NFPA Journal - July/August 2012 - (Page 8)

>> mail call IN YOUR OWN WORDS “While sprinklering poultry facilities is a good concept . . . it is my opinion that the more cost-effective solution to protecting poultry would be to apply the time-tested codes through proper inspection prior to certification of ‘animal occupancy.’ ” —Paul M. Haas GREEN DESIGN+ SPRINKLERS AT EPCOT TEXAS CITY DISASTER A LOOK BACK AT THE + 2012 WILDLAND FIRE FORECAST SPARKY LIVE+IN THE FUR! VPAge 12 A TALK WITH FDNY’S JAY JONAS ON THE LEGACY OF 9/11 Vegas -Sized NFPA CONFERENCE & EXPO The AuThoriTy on Fire, elecTricAl & Building SAFeTy OUR PREVIEW of this year’s 4/30/12 1:29 PM 5-12_Cover_F_R4.indd 2 No so fast on requiring sprinklers for poultry operations I was raised in rural America and blessed to have Depression-surviving grandparents who stressed the value of dirt, livestock, and the knowledge of self-sufficiency through simplicity, and my plowboy ears perked up when I heard that NFPA 150, Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities, would be addressed at this year’s annual conference [“Sprinklered Menagerie?” May/ June]. For those of you who do not know what NFPA 150 is, here is the short and sweet of the standard: “This standard shall provide the minimum requirements for the design, construction, fire protection, and classification of animal housing facilities. A.1.1.1 The requirements of NFPA 150 recognize the following fundamental principles: (1) Animals are sentient beings with a value greater than that of simple property. (2) Animals, both domesticated and feral, lack the ability of self-preservation when housed in buildings and other structures. (3) Current building, fire, and life safety codes do not address the life safety of the animal occupants. The requirements found in NFPA 150 are written with the intention that animal housing facilities will continue to be designed, constructed, and maintained in accordance with the applicable building, fire, and life safety codes. The requirements herein are not intended to replace or rewrite the basic requirements for the human occupants. Instead, NFPA 150 provides additional minimum requirements for the protection of the animal occupants and the human occupants who interact with those animals in these facilities. NFPA 150 is divided into three major sections: The first section, Chapters 1 through 3, contains only administrative requirements, while the second section, Chapters 4 through 10, provides general requirements for all facilities housing animals (i.e., facility subclassification, animal category, construction, means of egress, fire protection, and interior finish requirements), and the third section, Chapters 11 through 13, includes specific requirements focused on the class of the facility. 1.1.2 Animal housing facilities shall be designed, constructed, and maintained in accordance with the adopted building, fire, and life safety codes and the requirements herein. 1.1.3 Where requirements of this standard differ from the adopted fire prevention, life safety, and building codes, the requirements of this standard shall govern the protection of the animal occupants and animal handlers.” NFPA 150 was established in 1979 after several devastating racetrack stable fires. The initial intent of the standard was to address fire protection in horse stables that were classified as commercial—that is, stables that board horses for profit or stables associated with commercial establishments. More than 30 years later, NFPA 150 now encompasses all facilities that house animals, from scientific research to chicken coops. The chicken protection issue got my attention. My family has been involved in the commercial chicken industry for three generations. My grandfather, dad, and I owned, managed, and operated a poultry farm that at any given time housed well over a million chickens leisurely stuffing their craws with feed while awaiting their dinner date on tables around the world. Our housing facilities were state-of-the-art. One TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Email your letters to journalmail@nfpa.org, or mail them to Editor, NFPA Journal, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02169. Please include your title, company or organization affiliation, and where you’re based. NFPA Journal reserves the right to edit letters for content and length. 8 NFPA JOURNAL JULY/AUGUST 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2012

NFPA Journal - July/august 2012
Contents
First Word
Mail Call
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Fenway at 100
Crowning Achievement
Safety at Center Stage
Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, 2011
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - July/August 2012