Vol. 10, No. 08, August 2014

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Announcing the 2015 Planning Meeting Agenda

The tentative seminar and workshop agenda for the 4th Florida SART Planning Meeting has been crafted around the theme SART – Turning Visions into Action. The meeting will begin at 1:00 pm on Monday, January 12 and will conclude by noon on Wednesday. The host hotel is the Embassy Suites, Lake Buena Vista South, 4955 Kyngs Heath Road, Kissimmee 34746.

SART Planning Meeting Awards Luncheon, Clearwater Beach, January 2007

Monday, January 12
1:00    Call to Order – David Perry, FDACS/SART Co-chair
            Welcome – Richard Collins, Director, Osceola Co. Emergency Mgt.
            Greetings – Dr. Lisa Conti, FDOH
1:30    SERT Program – Bryan Koon, Director, FDEM
2:00    Brevard County Large Animal Plan – Lacie Davis, Coordinator, Brevard Co. Emergency Mgt.
2:30    New Animal Courses – Dr. Matt Hersom, Dept. of Animal Sciences, UF
3:00    Break
3:15    Social Media in an Emergency – David Merrick, Director, Center for Disaster Risk Policy, FSU
6:00    Attendee Gathering

Tuesday, January 13
8:00    Announcements – David Perry, FDACS/SART Co-chair
8:15    Radiological Planning – John Williamson, Administrator, Bureau of Radiation Control,             FDOH
11:30  SART Award Luncheon
1:30    Radiological Planning continued
5:00    Adjourn

Wednesday, January 14
8:00    Announcements – David Perry, FDACS/SART Co-chair
8:15    “Don’t Pack a Pest” – FDACS/DPI
9:30    The Lee County Animal Decontamination Workshop – John Haven, Director,
            College of Veterinary Medicine, UF & Donna Ward, former Director Animal Services, Lee Co.
10:30  Break
10:45  Federal Partner Reports – USDA
12:00  Adjourn

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Response and Recovery Tools: Air Curtain Incinerator

An air curtain incinerator operates by “forcefully projecting a curtain of air across an open chamber or pit in which combustion occurs.” It can be constructed above or below ground, and with or without refractory walls and floor.

Think of an air curtain incinerator principally as a pollution control device whose primary objective is to reduce the amount of ash and smoke emitted from openly burning wood waste. The incinerators themselves do not burn anything; they simply control the results of something burning.

A secondary benefit is the great speed at which waste burns – often 10 times as fast as an open burn. Containing and extinguishing the fire, if necessary, are also fast and relatively easy. The benefits of such incinerators in the aftermath of a tornado or a hurricane are obvious.

The operation of an air curtain incinerator is fairly simple:

  1. load wood waste
  2. add an accelerant such as diesel fuel
  3. ignite the waste
  4. when the fire is well started (about 15 minutes), start the blower to provide the “air curtain”
  5. continue to add wood waste consistent with the rate of burn (small machines burn 1-2 tons per hour; large machines 10+ tons per hour)

One of the scheduled speakers for the Front view of an air curtain incinerator at 9 Mile Road staging area debris cleanup site in Pensacola after Hurricane Ivan, September 2005. (State Archives of Florida)


 

Air curtain incinerators are sometimes referred to as “air curtain destructors.” Alan Schapiro, PE – Mechanical Engineer, writing for Forest Service USDA recommends them for fuel reduction in “urban interface areas” although they may not, he says, “be as cost competitive in areas where broadcast and pile burning are acceptable.”

Summarizing, Schapiro says advantages of an air curtain incinerator may include:

  1. Lower smoke emissions compared to pile or broadcast burning.
  2. Burns a greater variety of materials from green fuel to red slash.
  3. Reduces fire risk and outbreak of insect problems.
  4. Operates with fewer restrictions on weather and burn conditions.

(http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/pubs/html/02511317/02511317.htm#CONCLUSIONS)

 

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Mini-MARE Package Sets Headed to Regions

SART has positioned Mobile Animal Response Equipment (MARE) units, livestock panels and Large Animal Technical Rescue Trailers (LATR) to strategic locations in each of the state’s seven Regional Domestic Security Task Force (RDSTF) regions. MARE units are designed to be used as region-wide assets and a map of their location as well as local contact information and several photos of equipment in use are online at http://www.flsart.org/RegionalEquipment/.

Collapsible shelters and Mare units were the subject of a great deal of attendee interest at the January 2011 SART Planning Meeting in Altamonte Springs.

To supplement the full MARE units, SART is positioning “Mini-MARE” units in the regions: one each in Lee, Hillsborough, St. Johns, Brevard, Dixie, Okaloosa, Citrus and a back-up unit in the SART compound, Tallahassee. The Mini-MARE is a smaller more mobile unit – enclosed trailer, 100 bowls and small animal crates of various sizes and a 20x10-foot shelter – but without a generator and some of the miscellaneous items in the full MARE: mops and buckets, for example.

If an individual or organization is in need of this equipment, prior approval needs to be obtained from the Emergency Management Director in the requesting county. A request may then be made with the contacts below to obtain the equipment for use.

Any questions or concerns may be directed to Joe Kight at (850) 410-0920 joe.kight@freshfromflorida.com or David Perry (352) 572-3397 david.perry@freshfromflorida.com.


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