Why should I care?

• Mutual Aid– “Why do you send so many fire trucks to a false

alarm?” (Anonymous School Official)

• Who is your EMS provider?– “We called for an ambulance – why did a fire engine

(or 2 ambulances) show up?”

All Hazards vs Active Shooter• Violence has never been the leading

cause of death in American K-12 schools.

• 1,351 people were killed in school transportation-related incidents from 2002 to 2011. (NHTSA)

• 334 school-associated homicides, including active shooters, during the same period of time. (National Center for Education Statistics - NCES)

• Our Lady of Angels fire (arson) killed 92 students and 3 staff – Chicago, 1958

Source: Dr. Dewey Cornell - University of Virginia (2013)

Source: NFPA

New Lane Elem. (L.I.) - 2001

Fire Began in Teacher’s Lounge$14 million damage

Matthew Paterson ElementaryCarmel, NY3/19/2004

Overheated compressor in Kitchen storeroomFire spread accelerated by improper storage of flammable materials$3 Million damage

Lewiston-Porter Middle SchoolNiagara County, NYOverloaded power strip - $500,000

Carbon Monoxide

• Between 2005 – 2012 in US

• 60 incidents of wide-spread CO events in schools

• 638 students and teachers transported to the hospital

• CO alarms not mandated in NYS schools

(currently being studied by NYSED)

Science Labs• MSDS Sheets

– SDS Sheets (2013)

• Chemical Hygiene Plan

• Chemical Inventory & tracking system

• 209-U reporting

55 gallons LPG

• Natural disasters (earthquake, tornado,

hurricane, flood)

• Severe weather

• Fires

• Chemical or hazardous material spills

• Bus crashes

• School shootings

• Bomb threats

• Medical emergencies

• Student or staff deaths (suicide, homicide,

unintentional, or natural)

• Acts of terrorism or war

• Outbreaks of disease or infections

TYPES OF EMERGENCY / CRITICAL INCIDENTS

Source: US Dept of Education

District-wide & building levelMULTIHAZARD emergency Plans – July, 2000

Simply following the SAVE regulations isn’t enough !!

SAVE doesn’t require;

• Fire/EMS to be on district-level teams

• Copies of building level plans be provided to Fire/EMS

• Copies of maps or floor plans to be provided to Fire/EMS

• Standardization of building level plans– To whatever extent possible

FD Response to Your School• Identifying key staff

– ICS requires training 3 deep for positions

• Importance of Custodial staff• NY AG Opinion 81-13

“Once a fire alarm is sounded, "ownership" of, or jurisdiction over the building rests with the fire department. Jurisdiction is not returned to the school authorities until the fire chief or his designee makes a determination of safety and returns the building to the person normally in charge. … The fact that an alarm is a false alarm has no bearing upon the foregoing.”

• EMS response• Accountability / Attendance

– Students, F/T staff, “visiting” staff, visitors

• Substitutes

• Fire Alarm Panels• Zone Maps• Calling 911• Radio Communications• Medications• On-Line Access• Knox Boxes / Keys / Access

– After hours response

• Students needing special assistance

• Fire Hydrants• Door Chocks / Closers• Bathroom & Closet Doors

How it is supposed to work

Source: FEMA - ICS for Schools Training Program

Education / Fire Prevention• NYS Ed Law 808

– “Mandates that every school in NYS must provide a minimum of 45 minutes of instruction in arson, fire prevention, injury prevention and life safety for each month school is in session. The instruction is required for all students, and should include such topics as identification of a variety of conditions in the home, school, and community that may lead to fires; procedures to follow in the event of fire in the home, school and the community; and preventative measures that may reduce the risk of fire and arson. Instruction is required in grades K-12, and may be provided by classroom teachers or community resource personnel as designated by the principal.”

Source: www.NYSEd.gov

Recognized Curriculums• http://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/HealthSafety/child

_safety.html• Risk Watch® is targeted to K-8 students and meets

all the requirements of the new legislation. (NFPA) – http://www.riskwatch.org

• Safe Kids International– http://www.safekids.org/programs

• American Red Cross – Masters of Disaster– http://www.redcross.org/prepare/location/school/

preparedness-education

SECTION 406 EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND RESPONSE PROCEDURES

406.1 General. Employees in the occupancies listed in Section 404.2 shall be trained in the fire emergency procedures described in their fire evacuation and fire safety plans. Training shall be based on these plans and as described in Section 404.3.

406.2 Frequency. Employees shall receive training in the contents of fire safety and evacuation plans and their duties as part of new employee orientation and at least annually thereafter. Records shall be kept and made available to the code enforcement official upon request.

406.3.1 Fire prevention training. Employees shall be apprised of the fire hazards of the materials and processes to which they are exposed. Each employee shall be instructed in the proper procedures for preventing fires in the conduct of their assigned duties.

406.3.2 Evacuation training. Employees shall be familiarized with the fire alarm and evacuation signals, their assigned duties in the event of an alarm or emergency, evacuation routes, areas of refuge, exterior assembly areas, and procedures for evacuation.

406.3.3 Fire safety training. Employees assigned fire-fighting duties shall be trained to know the locations and proper use of portable fire extinguishers or other manual fire-fighting equipment and the protective clothing or equipment required for its safe and proper use.

Bus Accidents• When Fire/EMS gets called

– “Implied consent”– Different bus– Different driver– How many ambulances?– Where do they go?– Who decides?

• In District vs. Out of District– Field trips– Teams

• Shouldn’t there be a plan ??

Juvenile FiresettersSource: NFPA

Juvenile Firesetters• Children set 50% of all fires in the US.• Over 40% of juvenile firesetters are under age 5, and 70% are under age

10.• 55% of all U.S. arson arrests are children under the age of 18.• Almost half of these arrests are children 15 and under.• As many as 6.8% of juveniles arrested for arson are under the age of 10.• The crime of arson has the highest rate of juvenile involvement.• It is the 2nd leading cause of all fatal home accidents.• Firesetting is the largest cause of home deaths among children.• Almost 34% of the victims of child-set fires are the children themselves.• These statistics are most certainly low, because many fires that cause only

minor damage or injury go unreported by the parents. (or schools, etc.)• Most children who set fires lack fire safety education, but more importantly,

appropriate supervision.• Children mistakenly believe that they can control the fires that they set.• Once a fire is set, it only takes about two-minutes for the flame from a single

match to set an entire room on fire, and less than five minutes for that fire to overtake an entire house.

WHAT’S BEING DONE ABOUT THIS?

QUESTIONS ??

Thank you !!

Contact Information

• William A. Steenbergh

• Phone: 845-486-6309

• Email: afd51@optonline.net

• Internet: www.afd.org