USFA ANNOUNCES JOINT PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AMERICAN FOREST & PAPER ASSOCIATION

Washington D.C. - The United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) (http://www.afandpa.org/) announce a joint partnership to develop a national information and demonstration project. This project is intended to increase the awareness of the nation's fire service to actual building performance of lightweight construction components, during fires.

"Each year, firefighters lose their lives due to building collapse," said R. David Paulison, U.S. Fire Administrator. "We are pleased to join with the AF&PA in the development of this innovative outreach and educational initiative designed to better understand building dynamics during fire, and to ultimately create a safer America for citizens and firefighters." This USFA and AF&PA initiative would support research and development toward a national-level informational and demonstration project that involves:

1. Assessing the awareness of the performance of lightweight construction during fires and its impact on fire ground safety.

2. Expanding the current body of knowledge from "collapse incidents" that have occurred.

3. A review of USFA course materials offered through the National Fire Academy (NFA) to ensure they have the most current information regarding fire safety building performance.

4. Production of print and web-based information that increases firefighter awareness and fireground operation effectiveness by providing information pertaining to fire safety building performance of construction components such as, trusses, glued laminated beams, structural composite lumber and wood structural panels.

AF&PA is the national trade association representing over 80 percent of the paper, wood and forest products produced in the United States," said W. Henson Moore, President and CEO of the AF&PA. "As an international resource clearinghouse for technical information and expertise on wood products, in partnership with the USFA, we can provide significant and beneficial technical outreach to the fire service on critical safety issues related to the performance of these products."

Further information about this effort and as well as other USFA research initiatives may be found on the USFA web site at:  

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/dhtml/inside-usfa/construction.cfm.

The USFA is a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).