NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - 23

actions will make a difference, and
ultimately working to build households'
confidence to take action
rather than scaring homes into taking
action, should be the focus of fire
education campaigns. "
Human behavior during fires and
other emergencies can be tricky to
predict, and research has long supported
that. " In the movies at least,
people run away with their arms flailing.
But the reality is the most natural
human response in the face of danger
is to simply do nothing, " science journalist
Zaria Gorvett wrote in a 2017
BBC article.
Although people who reported
worrying more about fire were more
likely to test their smoke alarms,
Brown said the overall number of
people who said they didn't test their
smoke alarms at least once a year was
high-about 40 percent of respondents.
" This is especially noteworthy, "
Brown said, " as fire safety campaigns
across Ireland encourage weekly
smoke alarm testing. " The researchers
recommend future messaging
on smoke alarms that targets groups
who were found to be less likely to be
testing them, like women and households
lacking children.
The full Safety Science study
can be found online at nfpa.org/
dispatchesinternational.
Hyderabad, India
Fire at scrap warehouse kills 11
Eleven people died in March when a
fire tore through a scrap warehouse
in Hyderabad, India. The incident
exposed the dangers of waste and
recycling facilities, as well as the
critical importance of maintaining
successful components of the NFPA
Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem™
.
According to the Times of India, 12
warehouse workers had been sleeping
inside the facility when the fire
broke out in the middle of the night.
Trapped inside a maze of empty liquor
bottles, paper, plastic, and other scrap
materials, only one worker made it out
alive, the newspaper reported.
Waste and recycling facilities are
notoriously prone to fires. Protecting
these facilities with fire sprinklers and
keeping piles of combustible materials
small and separated from one another
are the best ways to mitigate the risk,
experts say.
After a large blaze at a waste transfer
station in Connecticut in 2018,
NFPA Journal spoke with an expert on
waste and recycling facility fires, who
warned that the future may bring more
fires like this. " I think we could hit a
threefold increase in fires [before] 2100
if waste processing capacity doesn't
keep pace with increased waste production, "
he told the magazine. " I think
research is needed to help identify
better means of fire protection specific
to waste and recycling facilities. "
Taiwan
Study examines fire safety in
Taiwan nursing homes
Nursing homes in Taiwan need more
nighttime staff who are trained to help
evacuate residents.
That was one major finding from a
study published in the journal Sustainability
in March. Taiwanese researchers
with both academic and public safety
backgrounds examined current fire
safety measures at more than 50
elderly housing facilities across the
country, finding that 84 percent of
elderly residents have poor mobility. At
the same time, researchers found that
half of the facilities are located in multistory
buildings, and two-thirds of the
institutions have less than half the staffing
at night that they do during the day.
Based on these findings, researchers
concluded that facilities should invest
more in nighttime personnel and make
sure those employees are properly
trained to help evacuate residents in
the event of a fire.
While the study found all facilities
had smoke alarms, some of the facilities
were found to have their alarms
installed directly next to ceiling fans,
the blades of which could impair alarm
reliability. " The effectiveness of these
detectors must be re-evaluated, " the
researchers wrote.
Read the full study online at nfpa.org/
dispatchesinternational.
A firefighter battles a blaze that broke out at a scrap
warehouse in Hyderabad, India, in March. The fire
killed at least 11 people and injured four others.
AP PHOTO/MAHESH KUMAR A.
NFPA .ORG/JOURNAL * NFPA JOURNAL | 23
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NFPA Journal - Summer 2022

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