NFPA Journal - November/December 2019 - 35

a joint effort by WPI and the WFD to develop a hydrogen
cyanide, or HCN, detector that firefighters could wear on the
fireground. HCN can exist in heavy concentrations in smoke
and is extremely toxic, and the device would alert firefighters
to the danger. I thought it sounded pretty interesting, so I
applied. I got the job.
As it turned out, the HCN detector project was the latest
in a series of projects undertaken by WPI's Center for First
Responder Technology. The center had been created as a
direct response to a recommendation in the NIOSH report,
which encouraged manufacturers and research organizations
to "conduct research into refining existing [technology] and
developing new technology to track the movement of firefighters on the fireground." The goals of the center included
the development of technology that could track the locations
of firefighters inside buildings and perform a range of other
functions in support of firefighter safety. More recently,
the Center for First Responder Technology has contributed advancements to an array of emerging technologies,
including a flashover predictor, physiological monitoring
equipment to supervise firefighters' vital signs, and a fireproof attack hose designed to be more reliable than typical
fire service equipment. Similar initiatives nationwide have
also contributed a variety of firefighter safety improvements.
In addition to prompting the development of new technologies to enhance fireground safety, the cold storage fire
also had a lasting impact on fire prevention strategies and
important areas related to fireground operations, especially
involving vacant buildings. WFD devised a comprehensive fire prevention strategy that included more frequent
inspections of abandoned buildings, a stricter enforcement
of building codes, and costly fines for building owners who
failed to secure their properties. The methodology used by
Worcester was adopted in communities throughout Massachusetts, which experienced a 32 percent reduction in the
number of fires involving vacant buildings in the year following the cold storage fire. The city also began to mark vacant
buildings with large placards to warn firefighters and first
responders about the conditions of the building, requirements that were later adopted into the state building code.
The placards communicate that extreme caution should be
exercised when entering the building, or preferably that
a defensive, exterior attack should be used. The WFD also
hired a full-time incident safety officer and implemented the
use of guide ropes and high-intensity floodlights at entry
locations to help firefighters get out of buildings during fires.
Driven in part by the NIOSH recommendation, work also
continued on the development of thermal imaging technology
that was more compact, more effective, and more affordable.
The cameras can be used to see through smoke, find people
in burning buildings, and locate hot spots, all of which the
WFD needed during the cold storage fire-but it didn't own
a camera, which was regarded as too costly. (A camera was
provided by a mutual aid fire department during the cold storage fire, but it failed.) That work has had a dramatic result;
in 2001, only 24 percent of fire departments in the US had
access to the technology, but by 2010 that figure had grown to

The fire prevention strategy
devised by Worcester for
abandoned buildings was
adopted in communities
throughout Massachusetts,
which experienced a
32 percent reduction in
the number of fires involving
vacant buildings in the year
following the cold storage fire.

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NFPA Journal - November/December 2019

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