The NFPA Podcast

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. Today on the podcast we talk to Kelly Ransdell, NFPA’s director of public education, and Brian O’Connor, a technical services engineer at NFPA, about why NFPA is highlighting lithium-ion battery safety, why batteries have become such a prevalent home fire hazard, and what key safety points the public and fire educators need to know. Links: Visit the Fire Prevention Week website for tipsheets, campaign materials, and other resources See additional campaign resources at fpw.org/battery Read an NFPA Journal feature story on the emerging hazards of consumer lithium-ion batteries and how it impacts the fire service

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 them about the Seton Hall fire, their grueling recovery, and what parents, students, and first responders need to know as students return to campuses this month. This episode first aired in September 2022. LINKS:  NFPA assets and information on campus fire safety and Campus Fire Safety Month   The Center for Campus Fire Safety   Learn more about Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos and see clips from the documentary, “After the Fire” If you have questions, feedback, suggestions, or just want to say hello, you can reach The NFPA Podcast at podcast@nfpa.org.

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 experience hundreds of these incidents every year, police, fire, EMS, and organizations like the American Red Cross are refining how they prepare and respond to these incidents.  On today’s podcast, we talk with John Montes, who led the Red Cross’s response and recovery efforts in Lewiston and was also instrumental in developing NFPA 3000, the standard for Active Shooter/Hostile Response program. I talked to Montes about the complexities of the Lewiston response, what lessons were learned, and what safety agencies should be doing now to prepare for mass shooting incidents.  LINKS Learn more about the American Red Cross Read up on the creation of NFPA 3000, and one city's journey to implementing it. Visit the document information page of NFPA 3000

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 better technical understanding than Torero of the underlying causes and impactful lessons of Grenfell— lessons that have already reshaped how people across the world think about regulation and building protection.  LINKS:  Read the final report from the United Kingdom's extensive inquiry into the causes of the Grenfell Tower Fire. Read an in-depth NFPA Journal report exploring the UK's final Grenfell report.  Watch Jose Torero's keynote presentation from the 2025 NFPA Conference & Expo.

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. has more than 1,000 firefighters and 200 fire trucks per million residents.  Today on the podcast we talk to Samuel Nikoma, a fire safety advocate in Uganda who has an ambitious goal of slashing the fire deaths there in half. We discuss Eastern Africa’s significant fire safety challenges, and how he is trying to build more awareness and grassroots efforts to start addressing them.  LINKS:  Read an NFPA Journal cover story from 2021 about the enormous population growth expected in Africa over the next decade, and the fire safety challenges—and opportunities—that these trends present. Visit Samuel Nikoma’s Linkedin page where he writes on the challenges of fire safety in Africa and his ideas for building the resources to address them. 

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 fire marshal who led the Lithium-Ion Task Force until recently. We chat about the causes and scope of New York City’s battery problems, the work of the task force, and how other departments and jurisdictions can work together to achieve similar results, even without FDNY’s considerable resources.  LINKS:  See FDNY videos, campaign resources, regulations and more related to lithium-ion batteries See NFPA resources related to lithium-ion batteries Read NFPA Journal articles on: The growing concern about lithium-ion consumer products in homes;  The copious amounts of research happening now to better understand and mitigate battery hazards; The growing concerns about the fire safety of e-bikes and other micro-mobility devices; The lessons from the Surprise, Arizona energy storage system explosion.  

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 disturb the century-old system under which safety standards are created and maintained. However, at last week's NFPA Conference & Expo, Jim Pauley, NFPA's president and CEO, unveiled an aggressive new public awareness campaign to try and reverse those trends. The day after the announcement, Pauley sat down with Jesse Roman to discuss the assault on safety and what NFPA and others are doing to combat these significant challenges.  The interview was recorded live on June 17 at the 2025 NFPA Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.  Links: Visit dontchancesafety.org to see the new awareness ad, read about the campaign, and learn how you can make a difference. 

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 podcast, we talk to Eleni Myrivili, who was appointed as the first ever World Chief Heat Officer by the United Nations in 2022. Her job is to help cities think harder about heat and come up with plans to mitigate its effects (3:30).  Then, on a new Code Corner, engineer Val Ziavras answers specific questions about how to calculate occupant load in the Life Safety Code· (47:00). LINKS Read the heat action plans for Ahmedabad, India and Miami-Dade County Heat action platform to help create a heat action plan in your community

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 today, Monte Fronk, has been the lone fire safety expert in his native American tribe, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, for over 30 years. On today’s podcast, I talk to Monte about his job, the challenges of poverty, generational trauma, and mistrust among native communities, and how he is working to turn the tide in his community one program and one conversation at a time.  Links:  Read the NFPA Journal Perspectives article featuring Monte Fronk Learn about Fronk's upcoming presentation at the NFPA Conference & Expo Check out new Summer 2025 issue of NFPA Journal

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, we revisit a 2021 episode featuring three renowned doctors from the Chicago Electrical Trauma Rehabilitation Institute. They talk about what a powerful shock can do to the human body, the treatments available, and how our understanding of these injuries is still evolving.    Links:  Learn more about Electrical Safety Month resources and activities   See NFPA’s suite of electrical safety standards and resources   Learn more about the Chicago Electrical Trauma Rehabilitation Institute

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 diseases. Today on the podcast, we talk to Charon McNabb, the founder of the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association, about her own experiences with long-term CO exposure, what the public needs to know, and efforts underway to reduce this under-the-radar health hazard.  LINKS Watch a Fire Protection Research Foundation Webinar about the latest carbon monoxide research Learn more about the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association

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, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations, to learn more about construction site fires and how to prevent them. Plus, a safety executive with a large Maryland-based construction company and the chair of the NFPA 241 technical committee weigh in on why they think NFPA 241 is underutilized and how that could change (22:24). Links: Read more about the latest edition of NFPA 241 and NFPA trainings related to construction site fire safety: https://www.nfpa.org/safetyfirst

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, NFPA Southeast Regional Director Robby Dawson chats with building code officials from Texas and Iowa about their local code enforcement experiences, the broader challenges facing building officials, and how NFPA can help (32:11).  LINKS: Read, "The Assault on Safety," the cover story of the Spring 2025 issue of NFPA Journal.

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 the also the topic of the cover story of the Spring 2025 issue of NFPA Journal. This week, we speak to Butch Browning, the executive director of the National Association of State Fire Marshals, about why safety codes are being delayed and dismantled, the effect it is having, and what fire and safety officials can do to reverse this dangerous trend. Links:  Read “The Assault on Safety,” the cover story of the Spring 2025 issue of NFPA Journal.

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 in the U.S. Today on the podcast, we talk to David and Cameron Barrett, the husband-and-wife duo who founded and run MySafe:LA, about their organization, its role during and after the LA wildfires, and how safety-minded citizens in other cities can build their own programs to boost resiliency where they live.   Links:  Check out the MySafe:LA website Check out the Safe Community Project website Check out the group’s wildfire preparedness page Check out the new podcast Rebuild:LA See NFPA’s Outthink Wildfire, and its community risk reduction resources

In 1973, fire killed and injured more people in the United States than in any other industrialized nation in the world. The next year, Congress passed the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act, a landmark bill that made significant investments in fire research, training, and education. Within a few decades, the U.S. had transformed from a fire-prone outlier, to arguably the safest country in the world.  Today on the podcast, we talk to Dick Gann, one of the most prolific fire researchers in U.S. history, about a new paper that he co-authored that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Fire Prevention and Control Act. We discuss the legacy of this legislation, and explore several of the research achievements — many of which Gann himself was directly involved with — that have dramatically improved fire safety in the United States over the last half century.  LINKS:  Read the NIST Report, “A Legacy of Fire Safety”  Read the NFPA Journal article by Jesse Roman about why the Fire Prevention and Control Act is still more relevant than ever

Modern warehouses and distribution centers are huge. Some have footprints larger than 60 American football fields and are filled with densely packed racks up to 100 feet tall. When a giant building like this catches fire, what can firefighters do?    Today on the podcast, we talk to a veteran firefighter and a fire protection engineer who just co-authored a detailed report on the many challenges that the fire service faces in responding these storage fires. We find out what we know, what we need to find out, how modern warehouses are changing, and what fire departments should be doing now to prepare for fires in these giant facilities.    LINKS: 
Read the full Fire Protection Research Foundation report: “Identifying Challenges to Fire Service Response in Storage Settings.”  

In the last week, huge swaths of metro Los Angeles have been devastated by wildfires fueled by parched vegetation and hurricane force winds. The images and videos of once vibrant neighborhoods reduced to smoldering ash are, in a word, horrifying. Today on the podcast, we try to make sense of what is happening in Los Angeles and what may come next. I talk to NFPA’s wildfire expert Michele Steinberg about the speed of the fires, the response, the lack of water, the evacuation, and the critical decisions that must be made next to ensure that LA is prepared for future wildfires.  LINKS Visit MySafeLA, a community organization that has been helping spread critical safety messages to residents on the ground in the LA area Read Michele Steinberg’s latest NFPA Journal column urging Congress to act to help alleiviate the U.S.’s wildfire crisis

You could make the argument that artificial intelligence was the most consequential new technology for fire and life safety in 2024. Several fire departments began dabbling with AI this year, and some even hope to have operational AI in the coming year. As we head into 2025, we thought it was a good time to revisit our most listened to episode of 2024, Jesse's interview with Preet Bassi, the CEO of the Center for Public Safety Excellence, about how artificial intelligence technologies could impact the fire service. How might fire departments use AI? What are the dangers? What guardrails need to be in place to ensure that the technology is reliable and safe? We pose those questions and many more to Preet.  Links: Read the Winter 2024 NFPA Journal cover story on how fire departments, and others involved in life safety may soon be using artificial intelligence 

This summer, long-awaited changes to the standard that sets the performance requirements for smoke alarms went into effect, marking a new era for the technology. For the first time, smoke alarms must now pass a test to show they are resistant to nuisance alarms triggered by cooking smoke. On today’s podcast, smoke alarm researcher Thomas Clearly from NIST joins to discuss the evolution of smoke alarm technology, the challenges of nuisance alarms, and how effective this new generation of smoke alarms are at reduceing nuisance alarms from cooking (4:44). Then, on Code Corner, engineer Shawn Mahoney discusses what NFPA standards say about smoke alarm placement (38:25).