NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 19

announcement came just weeks before
the three-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, the world's deadliest
facade fire, which killed over 70 people
in London in June 2017.
Whether these governments make
good on their promises remains to be
seen, but similar promises in the past
have fallen short. In the immediate
aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire,
government officials in the UK vowed
to replace cladding on more than 400
buildings that had been identified as at
risk for fires like Grenfell. By April 2019,
however, fewer than 100 had been
fixed, according to the New York Times.
"The UK has seen very slow progress
in removal of dangerous claddings from
high-rise buildings despite many promises made in the wake of the Grenfell
fire," Messerschmidt said. "Hopefully
the recently announced additional funding will speed up the process."
While the two announcements made
in May were promising news for fire
safety officials, it still represents a
small step in the right direction. Sharjah is just one of many cities in the
Middle East, for example, that are full
of high-rise buildings outfitted with
dangerous cladding. "There are many,
many towers in the Middle East, highrise towers, with the wrong cladding,"
said Anas Alzaid, the NFPA representative for the Middle East and North
Africa regions. "So this is not the end of
the issue." Like Messerschmidt, Alzaid
also alluded to the difficulty of projects
to remove and replace cladding. "It's
very difficult to change the cladding for
40 or 45 floors," he said. "The solution
is not straightforward."
Complicating the problem globally is
an overall lack of data on combustible
cladding systems and facade fires-a
phenomenon Messerschmidt reported
on in her feature article "Data Void" in
the May/June issue of NFPA Journal.
"A surprising fact is that the only way
researchers know about the increase
in these types of fires is from the
media," Messerschmidt wrote. "Even
after events like Grenfell, there is still
no coordinated global effort to collect
data on these or any other fire incidents." You can read the story online at
nfpa.org/facades.

NFPA," said NFPA President and CEO
Jim Pauley. "NFPA is committed to
improving fire and life safety globally.
Expanding NFPA's presence and purpose in Latin American countries is an
important part of this effort."
Over his nearly 30-year career, Gutiérrez has worked in several private and
public sector roles, including at the
Mexico Foreign Affairs Ministry, Office
of the Attorney General, Health Ministry, and more. In these roles, Gutiérrez
oversaw safety and security for largescale construction projects such as
the remodeling of two Marriott hotels
and the construction of 28 health care
facilities. He holds bachelor's degrees
in political science and management
from the National Autonomous University in Mexico and the Autonomous
Technological Institute of Mexico, and
a master's in public management from
Guanajuato University.
Gutiérrez's appointment builds on
NFPA's decades-long presence in Latin
America. NFPA has established chapters
in Argentina,
Colombia,
the Dominican Republic,
Mexico, Puerto
Rico, and Venezuela, and
offers codes
and standards
as well as training in Spanish.
The new addition to the NFPA Global team follows
NFPA's hiring in January of Anas Alzaid,
who serves as the NFPA representative
for the Middle East and North Africa
(MENA) regions.

Worldwide
Global survey highlights COVID-19
impact on wildfire response
Recently published findings from an April
survey of wildfire safety professionals
from 26 countries shed light on how
the global coronavirus pandemic could
hinder wildfire response this summer and
fall, as well as ways agencies might be
able to address these new challenges.
The survey was spearheaded by
Cathelijne Stoof, a wildfire researcher
at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, along with the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, the American Wildfire Experience, and the International Association
of Wildland Fire. It was the first in a series
of surveys, the findings of which will be
published over the coming weeks.
"The requirements put in place to deal
with COVID-19 in most countries include
some level of restriction on movement,
business, and social interaction, and in
many countries this has taken the form
of a lockdown," the findings say. "These
measures for COVID-19 must be considered in the context of fire management
procedures, standards and approaches
as the Northern Hemisphere enters the
summer and the fire season." The document goes on to list recommendations
for how to best approach the situation,
such as relying more heavily on local
resources to suppress wildfires versus
calling on outside agencies and using
more vehicles than normal to allow for
social distancing between wildland
firefighters.
Read the full findings of the survey by
going to nfpa.org/dispatches and selecting "International News."

Gutiérrez tapped as new NFPA rep for
Latin America
Jaime Gutiérrez, a government affairs
and international business professional
with extensive experience overseeing
building safety and security, has been
named NFPA's new local representative
for Latin America.
"We're very excited to have Jaime
bring his decades of experience to

PICTURE OF JAIME GUTIERREZ: NFPA

Latin America

COLLISION COURSE?
A number of countries have
expressed concern over how
they will fight wildfires while
also trying to manage the
ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
GETTY IMAGES

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NFPA Journal - July/August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2020
