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Volume 24 — Issue 33 | August 22, 2024 |
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Wildfires impacting the built environment, often referred to as wildland urban interface or WUI fires, are associated with severe negative consequences, such as large community evacuation, property losses, social disruption, short- and long-term damage to infrastructure, injuries, and evacuee and responder fatalities.
The future expansion and increased complexity of the built environment in wildfire-prone areas pose severe challenges to community safety from an evacuation perspective. Therefore, WUI fires are likely to become more severe and affect more people.
The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA’s) Fire Protection Research Foundation recently released a report, Stakeholder Perceptions of Wildfire Mitigations for Homes: Multi-Audience Survey Research.
The report captures the results of surveys administered to wildfire mitigation stakeholder groups, including government officials, local fire departments, and residents in California and Oregon.
The NFPA worked with these two states on this project because, while parcel-level wildfire mitigation efforts are voluntary in many states, both Oregon and California are implementing regulations that require parcel-level mitigation action by property owners living in identified wildfire risk areas. These actions include removing or modifying vegetation and other combustible elements on private property and upgrading home exteriors for ignition resistance.
The purpose of these surveys was to gather information about how these stakeholders perceived wildfire mitigation efforts for existing structures and motivations for taking action. This information about stakeholder perceptions can be used to improve messaging about effective mitigation actions and government regulations surrounding wildfire mitigation.
Some notable findings from NFPA’s survey of fire departments include:
- Lack of funding and resources were reported as the biggest obstacles to achieving wildfire mitigation goals.
- There is a lack of dedicated staff assigned to outreach and education on wildfire risk and mitigation, which stems from the funding and resource shortages.
- A majority of firefighters surveyed believe that wildfire protection should be a shared responsibility between property owners and firefighters.
- A majority of departments now have a division dedicated to wildfire issues, and just over half of departments surveyed have allocated personnel specifically for wildfire mitigation or wildfire hazard assessments.
Read the report at NFPA.org.
(Source: NFPA)
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Earthquakes can happen anywhere with little to no warning. Knowing what to do before a big earthquake can determine how well you survive and recover.
This year's International ShakeOut Day is October 17 (10/17) at 10:17 a.m. (local time). At this time, millions of people across the world will be practicing earthquake safety by participating in earthquake drills at work, school, or home.
Register today so that you or your organization will:
- Be counted in the largest-ever earthquake drill in the world!
- Be listed with other participants in your area, if desired.
- Set an example that motivates others to participate and prepare.
- Get updates with ShakeOut news and preparedness tips.
- Have peace of mind that you, your family, your co-workers and millions of others will be better prepared to survive and recover quickly from the next big earthquake!
Get ready to DROP, COVER and HOLD ON.
Emergency services agencies can help spread the word about earthquake safety by sharing FEMA’s Ready.gov Earthquake Safety information and the Great ShakeOut! campaign information at Shakeout.org with the communities they serve. Individuals can receive updates and participate in the drill via text by texting SHAKEOUT to 43362.
(Sources: FEMA, Shakeout.org)
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced on Aug. 12 that it is awarding over $41 million in grants to states, territories, tribes, unions, and non-profits to support first responders and help enhance pipeline and hazardous materials safety programs at the community level for 11 different safety programs.
The awards provide over $32 million in grants to support state and local hazardous materials programs nationwide. This includes a more than 50 percent increase in funding through the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grant program to firefighters. This funding aims to support a doubling of hazmat training for firefighters and includes several new grant recipients among Federally Recognized Indian Tribes.
Additionally, the Supplemental Public Sector Training grants include nearly $2 million for a grant to the International Association of Fire Fighters that aims to increase hazmat training for firefighters by nearly 170% and for the second year in a row also provides support to the National Volunteer Fire Council to support volunteer firefighters.
See PHMSA’s Aug. 12 press release for details on award recipients and amounts for each of PHMSA’s grant programs.
(Source: PHMSA)
Annually, emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians respond to more than 1.5 million crashes on the roadways. EMS and 911 systems improve outcomes for people involved in motor vehicle crashes across the nation through the delivery of post-crash care.
Two recent events providing information on the role of EMS and 911 systems in post-crash care are now available on demand.
On Aug. 6, the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS), a collaborative body supported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) Office of EMS (OEMS), partnered with the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) to host the NHTSA Post-Crash Care Summit. This free, public event took place in Washington, D.C., and was also livestreamed for a virtual audience. The day-long summit included a wide range of esteemed experts in EMS, highway safety, trauma care and 911 at the state, local and federal levels, as well as researchers and clinicians. Over 800 registrants attended in person and virtually. The agenda is available on GHSA’s website, which offers a timeline of speakers and topics covered in the video recording.
This past June, NHTSA OEMS hosted a webinar in its EMS Focus series on Trends in Trauma Care: A Focus on Crash Injuries and Post-Crash Care. This webinar explores the role of EMS in assessing and treating crash injury patients. As emergency responders, EMS clinicians initiate treatment and ensure continuity of care during transport to hospitals. The webinar covers factors influencing EMS operations, from varied system setups to resource availability and effective strategies for prehospital care and outcomes for crash injury patients in diverse EMS settings. Access the recording of this webinar, along with presentation slides, a transcript, and the Q&A at EMS.gov.
(Sources: GHSA, NHTSA)
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Joint ODNI, FBI, and CISA statement on Iranian election influence efforts
On Aug. 19, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a joint statement on Iranian election influence efforts.
These influence efforts include the recently reported activities to compromise former President Trump’s campaign, which the Intelligence Community (IC) attributes to Iran. The IC is confident that the Iranians have through social engineering and other efforts sought access to individuals with direct access to the Presidential campaigns of both political parties. Such activity, including thefts and disclosures, are intended to influence the U.S. election process. It is important to note that this approach is not new. Iran and Russia have employed these tactics not only in the United States during this and prior federal election cycles but also in other countries around the world.
As the lead for threat response, the FBI has been tracking this activity, has been in contact with the victims, and will continue to investigate and gather information in order to pursue and disrupt the threat actors responsible.
(Source: CISA)
ASD’s ACSC, CISA, FBI, and NSA, with the support of international partners release Best Practices for Event Logging and Threat Detection
On Aug. 21, the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC), CISA, FBI, NSA, and international partners are releasing Best Practices for Event Logging and Threat Detection. This guide will assist organizations in defining a baseline for event logging to mitigate malicious cyber threats.
The increased prevalence of malicious actors employing living off the land (LOTL) techniques, such as living off the land binaries (LOLBins) and fileless malware, highlights the importance of implementing and maintaining an effective event logging program.
CISA encourages public and private sector senior information technology (IT) decision makers, operational technology (OT) operators, network administrators, network operators, and critical infrastructure organizations to review the best practices in the guide and implement recommended actions.
(Source: CISA)
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Patient sues private ambulance company over massive data breach
A massive data breach at a private ambulance service company has left millions of individuals vulnerable to identity theft and financial fraud. A class action complaint against Acadian Ambulance Service, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on August 7, 2024.
The lawsuit alleges that Acadian Ambulance Service failed to properly secure and safeguard personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI) of its patients and employees. The compromised data includes full names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, medical record numbers, and treatment information.
The breach reportedly began in June 2024 when unauthorized third parties accessed this sensitive information from Acadian's systems. A cyber threat group known as Daixin claimed responsibility for the ransomware attack, demanding a $7 million ransom for the return of the stolen data. When Acadian allegedly offered only $173,000 in response, Daixin rejected it, leaving the PII and PHI at risk of being published on the dark web.
(Source: Louisiana Record)
New lawsuit says Columbus employees' bank accounts, credit cards hacked post data breach
A group of anonymous Columbus police officers and one firefighter have filed the second lawsuit against the city claiming their personal information was stolen and some suffered financial losses from bank accounts and credit cards hacked after the city was the victim of a ransomware attack.
The city workers hope for the lawsuit to become class-action, which could take in thousands of city workers seeking damages from taxpayers.
One of the "John Doe" plaintiff police officers' "checking account was accessed and over a thousand dollars was fraudulently withdrawn from his account," the lawsuit says. Another stated that "someone attempted to make fraudulent online purchases using her credit card that was linked to her online account."
Another police officer discovered fraudulent transactions from his bank account," and yet another found that "unknown individuals were attempting to take out loans in his name."
(Source: Columbus Dispatch)
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The InfoGram is distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. |
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