''America Burning: The Report of The National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control'' is a 1973 report written by the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control to evaluate fire loss in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and to make recommendations to reduce loss and increase safety of citizens and firefighting personnel. The report concluded that fire prevention and fire safety education for the public were critical to reducing the losses associated with fires, and that

firefighters A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

also needed to be better disciplined and educated for their jobs in fighting fires. As a result of the report, in 1974 the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

passed the

Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 was created in response to the 1973 National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control report, '' America Burning''. The report's authors estimated fires caused 12,000 deaths, 300,000 serious i ...

leading to the formation of the U.S. Fire Administration, the

National Fire Academy The National Fire Academy (NFA) is one of two schools in the United States operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Operated and governed by the Unite ...

, the

National Fire Incident Reporting System The National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) is a system established by the National Fire Data Center of the United States Fire Administration (USFA), a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The System was established after th ...

, and the Center for Fire Research within the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

. One of the most critical findings of the report was that the high death rate among American

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s should be addressed. As a result of this report, fire fighting agencies planned life and property loss-reduction strategies for handling incidents before they occurred. One of the outcomes of the report was the practice of

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

s including

fire safety Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent wikt:ignition, the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the spread a ...

in the design of buildings, parks and other facilities.

National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control

The

Fire Research and Safety Act of 1968 Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion reaction when the fuel ...

() provided a mandate for a Presidential Commission to be established for research into the hazards of death, injury, and

property damage Property damage (sometimes called damage to property) is the damage or destruction of real or tangible personal property, caused by negligence, willful destruction, or an act of nature. Destruction of property (sometimes called property de ...

caused by fire. The Act authorized a twenty-member commission to conduct a two-year study aiming to determine effective measures for reducing the destructive effects of fire. President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

appointed the Commission in June 1971. During 1972, the Presidential Task Force conducted regional hearings across the United States surveying communities with regards to

flammable A combustible material is a material that can burn (i.e., sustain a flame) in air under certain conditions. A material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort ...

incidences. The Presidential Commission concluded their study on May 4, 1973, submitting a report to President Nixon entitled ''America Burning: The Report of The National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control''. On July 12, 1973, President Nixon released a presidential statement commending the National Commission on their

analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

and findings related to

and the fire loss dilemma in the United States.

Recommendations of the NCFPC

''America Burning: The Report of The National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control'' granted ninety recommendations emphasizing fire prevention and safety education at the local community level while incorporating safety measures to control, detect, and extinguish flammable incidences.

References

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External links

*
America Burning
' Firefighting in the United States 1973 in the United States History of firefighting