- Author
-
Gempel, R. F.
|
Burgess, W. A.
- Title
- Thermal Environment During Structural Firefighting. Final Report.
- Coporate
- Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Sponsor
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC
National Fire Prevention and Control Admin., Washington, DC
- Report
-
Final Report
July 1977
80 p.
- Contract
- NFPCA-GRANT-76010
- Keywords
-
fire fighting
|
structures
|
fire fighters
|
heat stress
|
protective clothing
|
turnout coats
|
fire departments
|
design applications
- Identifiers
- thermal protection; fire environments; prototype instrumentation; field instrumentation; personal monitor; firefighter participation; data retrieval and feedback; monitored fire incidents; frequency distributions of thermal parameters; comparison of radiative and convective heat flux; equipment details and specifications; data handling; profiles of Mark II fire incidents
- Abstract
- The limitations of protective clothing for municipal firefighters have been frequently cited, particularly when deficient turnout gear has contributed to firefighter injuries or deaths. Yet, despite the need for improved protective clothing for the fire service, innovation has been painfully slow. Until recently, improvements have evolved in a piecemeal fashion. The protective clothing currently in use by the firefighter may or may not represent optimal designs for the environments for which they are intended. While the barriers to innovation are many, a serious deterrent has been the lack of an accurate definition of the work environment in which turnout gear is expected to perform. This is particularly true in the area of thermal protection. Little information is available regarding the heat encountered by working firefighters despite the fact that adequate thermal protection is a priority consideration in the design of turnout clothing. Accordingly, the present study is a preliminary effort to characterize the thermal environment of working firefighters and thereby provide a design basis for clothing to protect firefighters from heat on the job. The initial phases of this study were sponsored by the National Bureau of Standards from July 1, 1974 through October 31, 1975, while the latter work, from November 1, 1975 through December 31, 1976, was sponsored by the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration.