BY DAVID M. McGRAIL
对于大多数在美国火rvice, pressure-regulating devices and specifically pressure-reducing valves (PRVs) were virtually unknown prior to 1991. It was only after the tragic One Meridian Plaza high-rise fire, which occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 23, 1991, that PRVs became an essential part of the high-rise standpipe operations training curriculum in the American fire service.
After One Meridian Plaza, a great deal of attention was paid to PRVs, and many in the fire service started to recognize these devices as a potentially serious problem. A National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Alert Bulletin (91-3), “Pressure-Regulating Devices in Standpipe Systems,” published in May 1991, highlighted the dangers posed to firefighters by improperly set PRVs, and it was a much-needed wake-up call. In addition, an excellent article written by Captain Dave Fornell (author of the Fire Stream Management Handbook, Fire Engineering, 1991) published in the August 1991 issue of Fire Engineering served as an excellent start toward educating the fire service.
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