Online Exclusive Archives
March/April 2008

NFPA Journal® online exclusive, March 2008

By Lisa Nadile

At the end of March 2008, NFPA will participate in Vision 20/20, a landmark event in which the nation’s leading fire prevention professionals will gather in Washington, D.C., to develop a "comprehensive national strategy for fire prevention," according to the forum’s website, StrategicFire.org . The meeting grew from the Institute of Fire Engineers’ receipt of a Fire Prevention and Safety Grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The gathering is in the tradition of President Truman’s 1947 Report of Fire Prevention, the 1973 edition of the America Burning report, and other reports that covered the issue of fire prevention from a national perspective. The goal of this meeting is to revisit the findings of these landmark events and focus on taking action, says Gary Keith, NFPA’s vice president of Field Operations.

"I am optimistic that the group assembled during the Vision 20/20 session, as well as the Vision 20/20 Steering Committee, will take full advantage of this opportunity to review the recommendations from all previous strategies and affirm those that are still valid. We don’t need another ‘white paper’—we need to move the affirmed recommendations into the implementation phase," he says.

The forum will take place from March 31 to April 1 and is expected to include 150 participants.

Vision 20/20’s Working Group is:

• Jim Crawford, Fire Marshal, Vancouver Fire
• Bill Kehoe, IFE US Branch
• Peg Carson, Carson Associates
• Ed Comeau, writer-tech.com

The members of the Steering Committee are:

• Meri-K Appy, Home Safety Council
• Larry Barr, National Volunteer Fire Council
• John Dean, National Association of State Fire Marshals
• Sean DeCrane, Battalion Chief, Cleveland FD/IAFF
• Ken Farmer, USFA
• Gary Keith, Vice-President, NFPA
• Michael Love, Fire Marshal, Montgomery County Fire
• Dan Madrzykowski, NIST/BFRL
• Ben May, Disney
• Ozzie Mirkhah, Fire Protection Engineer, Las Vegas FD/IAFC Fire and Life Safety Section
• Wayne Powell, Marriott
• Alan Perdue, IAFC Fire and Life Safety Section
• Steve Sawyer, Executive Secretary, NFPA/IFMA
• Phil Schaenman, TriData
• Paul Schwartzman, NFPA Education Section
• Woody Stratton USFA
• Richard Taylor, NASFM
• Jim Tidwell, ICC

In this Section:
			NFPA to Participate in Landmark Fire Prevention Forum At the end of March 2008, the nation’s leading fire prevention professionals will gather  to develop a “comprehensive national strategy for fire prevention."
			Just Ask: Codes and Standards Snapshot NFPA 30, Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code
			Framework for Voluntary Preparedness At an October meeting hosted by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation NFPA 1600 was proposed as the standard to use for the voluntary accreditation and certification of private-sector preparedness programs.