The NFPA Podcast

Cooking is such a routine part of everyday life that it's easy to overlook its potential dangers. According to NFPA research, cooking is the leading cause of reported home fires, home fire injuries, and home fire deaths in the United States. With Thanksgiving this week—the day with by far the mo...

In even the most destructive wildfires, some structures survive untouched while everything around them is incinerated. It begs the question: What factors are most responsible for determining if a home is destroyed or survives during these events? A team of researchers spent years trying to answer that important question. They gathered massive troves of data from California's most destructive wildfires, then used artificial intellig...

The fire protection engineering profession is in a strange place right now. For one thing, there's a growing global shortage of FPEs just as demand for their services is surging. Factors such as accelerating technology, global building booms, and intensifying natural disasters are making their work more challenging than ever. And on top of that, some predict that artificial intelligence will completely alter how FPEs do their jobs ...

Not long ago, a dirty, sooty turnout coat and helmet was a badge of honor in the fire service—tangible proof that a firefighter was in the action. But as concern grew about the high levels of cancer in the fire service, that culture has totally flipped. Now, fire departments around the world are going to great lengths to ensure that their members never have to wear a uniform covered in carcinogens. But to do that, you need to know ...

Fire Prevention Week, which runs this year from October 5–11, is the longest running public safety observance in United States history. This year for the first time, the Fire Prevention Week theme will focus on lithium-ion battery safety. Even as the technology has become ubiquitous in modern life, the general public still remains largely unaware of the significant fire safety risks that batteries can pose.

On January 19, 2000, Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos, then 18-year-old freshman roommates at Seton Hall University, were severely burned when the residence hall they lived in caught fire. The blaze, one of the worst at a college campus in U.S. history, killed three students and injured nearly 60 others. Shawn and Alvaro now travel the country speaking to students and responders about their journey. Today on the podcast, we chat with...

In October 2023, a 40-year-old man armed with semi-automatic rifle opened fire inside a bowling alley and later at a nearby restaurant in the small city of Lewiston, Maine. Between the two incidents, 18 people died and 13 were injured. Disturbingly, the Lewiston shooting was one for more than 650 mass shootings in the United States in 2023, defined as a shooting event with four or more victims. With the U.S. continuing to experienc...

Decades from now when we name at the seminal fires from the 21st Century, the Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed 72 people in June 2017, will certainly be the list. Today on the podcast, we consider Grenfell's enduring lessons with Jose Torero, one of the world's most prominent fire protection engineers and a key figure in the United Kingdom's seven-year public inquiry into the tragedy. It's safe to say that no one has a b...

More than 80 percent of the world's population lives in low-and-middle income countries, according to the World Bank. In these nations, it's often a huge challenge to find the resources needed to build the systems of safety that people in higher-income countries take for granted. To put it in perspective, in the African nation of Uganda, there are just two fire trucks and 12 firefighters per million residents. In contrast, the U.S....

Since 2022, New York has experienced more than 800 fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries, leading to 30 deaths and more than 400 injuries. The sudden explosion of battery incidents led FDNY in 2023 to form the Lithium-Ion Task Force, a specialized unit dedicated to addressing the growing threat of fires caused by batteries, particularly those used in e-bikes and e-scooters.
Today on the podcast, we talk to John Orlando, the FDNY f...

As we've noted on the podcast a few times recently, standard development organizations and safety professionals are facing several significant challenges right now. In statehouses, lawmakers are increasingly passing bills that alter, delay, or even erase safety codes; fire marshals and other safety professionals say their voices are being increasingly marginalized; and court decisions involving copywrite protection threaten to dist...

As summer weather begins in the Northern Hemisphere, we revisit this very relevant episode from 2023. Heatwaves aren't just uncomfortable, they are deadly for millions of people around the globe each year. Recognizing this growing threat, governments and safety departments are starting to reconsider their vulnerabilities to heat and are taking action to protect their populations and infrastructure. Today on the...

Tribal nations and native communities across North America are consistently one of the highest-risk population groups for a range of health and safety issues, including fire incidents and casualties. And yet, developing and implementing community risk reduction programs in native communities can be daunting, especially for non-native fire departments that don't understand native traditions, sensitivities, or histories. 

Our guest t...

May is Electrical Safety Month, which is a good time to remember that dozens of people across the world suffer injuries from electrical hazards every single day. Survivors of these incidents list a range of devastating symptoms, from burns and chronic pain to insomnia, muscle spasms, depression, and various other mental health issues. Many of the full effects of these injuries are still not fully understood. 
 
Today on the podcast...

Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer, but it doesn't have to kill you to have permanent consequences. There is growing evidence that long-term exposure to CO, at concentrations that are too small for a typical household alarm to detect, can have serious and permanent impacts on human health, including cognitive decline, neurological issues, organ damage, and other ailments that are often misdiagnosed as unrelated chronic d...

As the weather in the Northern Hemisphere starts to shift to spring and construction season gears up, we revisist an episode from 2021 about the costly ongoing problem of fires in buildings under construction. In the United States, there's a fire in a building under construction or renovation every hour and a half, according to NFPA data. On this podcast, Angelo speaks with Kevin Carr (4:15), NFPA staff liaison to NFPA 241, Standar...

This is the second part of our series looking at how fire and life safety codes are being delayed, erased, and watered down across the United States. On this episode, we talk to Ohio State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon about some of the challenges he's facing in his state, strategies to counter misguided legislative efforts, and why the fire service needs to get more involved if we are to reverse this dangerous trend (1:36). 

Then, N...

There is a serious threat to safety happening now that isn't getting nearly enough attention, according to many state fire marshals and fire service leaders. Across the U.S., anti-regulatory sentiments and well financed lobbying efforts are persuading lawmakers to weaken or erase the longstanding fire and life safety codes intended to keep the public safe. 

Today's podcast is the first of two parts on this important issue, which is...

As the Los Angeles area wildfires exploded in early January, a nonprofit organization called MySafe:LA leapt into action, disseminating timely information to guide residents through the chaos. But public messaging is just one of countless ways the group has worked to boost safety in greater LA. Over almost 20 years, MySafe:LA has grown into one of the most unique and comprehensive public/private safety and resiliency organizations ...