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| NYC Buildings Official Risked His Own Life to Protect Others Public safety official raced up a skyscraper during Superstorm Sandy to inspect a crane that had partially collapsed in the storm.
Still, on Oct. 29 as Sandy blew in, the unthinkable happened. Winds near 100 mph buffeted a 1,000-ft-tall skyscraper under construction on Manhattan's West 57th Street, flipping over the jib of a tower crane like a wet noodle. Tens of thousands of pounds of limp steel, wire rope and other debris dangled precariously over midtown Manhattan. Stationed at his office's emergency response center, Alacha, 54, witnessed the event on television and raced to the scene. "My concern was the crane's connection to the building, specifically the top tie," Alacha recalls. "If that was compromised, with the storm still halfway through, the entire mast may have collapsed." Read more from ENR.com |
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Message from the Chair - Major Jurisdiction Committee
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Fire Service Membership Council — Call for Information: Facility Lockdown Planning/Active-Shooter Preparedness ICC fire service Members are being asked to assist the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) with assembling information on Lockdown Plans. Does your jurisdiction have approved lockdown plans, policies, practices, and success stories of how to prepare for and respond to events requiring facility lockdown such as active-shooter events? If so, we are asking you to please take a few minutes to submit your response via an online survey and share any resource documents via the IAFC KnowledgeNet library.Recent events have put an urgent and appropriate spotlight on how community stakeholders work together to prepare for and respond to active-shooter incidents while ensuring the safety of those who may be unable to leave the affected building(s). Specifically, increased attention is being given to best practices for police, fire and EMS first responders to work in cooperation both before and during an incident. It is also essential to include fire code officials and building owners/managers with the emergency escape and lockdown planning detailed in Chapter 4 of the 2012 and 2009 International Fire Code. The IAFC is collecting data and model practices from communities that support safe and effective national-level policy. This will provide peer-to-peer resources for local fire prevention and/or building departments that are reviewing or developing their active-shooter response protocols and lockdown plans. Please take a few minutes to complete the online survey. IAFC members can share their policies and practices on the IAFC KnowledgeNet document library. While on IAFC KnowledgeNet, you can also contribute to the active shooter discussion cross-posted to the Open Forum and the Company Officer community. Adding Documents to IAFC KnowledgeNet |
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Amherst County Building Inspector Donald Tyree Retires
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| Garden City Building Official Jim Wright Takes Proactive Approach Jim Wright, a consultant for Northville-based McKenna Associates, has officially been named the licensed building official in Garden City, Mich. Wright, who has worked for the city since July, was named to his new role by the Garden City Council late last year. Staff cutbacks had eliminated the position as well as that of fire marshal, either of which is needed when the city deals with dangerous buildings. Acting City Manager Robert Muery explained to council members that it did not have such a person in place who could take enforcement action like condemning a building. "In the absence of an appointed building official, we can turn to our fire marshal for enforcement action but, we also do not have a fire marshal," Muery said. Wright, a White Lake Township resident, is enthusiastic about his new role. At one time, Wright said that the city had full-time inspectors and that might be when the building official position was also eliminated. A building official is required by the state. "All inspectors who work in the department report to the building official," Wright said. "According to the Building Code, he is responsible for the Building Department." Read more from the Observer & Eccentric |
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| Beatrice, Nebraska, Updates to the 2009 International Codes In January, the city of Beatrice, Neb., formally adopted the 2009 International Codes, replacing the 2003 International Codes adopted by the city in 2005. The 2009 International Codes adopted by the city establish minimum building standards. Building codes are simply a prescription to assure that the occupants of a structure are safe and sanitary. The new codes will apply to new construction, remodels, and any other work which is covered by the codes and performed after the codes were adopted. Formal enforcement of the 2009 International Codes, as adopted by the city council, will begin with all new work begun and permits pulled after March 1, 2013. While most citizens in Beatrice will be directly impacted by the adoption of the 2009 International Codes at some time, the changes are relatively minor. The most significant change in the 2009 International Codes that has received national publicity was the required installation of a fire sprinkler system in all newly built one- or two-family houses. Read more from the Beatrice Daily Sun |
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The Major Jurisdiction Committee has been very busy this year with a variety of new initiatives as well as maintaining our existing 2012 Work Plan Task Groups. John Barrios and Jim Bartl, along with assistance from the Fire Officials Membership Council Code Council and Bruce Faust, are going to be working on a "Special Events Permitting and Inspection" Task Group that we initiated as part of our 2013 Work Plan.
When the Amherst County, Va., building inspector cometh, he brings not dread. Instead, he's likely to sit down at the table for a visit. That might sound unusual to the uninitiated, but it's not unconventional for Donald Tyree. "They're all like family to me," said Tyree, Amherst County's unassuming but encyclopedic 21-year building inspector, who looks like anyone you would see at Lowe's, at a school function, in a grocery store, on a work site or in church. What is perhaps unusual is his outlook, regarding contractors, homeowners and people who want to build or add on to stuff: "I go in houses around here, and I set at the table with them."