Stay ConnectedThe NFPA Podcast is the place for safety professionals to stay up to speed on the fast-paced world of electrical, fire, and life safety. Hear in-depth conversations with people out in the field about how they are confronting new challenges and staying on top of emerging technologies to keep the world safe. Listen the second and fourth Tuesday of every month.
Email jroman@nfpa.org to send feedback or recommend a topic for future episodes.
In Part III of NFPA Journal Podcast’s three-part suite on drones, robots and unmanned systems, Jesse speaks to Thomas Zajkowski, Flight Operations Manager at NextGen Air Transportation Center UAS Program at North Carolina State University. Thomas and NextGen did a series of wildfire related test with control wildland fire burn in Florida in 2012. Wildfire is one of the most critical area that drones can assist firefighters. Thomas talked with Jesse at the Unmanned Systems 2015 Conference in Atlanta, GA.
In Part II of NFPA Journal Podcast’s three-part suite on drones, robots and unmanned systems, Jesse speaks to Helen Greiner, the co-founder of iRobot and the current CEO and founder of CyPhy Works, a manufacturer of consumer and military drones and robots. Greiner discusses the history of robots and drones, where we are now in the technological arc, the potential for these machines to become as ubiquitous in our society as smartphones, as well as how emergency responders are and will benefit from the use of these machines in the future.
In part one of NFPA Journal Podcast’s three-part suite on drones, robots and unmanned systems, Jesse speaks to Stephen McKeever, a professor of physics at Oklahoma State and the state’s secretary of science and technology, and Jamey Jacob, the head of the new Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) graduate degree program at Oklahoma State University.
UAS, more commonly known as drones, have shown great promise for helping first responders and public safety officials do their jobs more safely and efficiently. Oklahoma is at the forefront of drone technology for first responders. In addition to Oklahoma State’s drone degree program, the state is home to a test site, funded by the Department of Homeland Security, which specifically tests small drones for use by first responders. During the podcast we discuss the current regulations for public agencies flying drones, what applications these unmanned systems have for public safety and first responders, and what the future may hold. Will every fire department in the country have a drone in its figurative toolbox? Many people, including Jacob, think so.
Food trucks are on the rise with around 117,000 in operation around the United States. In 2014 it was estimated that the food truck industry made over $850 million. Some trucks operate using a 20-gallon tank of propane which is equivalent to 170 sticks of dynamite with its explosive capability.
Unfortunately tragedy struck in July 1st 2014 when a truck exploded killing two people and injuring ten. Jesse Roman talked about the current environment for fire and life safety on food trucks with Jacqueline Wilmot, staff liaison for NFPA 96: Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations.
Jesse Roman chats with Matt Klaus, NFPA principal fire protection engineer and liaison to the NFPA 13 technical committees, about these updates to 13, why they were made, and why they are important.
In the case of the commodity classification tables, much of the commodity information provided in NFPA 13 is nearly 50 years old, written when storage facilities and schemes were vastly different than today, Klaus explains. That was a big problem, because the accuracy of those classifications is vital for fire protection.
Cloud ceilings—essentially aesthetic ceiling panels suspended below the actual structural ceiling—are very popular among architects and developers these days because they can hide unsightly wires and pipes, and they look really cool. Unfortunately, they complicate sprinkler system design.
Don Bliss, VP of Field Operations, and Jesse Roman, staff writer, dicuss the March April 2015 NFPA Journal cover story on resilience. They take a big-picture look at one of the most compelling concepts in safety and emergency preparation, and the role codes and standards can play in making resilience happen.
In the second past of our podcast on the Triangle Waist Company fire, Casey Grant, the director of the Fire Protection Research Foundation, explores why the incident had such a massive regulatory impact in the United States.
You can read more about the fire online at: www.nfpa.org/trianglefire.
NFPA Triangle Waist Fire New York 1911 Casey Grant National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code NFPA101
NFPA Journal executive editor Scott Sutherland and Casey Grant, the director of the Fire Protection Research Foundation, examine the history of the Triangle Waist Company fire.
You can read more about the fire online at: www.nfpa.org/trianglefire.
In the last part of our interview with Dr. John Hall, we look at the cost of building construction and how it relates to the total cost of fire in the United States.
You can find the "Total Cost of Fire in the U.S." report at www.nfpa.org/firereports under the "Economic Impacts" link.
In the second of our three part interview, Dr. John Hall, the director of NFPA Data Analysis Division examines the cost of career fire service versus the cost of volunteer service and how it impacts the total cost of fire in the United States.
You can find the "Total Cost of Fire in the U.S." report at www.nfpa.org/firereports under the "Economic Impacts" link.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
