NFPA Journal - Summer 2023 - 21

received a copy of the FPH as a form of payment.
" One of my roommates actually owed me money for
a utility bill, and he paid me using the 17th edition
of the Fire Protection Handbook, " Dawe recalled.
" Obviously I saw the value in it if I took the trade.
That book, to me, has always been something kind
of special. It's one of a kind. "
Over the past 127 years, the book has evolved from
something that could slip into your jacket pocket
to a two-volume set that more closely resembles
a couple of dictionaries. Its content has expanded
from a focus on fire sprinklers to encompassing
nearly everything a modern-day fire or life safety
specialist could encounter.
" As the most pressing concerns of fire protection
have evolved-from property protection concerns
of the late 1800s, to life safety concerns for public
occupancies in the beginning of the 1900s, to the
computer-modeled, risk assessment-based systems
approach in use today-the number of subjects
covered by the FPH has increased greatly, " the introduction
to the 21st edition of the handbook reads.
One of the main reasons the Fire Protection Handbook
is so indispensable is because, as Pauley and
others have said, there's nothing else like it. " When I
was in college, it was always the first place I'd go to
familiarize myself with a new topic, " said Jonathan
Hart, a technical lead at NFPA.
Grant, who now works as a fire protection engineering
consultant for a Massachusetts-based firm,
still uses the FPH to refamiliarize himself with concepts.
" I was one of those people who saved my notes
from school for a long time, but I finally threw them
out one day when I was cleaning the basement, "
he said. " The Fire Protection Handbook essentially
serves as those notes for me today. If I have to
remind myself of the basics of a fire protection topic,
I'll go to the handbook, and it immediately gets me
going in the right direction. "
New content for a range of professionals
Each of the Fire Protection Handbook's chapters
is written by a different subject matter expert.
" We utilized over 200 industry experts who contributed
their knowledge, expertise, and time to
this document, " said Kristin Bigda, publications
strategy director at NFPA. Bigda, Dawe, Grant,
and Hart all contributed to the writing or editing
of chapters or sections in the new edition. In total,
there are 210 chapters spread across 21 sections.
What's immediately clear to anyone scanning
the table of contents of the new FPH versus previous
editions is that there are more than a dozen
new chapters on technologies and hazards that
have emerged or spiked in significance in the past
15 years or so.
" A lot has changed since 2008, and a lot of value
was added to the handbook, " said Dawe. " We have
a new chapter on energy storage systems. One on
wildland fires. One of the more unfortunate chapters
we now need is on active shooter protocols
and NFPA 3000®
, Standard for an Active Shooter/
Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program. "
Even in chapters that
were there before-
including the chapter
Dawe wrote on business
occupancies-important
updates have been
made to reflect the latest
trends and current data.
" I was able to bring my
CONFERENCE
SESSION
The World of Fire
Protection Since
2008: What You Will
Learn from the 21st
Edition of NFPA's Fire
Protection Handbook
Tuesday, June 20,
11-11:30 a.m.
Kristin Bigda and
Jon Hart, NFPA
expertise dealing with
business occupancies to
the table, " said Dawe. " In
Cobb County, we have a lot of unique properties
like a major stadium and event venue and an
amusement park. And, of course, after the COVID19
pandemic, businesses operate differently. "
Overall, Dawe said the FPH is written in a way
that provides context to why certain codes and
standards exist or why they require certain things.
Unlike a more technical resource, such as the
Society of Fire Protection Engineering's Handbook
of Fire Protection Engineering, the FPH is written
with a wider audience in mind-everyone from
fire protection engineering students to insurance
agents to fire service officials. " Anyone can find
value in it, " said Bigda.
More specifically, the FPH also serves as the
basis for candidates taking the Certified Fire Protection
Specialist (CFPS) exam administered by
NFPA. Currently, CFPS exam candidates use the
20th edition of the FPH, but that's slated to shift
to the new edition this fall. The CFPS credential
was created in 1971, and since then more than
5,000 people with professional backgrounds ranging
from risk management to fire inspectors to
building designers have been credentialed.
For now, the 21st edition of Fire Protection
Handbook will only be available in print,
although Bigda notes that could change in the
future. However, for some people, the print-only
aspect of the book seems to add to its uniqueness
and value.
" If you're going to be using codes and standards
daily, weekly, monthly, then you should have a
Fire Protection Handbook on your shelves, " said
Dawe. " To me, it helps complete the total package
of having access to a full understanding of what
the individual fire protection challenges are that
you're dealing with. "
In With
the New
Fourteen new
chapters have
been added to
the 21st edition of
the Fire Protection
Handbook:
 Wildland Fires
and the Wildland/
Urban Interface
The Interconnected
AllHazards
Fire
Department
Smart
Infrastructure and
Fire Protection
Facilitating
Occupant
Movement During
Emergencies
Additive Flame
Retardants
Solid and Liquid
Oxidizers
 Organic Peroxides
 Photovoltaic
Systems
 Energy Storage
Systems
Fuel Gases
Detection
Cannabis
Processing
Facilities
Active Shooter/
Hostile Event
Operations
Modular
Construction
The NFPA Fire
& Life Safety
Ecosystem™
For more
information
on the 21st
edition of the
Fire Protection
Handbook,
including how
to purchase the
book, visit
nfpa.org/fph.
NFPA .ORG/JOURNAL * NFPA JOURNAL | 21
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NFPA Journal - Summer 2023

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