January 2004
Code Development and Analysis
Regulations
The California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) has established four focus groups (Fire Safety, Accessibility, General Design and Structural) consisting of members from the following state agencies: Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), Division of the State Architect (DSA), Housing and Community Development (HCD), and Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). The focus groups are working with NFPA staff to insure compliance with the interests of California. The Fire Focus Group is chaired by the OSFM and has been meeting monthly. In mid-March, a draft NFPA based California Building Code and California Fire Code for fire and panic safety will be released to partner groups including the Fire Prevention Officers Association, CALBO, and others to review and make additional recommendations.
It is anticipated that the CBSC will extend the submission date for the amended NFPA based California Building and Fire Codes from July 1, 2004 to November 1, 2004. The SFM has developed a project schedule. Included in this plan is an extensive review process including substantial public participation. The proposed plan is attached.
The Governor’s Executive Order S-2-03 has affected the adoption of the rulemaking packages for Bedridden Clients in Residential Care Facilities and Adult Day Programs. These two packages were withdrawn by the OSFM from the California Building Standards Commission meeting agenda on January 7, 2004. Pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Order S-2-03, the OSFM has requested an exemption for the two regulation packages but did not receive the exemption prior to the CBSC scheduled meeting, requiring the OSFM to withdraw both packages. The regulations for Bedridden Clients in Residential Care Facilities, submitted as an emergency package, expired on January 8, 2004 and are no longer in effect. There was no regulatory effect on the withdrawal of the regulations for Adult Day Programs. If the SFM receives an exemption for either of these two packages, the SFM will resubmit them to the CBSC.
Tire Fire Curriculum and Regulations
Rodney Slaughter conducted a pilot training class at the Training Officers Symposium in Fresno on November 6th. He is working on scheduling tire fire prevention and response workshops around the state.
The SFM has proposed changes to the Uniform Fire Code with respect to the outdoor storage of tires. Rodney Slaughter presented the SFM’s Uniform Fire Code proposal to the Uniform Fire Code Association Regulations Development Committee in Reno on Saturday November 15th. The committee, after minor amendments, voted to approve the proposal and will carry it forward to NFPA for their formal code adoption process.
Any questions regarding the Tire Fire Curriculum and Regulations Development program should be directed to Rodney Slaughter at (916) 445-8454, or via e-mail: mail to: rodney.slaughter@fire.ca.gov
Code Performance Evaluation
State Fire Marshal John Tennant sent fourteen Deputy State Fire Marshals to Southern California from November 6-13 to evaluate code performance at the recent wildfires in San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, and Ventura Counties. The Deputy State Fire Marshals collected information about structure defense and damages incurred under existing and historical fire and building code conditions in order to make recommendations for improvements to the codes. Their efforts were staged out of the State Fire Marshal’s office in Monrovia.
The enactment of Assembly Bill 1216, authored by Assembly Member Juan Vargas, recently granted the State Fire Marshal the legal authority to prepare building standards specific to urban wildland areas known to be threatened by or have a history of wildfire. The SFM staff collected on-site data to determine what made certain structures vulnerable to wildfire damage. These features include, but are not limited to, construction details of roofs, walls, windows, doors, decks and patios, and also the locations of structures in relation to slopes, vegetation and adjacent structures. The information gathered from this effort is still being compiled and analyzed and will directly influence the new building standards for these areas.
Urban Wildland Interface (UWI)
FEMA-funded development of performance-based model code language and fire test standards for UWI areas is continuing, along with development of specific building standards for proposal to the California Building Standards Commission under the authority of Assembly Bill 1216 (Vargas, 2003). The UWI Working Group has split into subgroups to deal with specific concepts and building components, such as roofs, walls/windows/doors/eaves; ancillary structures, defensible space and cost benefit analysis. Subgroups began meeting on January 15th, and will meet again on January 29th at the Office of the State Fire Marshal at 1131 S Street, Sacramento. Fire details, please contact Melissa Frago at melissa.frago@fire.ca.gov or 916-445-8422.
NOTE: On Wednesday, January 7th, State Fire Marshal John Tennant delivered a report to the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission, which was created after the recent Southern California wildfires to make specific recommendations on fire response, vegetation management and building standards. Chief Tennant reported on the status of the UWI project, AB 1216 implementation and the Code Performance Evaluation efforts of the SFM staff in November, as mentioned in last month’s FPO report. The information was well-received by the Commission, and we look forward to providing more information and updates as they come available.
California All Incident Reporting System (CAIRS)
With the latest round of Federal Firefighter Assistance Grants being awarded, the CAIRS program is continuing to grow. We are now receiving NFIRS data from 309 California fire departments! As NFIRS data is received and processed, participating fire departments should receive letters or emails 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.
Fire Engineering
A work group established for proposed regulations change to add additional requirements based on NFPA 1126 to Title19 CRR for proximate fireworks. The intent is to give the fire inspector regulatory authority for placement of devices in relation to the audiences of nightclubs and related occupancies, as well as during the demonstration of devices when requested by the AHJ.
The SFM is continuing fireworks disposal operations in Los Angles County. The operations are part of an overall joint operation between the SFM, LA County FD, U.S EPA, and Department of Toxic Substances Control.
A work group will be established to update this program, including testing standards revisions and the manner in which the SFM verifies test reports from accredited laboratories.
The BML Program would like to inform the FPO’s that they might access copies of all of the BML listings to assist them in the plan review of fire alarm systems and equipment. The website may be accessed at osfm.fire.ca.gov/bml.html.
There were no CUPA evaluations in December. Activities included preparing written evaluation reports, CUPA conference workshop presentations, and attending committee meetings.
In January, there will be three CUPA evaluations: City of Gilroy, City of Long Beach/Signal Hill, and Los Angeles County. January will also include the usual committee meetings including STCG, Evaluator's Group, CUPA Conference Committee, Policy Group, and CUPA Forums.
After 30 years in the fire service, DSFM IIII Mike Waldron will be retiring effective 2/01/04. Mike is the Program Coordinator for the Fire Extinguisher (FE), Automatic Extinguishing Systems (AES) and Vapor recovery Programs.
The AES Advisory Committee met in Sacramento 01-07-04. 17 members were in attendance. The next meeting will be announced at a later date.
Code Enforcement
Nothing to report.
Pipeline Safety
Nothing to report.