This episode emphasises the value of focusing on simple things in fire safety engineering, something we somehow miss when we go too deep into the technical details of our projects. I've looked at eight different aspects of fire safety - inspired by the CPR requirements, and I've added resiliency, redundancy and suppression to them. By promoting straightforward guidelines like evaluating material combustibility, ensuring effective egress routes, and engaging with rescue services, architects and engineers can significantly enhance building safety practices. 

In this episode, we talk about:
• Simple methods yield effective fire safety solutions 
• Importance of adhering to foundational fire safety principles 
• CPR’s five essential requirements for construction safety 
• Load-bearing capacity and material combustibility considerations 
• Strategies for minimising fire spread between structures 
• Importance of clear egress pathways for building occupants 
• Opportunities for enhancing rescue team safety via communication 
• Emphasis on redundancy and resiliency in fire safety systems 

Each foundational principle allows fire safety practitioners to implement effective strategies that can lead to safer buildings and improved occupant outcomes.

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

In this episode of Fire Fundamentals, together with Dr Sara McAllister, we dwell on how stuff burns... And it is far from an easy question. While the general theme of the episodes is porous fuels, we discuss them from different angles, highlighting the similarities and differences between foamed and permeable materials.

In this episode, we cover:

• role of permeability, entrainment and forced flows through porous fuel beds;
• differences in physical properties between porous materials and their bulk forms;
• ignition (flaming and smouldering) of porous fuels;
• natural and artificial fuels, open and closed cell fuels;
• hazards specific to porous fuels in wildfires and in building fires;

And also a bit of discussion on future research of Dr McAllister along with the need for canonical tests to characterize their flammabaility.

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

Can a tiny amount of bio-protective coating completely change the fire behaviour of mass timber logs? If you asked me that some time ago, I would say it would probably be neutral.

Can a 0.5 x 0.5 m free-standing log of timber smoulder through without any external exposure to fire? If you asked me that some time ago, I would say no, and base that on observations of dozens of logs like this.

Yet, in Australia they’ve burned. And the hypothesis was that it has something to do with the preservative treatment.

My guest today, Wenxuan Wu from The University of Queensland was tasked with researching this problem and showed us the workshop used for this. In this podcast episode, we dive deep into measurements carried out in fire laboratories on the material scale and how use of different methods gradually increases our understanding of the problem. Their pursuit also opened new questsions - for example, why if timber would be subject to a very strong heat flux, the smouldering would not work anymore? This was also answered in the discussion.

If you would like to learn more about Wenxuan’s research, please refer to the published papers:

•  Experimental study on the factors affecting smouldering behaviour of CCA-treated wood
• Deactivation of chromated copper arsenate as a catalyst in smouldering of wood

Also, this talk summarises the best poster at ITB-FRISSBE Summer School. What an event that was. Once again, we would like to thank our sponsors for that!

https://www.itb.pl/2024-summer-school/

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

If we truly want to account for the population at a disadvantage in evacuation, there is only this much we can do with the current approach... Pre-evacuation time distributions, walking speeds, and so on only tell us a part of the story - the story of your average person within an average population, with an average walking speed and average response. While these models are undoubtedly useful in engineering, there is perhaps a better way.

My friend and guest Enrico Ronchi is trying to find this way through his new ERC Consolidator grant, "Egressibility: a paradigm shift in evacuation research". In this grant, instead of following the main path, he is focusing on stuff we do not know - how to characterise disabilities and understand them better (also through the lens of health and medicine), how to quantify the disadvantages at large, and how to solve potential issues for those who those at the largest risk.

In this episode, you will learn about Enrico's ideas and the edge of the knowledge we have today. Some key points covered are:

• Insights on paradigm shifts in evacuation science
• Introduction of the concept of "egressibility"
• Importance of understanding functional limitations in emergencies
• Shift from agent-based models to inclusive data-driven models
• Use of technology, like VR, for immersive research experiences
• Need for changes in regulations for better evacuation safety

You may also like to read the paper by Guylène Proulx, which introduced egressibility as a concept - available here.

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

In the aftermath of the LA Pacific Palisades Fire, I've decided that instead of inviting one expert to discuss the event, I will give a voice back to those who already participated in the Fire Science Show and explained this fire (months and years before it happened).

In this episode, we recap Wildland-Urban Interface fires, with a focus on the "urban" part. We cover conditions in which such fires may happen and factors that contribute. We discuss the role of community preparedness and pathways in how those fires "attack" individual households. We talk a lot about embers and some ideas on how to mitigate them. Finally, we discuss the evacuation from WUI fires.

Some politics, a lot of science, decent amount of answers to most urgent questions. I hope you will enjoy!

Episodes and speakers featured in this podcast:

• 069 - Challenging fires at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) with Michael Gollner
• 117 - Global wildfire emergency and the key role of FSEs with Albert Simeoni
• 156 - Trigger Boundaries with Harry Mitchell and Nick Kalogeropoulos
• 159 - The WUI Problem with Michele Steinberg and Birgitte Messerschmidt
• 161 - Community evacuation with Enrico Ronchi and Max Kinateder

You can always find current episodes on wildfires at https://www.firescienceshow.com/category/wildfires-wui-and-wind/

The history of Japanese urban fires is covered in the paper Large Urban Fires in Japan: History and Management by Yoshioka H. et al. 

Cover image credit: By Toastt21 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=157682430
From the Wikipedia summary of the LA Palisades Fire at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palisades_Fire

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

This episode delves into the financial aspects of fire safety in building design, highlighting the balance between cost and effectiveness. My guests - prof. Thomas Gernay and Chenzi Ma from Johns Hopkins University share insights from their NIST-sponsored research project on cost-benefit analysis and loss estimation for structural fire safety. In the discussion, we explore the differences between prescriptive and performance-based approaches, discussing insights from a comprehensive analysis of over 130 structures and how to better allocate resources for passive fire protection measures.

In this episode, we cover:
• Understanding fire safety costs in construction 
• Insights on prescriptive vs. performance-based design 
• The importance of maintenance and lifecycle cost assessments 
• Analyzing fragility functions for predicting fire damage 
• Cost dynamics across different building occupancy types 
• Future developments for implementing this analytical framework in practice

Please find here useful links about the project:

• Paper 1 on the costs: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143974X24000671?
• Paper 2 on the numerical model of the NIST tests on composite floors: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037971122400095X
• Paper 3 on the fragility curves (freshly accepted): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0951832025000237
• Github: https://github.com/Chenzhi-Ma/web_v2

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

History repeats itself. A new thing is invented. We learn about it, understand it, and apply measures to capture its behaviour and regulate it. And then another new thing is invented. The measures we used start failing us, and the cycle repeats all over again.

It is not a story of fire safety; it is a story of humanity. Similar cycles can be observed in all aspects of technology. One could call them Innovation Blind Spots after Prof. Rein; in science, you could call them paradigm shifts after Prof. Kuhn. Regardless, these cycles are the frame we work in, and we need to learn to handle them.

In fire safety, they are often a cause of major disasters. In this podcast episode, I once again interview prof. Vincent Brannigan. Vincent has spent a large part of his career studying the limiting factors of innovation in fire science and its regulation.

This podcast is framed after a lecture Vincent delivered 15 years ago, which can be accessed here: https://www.fireseat.eng.ed.ac.uk/sites/fireseat.eng.ed.ac.uk/files/images/02-Brannigan.pdf

It is an engaging read, I recommend going through it after the podcast episode!

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

Fire is a highly contextualized problem; therefore, there is no such thing as an unbiased or "objective" fire experiment. It is a thing that many researchers would understand but is very rarely pointed out. Where it is not a problem for fire science (more like a 'feature'), it may become one when the results of scientific experiments are directly applied to real-world engineering cases.

In this episode, I cover biases in research, from general ones to highly specific fire safety engineering biases. The list is long, we cover:

• selection bias
• confirmation bias
• measurement/instrumentation bias
• publication bias
• observer bias
• sampling/data analysis bias
• conflicts of interests

We also discuss the contextual nature of fire and fire science related to architecture, fuel, ignition, and environmental conditions. We cover experimental design and measurement techniques. While showcasing all those possible sources of uncertainty and error, it is important to highlight that the science is generally very reliable—you just need to know how to use it.

This is the final episode of 2024, so thank you very much for being here with the Fire Science Show and see you back on the Jan 8th 2025!!! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

I just drove 500 km to have a conversation with Professor Vincent Brannigan from the University of Maryland, a very unique expert who combines law with fire engineering. In this discussion, we go into the complexities of building codes and fire safety, comparing traditional design methods (prescriptive) with performance-based designs (and all the stuff in between them). Through anecdotes and historical fire incidents, we highlight the impact of these systems on societal safety, economic development, and international trade. Vincent's unique background in both law and technology provides a rich perspective on how fire safety regulations have evolved to meet contemporary challenges.

In the episode, we explore the ongoing shift from politically validated regulations to those grounded in technical knowledge. This transition parallels developments in fields like medicine, necessitating a higher level of precision and expertise in ensuring public safety. We also tackle the thorny issue of global standardization, examining how experiential knowledge and political influences shape fire safety laws worldwide.

Finally, the episode dives deep into the challenges of balancing innovation and compliance in building safety. With examples from the world of hotels, airports and tall buildings, we discuss the role of engineers and regulators in navigating complex safety landscapes. Historical case studies, like the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, serve as poignant reminders of the stakes involved. Listen in for a thought-provoking exploration of risk analysis, regulatory negotiations, and the constant evolution of fire safety standards as we seek to protect lives and foster innovation.

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.

In this episode of fire science fundamentals, we cover the pressurisation systems. These are smoke control solutions used to prevent smoke from accessing protected spaces, by creating an overpressure in those spaces. Although the idea is very simple, its execution is far from that. Pressurization systems need to work in two distinct states – when all doors to the protected space are closed (over pressurization state), and when some openings are open (flow-path state). 

In this episode, we cover:

·         What are pressurization systems and why do we use them in buildings;

·         Static and dynamic pressure;

·         Pressurization systems as part of the smoke control strategy;

·         Old-type mechanical systems, and novel active control systems;

·         Role of vestibules/lobbies in resiliency strategy;

·         Practical examples of use;

·         Testing and certification.

Further recommended resources are:

·         Episode 47 with Grzegorz Sypek – Effective pressurization, https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1735815/episodes/10466514-047-effective-pressurization-of-compartments-with-grzegorz-sypek

·         Episode 116 – Natural and mechanical smoke control https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1735815/episodes/13493605-116-fire-fundamentals-pt-4-natural-and-powered-smoke-vents-with-wojciech

·         Episode 136 – Fire Automation in a building https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1735815/episodes/14325679-136-fire-fundamentals-pt-6-the-fire-automation-in-a-building

·         Węgrzyński & Antosiewicz - Autonomous Sensor-Driven Pressurization Systems: Novel Solutions and Future Trends, book chapter I’ve referred to in the episode. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-98685-8_11

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The Fire Science Show is produced by the Fire Science Media in collaboration with OFR Consultants. Thank you to the podcast sponsor for their continuous support towards our mission.