Not just what and how, but why!
Language is Important Language has a substantial influence on what and how we think. “What a man cannot state he does not perfectly know, and conversely the inability to put his thoughts into words sets a boundary to his thought” (Newbolt, Bailey, Baines, Boas, Davies, Enright, et al., 1921, p. 20). While the authors of … Read more
Continuing examination of NIST’s research on Firefighting Tactics Under Wind Driven Conditions, this post looks at the results of experiments involving use of wind control devices and external water application. In my last post, I posed several questions about wind control devices to “prime the pump” regarding wind driven fires and potential applications for use … Read more
My last post asked a number of questions focused on results of baseline compartment fire tests conducted by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) as part of a research project on Firefighting Tactics Under Wind Driven Conditions. This post looks at the answers to these questions and continues with an examination of NIST’s … Read more
My last post introduced a National Institute for Standards and Technology research project examining firefighting tactics for wind driven structure fires (particularly those occurring in high-rise buildings). The report on this research Firefighting Tactics Under Wind Driven Conditions contains a tremendous amount of information on this series of experiments including heat release rate, heat flux, … Read more
Weather, Topography, and Fuel In S-190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior, firefighters learn that weather, topography, and fuel and the principal factors influencing fire behavior in the wildland environment. How might this important concept apply when dealing with fires in the built environment? Factors influencing compartment fire behavior have a strong parallel to those in … Read more
As discussed in previous posts, fuel and ventilation are the major controlling factors in compartment fire development. Compartment fires begin with the ignition of a single item. If energy is released at a sufficient rate, the fire will extend to other fuel and begin to influence the compartment environment. A single burning item or object … Read more
Broken Links Thanks to Lieutenant Matt Leech of Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue for letting me know that there are a number of broken links in my earlier blog posts. A fix is in the works and hopefully all links will be functional by next Monday. Historical Perspective While researching the Iowa Fire Flow Formula, … Read more
The Incident Kernersville Fire Rescue and responded to a residential in the 1300 block of Union Cross Road shortly after 0200 hours on January 14, 2009. Occupants had been evacuated by two civilians returning home from work at a nearby Dell computer plant. First arriving units initiated offensive operations and began primary search to ensure … Read more
As discussed in Estimating Required Fire Flow: The National Fire Academy Formula, there are a number of ways to estimate required (total) fire flow or tactical rate of flow (required for fire attack). This post examines the groundbreaking work of Keith Royer’s and Floyd W. (Bill) Nelson’s work in development of a method to identify … Read more
Application of the appropriate flow rate is critical to fire control. However, how can we estimate the flow rate that is necessary? There are a number of methods that can be used to estimate or calculate required flow rate for fire control. One method is to simply use your experience (which may work quite well … Read more