National Museum of Brazil Fire [Why We Do This Job]

On the evening of September 3, 2018, the National Museum of Brazil was gutted by fire. This 200 year old institution, a former palace for the Portuguese royal family, housed more than 20-million items and artifacts. Ninety percent of these items have been lost. These items represent a past that no longer exists for Brazil, languages that are no longer spoken, skeletal remains of the earliest living humans, and 200 years of research and collected knowledge.

This tragic loss serves as a poignant reminder for the reason why we, fire prevention, protection, and life safety professionals, do this job everyday. And the importance of our role in preventing these tragedies within our communities.

Several years ago the United States Fire Administration published a document that outlined the five impacts of fire. The premise of the document was that no fire is ever “just a fire”. Fire loss, of any size, has the potential to affect the community and the organization in five distinct ways: economically, organizationally, legally, psychologically, and politically.  As the news stories and editorial pieces continue to come out on the National Museum fire, we can clearly see how these five impacts of fire are affecting the local community, the people of Brazil, and International interests.

This is evident in the headlines and stories that include the following quotes:

“...our tangible record of life on earth…”

“...destruction of careers…”

“...negligence…”

“...a crime…”

“...mismanagement…”

“...systemic neglect of cultural institutions…”

Records and reports dating back to the 1950’s show a pattern of fire protection and life safety neglect. Recent citizen complaints identified the specific hazards of flammable plastic roofing material and exposed and jury-rigged electrical wiring. Additionally, other reports state “beyond a few fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, the museum did not have a fire suppression system.”

Preliminary reports have identified the cause of the fire as originating from a paper balloon lantern or an electrical short circuit in one of the museum’s lab areas.  However, there are three core reasons, at the highest government levels, that allowed this preventable loss to happen:

• Tight budgets and availability of funds
• Mismanagement of money and resources
• Neglect and lack of prioritization 

These three dangerous actions and mindsets are not unique to Brazil, but are common throughout many communities. Beyond our responsibilities related to code compliance, plan review, and fire inspections, as fire protection professionals we also have a great responsibility to mold and change mindsets of our community leaders and citizens. We must constantly work to keep investments in  fire protection and life safety at the forefront, and consistently reiterate the life altering effect and impacts that lack of these essential services and systems will lead to.

Related Resources:

• Preserving Main Street: Fire Protection for Historical Buildings and Cultural Resources
• Fire Prevention Blueprint: Seven Disciplines for Building Effective Fire Prevention Organizations

Arson Prevention at Houses of Worship

Today marks the start of the United States Fire Administration’s, National Arson Awareness Week.  The theme for 2017 is, “Arson Prevention at Houses of Worship”

Each year there is an average of 103 fires that affecting houses of worship.  The burning of a house of worship is a stressful event; it not only devastates the affected congregation, but wounds the entire community. Whether the motivation behind the arson is hate or reckless vandalism, a congregation views it as an attack on their beliefs and values.

Arson robs congregations of their valuable assets, lives and property. Arson destroys more than the buildings used as houses of worship; it can devastate a community, resulting in the decline of the neighborhood through increased insurance premiums, loss of business revenue, and a decrease in property values.

Houses of worship are particularly vulnerable to fire damage because they’re often unoccupied for long periods of time, and in many cases, in rural areas. Rural properties will generally sustain more severe damage – even with an accidental fire – since discovery and response time may be delayed.

Full resources and information for Arson Prevention in Houses of Worship can be found at, National Arson Awareness Week Resources 2017.

A real threat to houses of worship are those that exist from terrorism and terrorist activity. The Al-Qaidah publication, Rumiyah, Edition 5 outlines how to cause an incendiary attack.  The article outlines ways and means, and also provides a list of targets.  The below image and caption comes from the publication:

Caption reads: "1707 San Jacinto in Dallas, Texas - A popular Crusader gathering place waiting to be burned down"

Related posts:

• 15 Steps to Stop Church Arson
• Fire Safe Worship Space

Fire Risk FAQ

Q: What is risk?

A: Risk can be defined as the combination of the likelihood of an accident occurrence and severity of the potential consequences.

Q: What is a risk assessment?

A: What is the likelihood of a fire event occurring within this space? What degree of loss (life and property) would be expected?  What scale would this be measured on? How can we reduce the possibility of a fire occurrence, and eliminate the chance of any life or property loss?  This is the information that a fire risk assessment will present.

A fire risk assessment is a tool used to assess the fire risks pertaining to a building or other structure. The assessment identifies the risks and present and provides actions and recommendations to mitigate those risks.

Q: How can risk be mitigated?

A: The first step toward mitigation is awareness. Know what the risks are, specific to your facility.  Following that, there are 5 categories that can be examined or applied to reduce that risk.  These categories are:

1. Building construction type
2. Fire alarm systems
3. Fire suppression systems
4. Building upgrades
5. Water supply and reliability

Q: What areas of a facility pose the greatest risk?

A: When determining the areas of greatest risk we want to look at three factors:

1. Ignition sources - What systems or processes create situations in which they may cause a fire or fuel to be ignited? Some of these might include: hot work operation (welding, cutting, etc.), cooking, or open flame processes.
2. Fuel load - How much flammable and combustible materials are within the space? This can refer to the structure itself, stored items, or the buildings contents.
3. Occupant load - How many people can potentially fill this space?  How many people actually operate in the space?  Are exiting and egress components adequate?

Q: What are the impacts of fire?

A: The United States Fire Administration has identified five impacts of fire:

1. Economic impact - loss of production, loss of jobs, loss of organizational assets, increased insurance premiums
2. Organizational impact - low employee morale and high turn-over, life loss of organizational leaders
3. Legal impact - civil litigation and lawsuits, fines and fees
4. Psychological impact - traumatic experience to those involved and witness to the incident
5. Political impact - decreased property values, loss of respect within the community, increased regulation and regulatory oversight

Q: What are the critical components of a risk assessment?

A: The critical components of an assessment are the potential hazard factors and the risk reduction factors. The potential hazard factors are those items that pose the greatest risk of fire/life loss within a structure. The risk reduction factors are the items that can reduce the risk of fire/life loss.

Q: How is a risk assessment conducted?

A: We utilize a 3 step process to conduct risk assessments:

1. Site visit and completion of the risk assessment field checklist.
2. Input information into the digital pre-plan template.
3. Completion of the fire risk assessment score-sheet matrix.

My book, Risk Assessment Guide for Aviation Facilities, is a complete reference manual for understanding risk, conducting a risk assessment, and applying assessment results to mitigate fire loss.

For free risk assessment guides, resources, and information visit the website - www.AviationFireRisk.com.

Buy the Kindle edition.

Buy the Print edition.

Fire: The Burning Truth

Alarm Traders Direct smoke alarms supply a range of high quality mains smoke alarms and easy to operate battery smoke alarms for domestic homes and businesses. For more information on wireless smoke alarms visit Alarms Traders wireless smoke alarms. Infographic designed by Reflect Digital

A New Logo

Check out our newly designed logo.  We feel that this mark fully represents the professionalism and quality of services that are provided by the The Code Coach.  Though we are passionate on educating through writing and blogging on fire prevention codes, leadership, and resources; The Code Coach also provides a wide array of fire protection and life safety consulting services. These services are designed to ensure that your facility is completed on time and in budget while maintaining the highest standard of fire and life safety.

• Fire/Life Safety Code Analysis and Evaluation
• Plan review
• Commisioning
• Training/education

For more information on these and other services check out the Consulting page.

Dangers of Light-Weight Construction

The National Fire Protection Association has created a free presentation for fire departments to utilize in showing the dangers of light-weight truss type construction.

The Threats of Lightweight Construction and Modern Furnishings to Firefighters from National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

This presentation can be received by sending a request to NFPA's Maria Figueroa