Fire Department Accreditation: A New Way of Evaluating Efficiency and Effectiveness of Fire Departments (2012)

Accreditation is a way to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of a fire department by determining community risks and fire safety needs, accurately evaluating the organization’s performance, and providing a method for continuous improvement

Technical Bulletins: Use of Acquired Structures for Training (2013)

Live fire training in an acquired structure is very valuable as it provides firefighters with some of the real life experience they need to be effective firefighters. Many communities do not have access to a training facility with a dedicated live fire building or smoke house, so using an acquired structure can provide a local opportunity to train under realistic conditions

Compensation and Employee Status of Volunteer Firefighters

This publication addresses the complex issues surrounding the rules and opinions on whether a volunteer firefighter is a volunteer or an employee and whether any compensation or remuneration the volunteer firefighter receives for services provided is subject to withholding for income tax, social security, or Medicare

Technical Bulletins: Let Me Tell You a Story: How an Annual Report Will Benefit Your Fire Department

A fire department annual report is an excellent tool for a fire department to use to tell its story to the community and to build community support for its efforts and needs

Technical Bulletins: ISO Offers Free Services to Fire Chiefs

ISO uses the Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS) to evaluate a community’s fire protection and establish the Public Protection Classification (PPC) grading. The rating evaluates the capabilities of the communications center, fire department and water supply. Fire chiefs should use the FSRS as a planning tool to assist them in developing a strategic plan for improving fire services and to justify and budget for improvements in fire protection

Technical Bulletins: Use of Acquired Structures for Training

Live fire training in an acquired structure is very valuable as it provides firefighters with some of the real life experience they need to be effective firefighters. Many communities do not have access to a training facility with a dedicated live fire building or smoke house, so using an acquired structure can provide a local opportunity to train under realistic conditions

Technical Bulletins: Opt-In for Residential Inspections to Save Money and Lives

The Tennessee Clean Energy Future Act of 2009 adopted energy efficiency standards and broadened statewide building standards to cover newly constructed one- and two-family dwellings in addition to municipal, county, state and certain private buildings

A three-dimensional degree of polarization based on Rayleigh scattering

A measure of the degree of polarization for the three-dimensional polarization matrix (coherence matrix) of an electromagnetic field is proposed, based on Rayleigh scattering. The degree of polarization, due to dipole scattering of the three-dimensional state of polarization, is averaged over all scattering directions. This gives a well-defined purity measure, which, unlike other proposed measures of the three-dimensional degree of polarization, is not a unitary invariant of the matrix. This is demonstrated and discussed for several examples, including a partially polarized transverse beam.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures. OSA styl

Hot Topic: FLSA Firefighter Definition Revised

Clarification of an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act regarding the definition of an employee in fire protection activities

Fire Department Accreditation: A New Way of Evaluating Efficiency and Effectiveness of Fire Departments

Accreditation is a way to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of a fire department by determining community risks and fire safety needs, accurately evaluating the organization’s performance, and providing a method for continuous improvement