California State Fire Marshal
April 2004
Code Development and Analysis
Regulations
Review of NFPA 5000 & NFPA 1
In response to the California Building Standards Commission’s (CBSC) proposed timeline for the publication of the NFPA 5000 and NFPA 1 as the 2004 California Building & Fire Codes, the SFM has revised its timeline accordingly. Our revised timeline allows for an extended stakeholders review period and provides for an extensive (nine months) association between the SFM and all stakeholders. This timeline is available on the SFM’s website at http://osfm.fire.ca.gov.
The SFM will be displaying stakeholder information on future web page postings.
Anyone interested in being added to our database, please notify Leslie R. Haberek at leslie.haberek@fire.ca.gov or by fax at (916) 445-8459.
Title 19, California Code of Regulations
A review of past regulatory activity is being conducted by the SFM in terms of economic impact. These regulations are posted on the SFM website for your review. If you have any questions or should require information regarding the economic impact of these regulations, please send your inquiries to Rodney.slaughter@fire.ca.gov. The latest in regulation proposals are also posted on our website. If you have any questions or concerns about economic impacts and our regulatory program, please contact Rodney Slaughter.
Tire Fire Curriculum and Regulations
The SFM received good comments on our Tire Fire Training program presented at the March 2004 Fire Prevention Officers’ conference. The old Rings of Fire video is currently being revised and the course materials should be available by August 2004. Several Train-the-Trainer classes will be scheduled for Fall of 2004. Any questions regarding the Tire Fire Curriculum and Regulations Development program should be directed to Rodney Slaughter at (916) 445-8454, or mail to: rodney.slaughter@fire.ca.gov
Urban Wildland Interface Building Standards (UWIBS)
Our performance-based model code language and fire test standards for UWI areas is continuing to be developed, along with the development of specific building standards for proposal to the California Building Standards Commission pursuant to AB 1216 (Vargas, 2003). The UWI Working Group developed and agreed to a code development plan that will allow the SFM to introduce new code language to the SFM Fire and Life Safety Building Standards Advisory Board and to the Building Standards Commission in August. The UWIBS workgroup has agreed to merge prescriptive code language with performance-based language in the next draft of the UWI Building Code. Upon agreement of all, this draft will be posted on the SFM website.
The next UWIBS meeting is scheduled for May 11, 2004 at SFM headquarters in Sacramento.
California All Incident Reporting System (CAIRS)
With the latest round of Federal Firefighter Assistance Grants being awarded, the CAIRS program is continuing to grow. As NFIRS data is received and processed, participating fire departments should receive letters and/or e-mails acknowledging receipt of the data, along with information on any data validation errors and correction procedures. Program staff is currently working on creating a whole suite of new reports that are very useful for evaluating fire department workload, identifying fire and public safety hazards and more. For more information about this important program, please visit our web page at http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/cfirs.html.
Code Enforcement
Statutes and Regulations Course
SFM Division Chief Hugh Council and Division Chief Joe Garcia have scheduled the next two Statutes and Regulations Courses for May 11-13 in El Dorado County and June 8-10 in Monrovia. Pleas contact Fred Russell at (916) 933-6623 for information regarding the El Dorado County class and Alice Robin at (626) 256-8106 for the class in Monrovia.
Fire Engineering
The SFM has completed fireworks disposal operation in Los Angles County. The operation was part of an overall joint operation between the SFM, LA County FD, U.S EPA, and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.
The Fireworks Advisory Committee will meet on April 28th in Southern California. Check the website for location and agenda.
A work group will update regulations used in our Flame Retardant Chemical and Fabric Program, which will include revisions to our test standards.
Fire Prevention Officers may access copies of all of our BML listings to assist with the plan review of fire alarm systems and equipment. Our website may be accessed at osfm.fire.ca.gov/bml.html.
Deputy State Fire Marshal III James Parsegian is the new Program Coordinator for the Fire Extinguisher Program (FE), Automatic Extinguishing Systems (AES), and Vapor Recovery programs.
The Fire Extinguisher Advisory Committee will meet at SFM headquarters in Sacramento on April 14th. The agenda is on the SFM website under Advisory Committees.