All Entries in the "Research" Category
The Station Nightclub February 20, 2003 Revisted
A fire occurred on the night of February 20, 2003, at The Station Nightclub located in West Warwick, Rhode Island. A band that was performing that night, during its performance, used pyrotechnics that ignited foam insulation lining the walls and part of the ceiling of the platform being used as a stage. Based on a […]
NIST Wind Driven Fire Simulation Video
NIST Wind Driven Fire Simulation Video Wind Driven Fires Smoke and heat spreading through the corridors and the stairs of a building during a fire can limit building occupants’ ability to escape and can limit fire fighters’ ability to rescue them. Changes in the building’s ventilation or presence of an external wind can increase the […]
The Hubbard Street Fire: The 50th anniversary of a tragic dual collapse
The Hubbard Street Fire: The 50th anniversary of a tragic dual collapse January 28th, 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the Hubbard Street Fire, which took the lives of nine Chicago firefighters: Battalion Chief George Rees Battalion Chief George Kuhn Lt. Charles Rauch Lt. Louis Repkin Firefighter Hillard Augustine Firefighter William Hillistad Firefighter Stanley Sliwinski Firefighter […]
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire New York City 1911
The Triangle Factory Fire http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/ This site contains information about the March 25, 1911 fire in the New York City factory of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company and the resulting investigations and reforms. The fire killed 146 immigrant workers, most of whom were women. The materials include original documents, oral histories, and photographs held by Cornell […]
Structural Collapse: The Hidden Dangers of Residential Fires
Structural Collapse: The Hidden Dangers of Residential Fires Oct 1, 2009 Originally Published in FireEngineering.com, All Rights Reserved By James M. Dalton, Robert G. Backstrom, and Steve Kerber Educational Objectives 1 Gain an understanding of the behavioral differences between solid wood joist and lightweight wood structural members under fire attack. 2 Gain an understanding of […]
Positive Pressure Ventilation Research
Positive Pressure Ventilation The objective of this NIST research is to improve firefighter safety by enabling a better understanding of structural ventilation techniques, including positive pressure ventilation (PPV) and natural ventilation, and to provide a technical basis for improved training in the effects of ventilation on fire behavior by examining structural fire ventilation using full-scale fire experiments with and […]
NIST Wind Driven Fires Programs
Wind Driven Fires Wind blowing into the broken window of a room on fire can turn a “routine room and contents fire” into a floor-to-ceiling firestorm. Historically, this has led to a significant number of firefighter fatalities and injuries, particularly in high-rise buildings where the fire must be fought from the interior of the structure. […]
Impact of Ventilation on Fire Behavior in Legacy and Contemporary Residential Construction
Impact of Ventilation on Fire Behavior in Legacy and Contemporary Residential Construction Impact of Ventilation on Fire Behavior in Legacy and Contemporary Residential Construction Under the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program, Underwriters Laboratories examined fire service ventilation practices as well as the impact of changes in modern house […]
Wind Driven Fires
A million dollar Baltimore County, Maryland home was destroyed Sunday December 13, 2009 by a fire that tore through the 4,700-square-foot structure with such intensity that firefighters were forced to battle the flames from the exterior. Shortly after 21:00 hours, Baltimore County Fire Dispatch alerted crews for Fire Box 50-2 at 12607 Nancy Lee Court […]
Underwriters Laboratories Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions
Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions Under a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighter Grant, Underwriters Laboratories in collaboration with the Chicago Fire Department, Michigan State University, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs completed a fire research study to enhance […]
It’s not Lightweight Construction
It’s not lightweight construction NFPA Journal, Jul/Aug 2009 by Earls, Alan R It’s what happens when lightweight construction meets fire. Two recent studies detail the relationship between fire and engineered wood construction assemblies-notably, that they burn quicker and fail faster than their dimensional lumber counterparts. What do the findings mean for the fire service, builders, […]
NIST Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiments ISSUED
Report-on-Residential-Fireground-Field-Experiments The NIST Firefighter Safety and Deployment Study; Titled- Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiements was recently issued. A copy of the report is attached. The report is also available for download at the NIST, HERE Report Abstract: Service expectations placed on the fire service, including Emergency Medical Services (EMS), response to natural disasters, hazardous materials […]
Tactical Patience and the New Considerations of Ventilation on Fire Behavior in Legacy and Contemporary Residential Construction
Impact of Ventilation on Fire Behavior in Legacy and Contemporary Residential Construction For many of you that have been following my writings and perspectives on building construction, firefighting, command risk management and operational excellence for firefighter safety have long recognized that I have been promoting and advocating the fact the fireground is changining, our stratgies […]
Block and Brick Warehouse Construction Live Fire Testing
Another series of experiments were conducted in Phoenix, Arizona using a brick and block warehouse structure with a “traditional” wood frame roof assembly. This set of two experiments included measurement of temperatures and carbon monoxide inside the structure. The building was approximately 150 feet long by 50 feet wide. Infra-red (IR) cameras were used on […]
Wood Frame Structures Live Fire Testing
Four wood frame residential-like structures with different roof constructions were used in a series of fire tests conducted in cooperation with the Phoenix, AZ Fire Department. The roof construction was the primary difference between each structure: asphalt shingles and plywood, asphalt shingles and oriented strand board, cement tiles and plywood, or cement tiles and oriented […]
