Improved Safety of Fire Fighters – High Temperature Performance of Fire Fighter Equipment Project

Summary:

Current test methods and standards do not fully characterize the performance of fire fighter equipment in high temperature, rough duty environments. The objective of this project is to increase the level of performance, efficiency, and safety of fire fighters by developing test methods for determining the performance of fire fighter equipment under the high temperature, rough duty, environments in which they operate. The knowledge gained will be transferred to the fire service as well as to standards developing organizations to support the development of standards for the performance of fire fighter equipment under rough duty operating environments. The three major areas of study include the performance of fire fighter self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), performance of fire fighter electronic equipment in rough-duty fire fighting environments (Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), fire fighter locators, and fire fighter radios), and performance of fire fighter protective clothing.

Description:

Objective: To provide experimental data and associated standards for the evaluation of fire fighter equipment performance by 2014.

What is the new technical idea? Previous full scale fire experiments have indicated that current fire fighter equipment does not perform in a consistent manner in high temperature rough duty environments and current test methods and standards do not fully characterize the performance of fire fighter equipment in realistic environments. This study will provide experimental data and test methods that can be used to equalize the performance of the suite of equipment used by fire fighters. In addition, the current fire fighter personal protective clothing ensemble, consisting of pants, coat, gloves, boots, hood, helmet, and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), contains gaps in protection between some of the items. This research study seeks to provide data to help develop solutions to the gaps, as well as measure the improvements afforded by the solutions. These topic areas are specifically identified as the top priority issue by the Technology and Science panel at the 2011 National Fire Service Research Agenda Symposium. Changes in fire fighter equipment include the implementation of electronic technological devices embedded in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). SCBAs, for example, have recently incorporated PASS devices, where in the past, firefighters carried separate devices. In the future, it is likely that the fire fighter SCBA facepiece will incorporate heads-up displays to indicate the status of gear, air supply, temperature, heat flux, fire fighter body statistics, thermal imaging, and situational awareness aids such as location information, and radio communication gear. The thermal performance of these devices must be understood, and test methods must be developed to measure the performance of the gear in fire fighter high temperature rough duty environments. The test methods should provide a consistent thermal assault indicative of the firefighter duty environment, so that various pieces of gear provide appropriate levels of performance and protection. This area of research is also one of the strategic focus areas in the Fire Research Division’s draft Strategic Roadmap for Innovative Fire Protection.

What is the research plan? The project consists of three major tasks: 1. Performance of firefighter self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), 2. Performance of fire fighter electronic equipment ( RFID, locators, and radios), and 3) Performance of fire fighter protective clothing. The first two tasks involve the thermal performance of fire fighter equipment in high temperature rough duty environments. The research plan consists of determining the appropriate metrics for performance evaluation, laboratory scale and full scale fire experiments to determine equipment performance, and developing metrics and standard test methods for use by standards development organizations. It is anticipated that fire environment temperatures and heat flux are key parameters. While large scale fire experiments are useful for studying the performance of gear, and are especially valuable for capturing three dimensional effects, they are typically impractical for product acceptance testing. Instead, once the appropriate metrics and fire assaults are determined, laboratory scale tests can be developed to measure the thermal performance of the gear. The third task, performance of firefighter clothing, also includes a thermal performance component related to the protection afforded to the fire fighter during fireground operations. In addition, the long term durability of fire fighter turnout gear will be examined, including the effects of sunlight, thermal exposure, moisture, and laundering.

Recent Results:

Output: Kent, J., Lawson, R.J., and Putorti, A.D. Performance of RFID Tags in Rough Duty Environments (Structural Fires and Moisture), NIST TN 1700, May 2011.

Output: Mensch, A. and Braga, G. Fire Exposures of Fire Fighter Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, NIST TN, in review, June 2011.

Outcome: NIST recommendations for fire fighter duty environment exposure have been incorporated in the 2012 draft document ofNational Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1981 Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) for Emergency Services.

Standards and Codes:

Staff are participating in a select number of key standards and codes committee, including

NFPA FAE-AAC Technical Correlating Committee. Putorti is a voting member. The committee oversees the NFPA standards related to the design, performance, testing, certification, selection, care, and maintenance of personal protective equipment (PPE) used by fire fighters during emergency operations.

NFPA FAE-ELS - Electronic Safety Equipment.^[1] NIST staff is working to incorporate the thermal performance metrics, measurement methods, and data developed in this project into standards for RFID and firefighter locator systems.

NFPA FAE-RPE - Respiratory Protection Equipment.^[2] NIST staff is working to incorporate the thermal performance metrics, measurement methods, and data developed in this project for SCBA facepiece lenses into the standards for fire fighter SCBA.

NFPA FAE-SPF - Structural and Proximity Fire Fighting Protective Clothing and Equipment.^[3] Davis is a voting member. NIST staff is working to incorporate the metrics, measurement methods, and data regarding the thermal performance and long term durability of firefighter clothing developed in this project into the standards for firefighter ensembles.

ASTM International - F23 Committee on Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment.^[4] Putorti is a voting member. NISTstaff is working incorporate the metrics, measurement methods, and data regarding the thermal performance of firefighter clothing developed in this project into the standards for firefighter ensembles.

^[1]. This committee is responsible for standards related to the performance of electronic safety equipment for use by fire fighters. This includes current standards on thermal imaging cameras and PASS devices, and future standards for RFID systems, fire fighter locator systems, radio equipment, and hybrid systems such as SCBA facepieces equipped with heads-up displays, thermal imaging cameras, fire environment sensors, and telemetry.

^[2]. This committee is responsible for standards related to the performance, selection, care, and maintenance of firefighter SCBA systems.

^[3]. This committee is responsible for standards related to the performance, selection, care, and maintenance of firefighter protective ensembles (clothing, etc.).

^[4]. This committee is currently cooperating with NFPA committees related to test standards for fire fighter protective ensembles.