International Fire Chief Association | 9
strong building codes. “There is no ques-
tion among first responders, and the fire
service in particular, that strong building
codes provide vital life safety protection
during natural disasters, such as wild-
fires,” says Chief Clemmensen.
He adds enactment of the SBCIA is
important because thirty-four states cur-
rently fail to put the power of modern
building science to work for their home-
owners, businesses and taxpayers. If ap-
proved the bill would provide qualifying
states with an additional four percent of
funding available for post-disaster assis-
tance if they agree to utilize nationally
recognized model building codes, in this
case, the International Residential Code
from either of its most recent updates
(2012 or 2009).
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
RESPONSE
The IAFC is also heavily engaged in cre-
ating change with respect to hazardous
materials. To put that in proper context,
it is essential to understand that over the
course of any weekday, there may be up
to a million different shipments of hazard-
ous materials making their way over the
road or over rail. While the vast majority
safely reaches its intended destinations
without consequent, when an accident oc-
curs, local fire and EMS are dispatched
to duty. The vast and varying chemical
dynamics among the range of oil, natu-
ral gas or other chemicals which may be
confront prompt different approaches in
terms of proper response. The gear or
retardant used to mitigate impact in one
situation may be very different from that
used in another situation, but responders
may not immediately know what they’re
dealing with.
The IAFC is working with the Pipe-
line Hazardous Material Safety Admin-
istration (PHMSA), the Federal Rail Ad-
ministration and various state and local
agencies (as well as the private sector) to
devise new solutions in training and in-
formation sharing to better respond when
emergencies happen. Chief Clemmensen
says the IAFC is partnering with rail lines
in an initiative that will allow firefighters/
first responders to have quicker access to
bills of laden involving hazardous materi-
al transport, an initiative designed to pro-
