Setting a home on fire intentionally... or shooting hail out of a potato gun at roofing material... are all ways the Insurance Institute for Business Home and Safety uses science to make our lives safer.

For the Carolina Weather Group's 500th podcast episode, the team goes on-location to the giant IBHS weather lab in Richburg, South Carolina.

In this video, you will see scientists light a home on fire INTENTIONALLY in order to study how wind spread wildfires. On-hand for this experiment in the Carolinas, CALTECH and CAL FIRE from California, where wildfires can quickly become deadly and destructive. IBHS utilizes its wind tunnel to push over flames at 35 mph. Scientists want to see how quickly a fire can spread from one building to the next. See what happens when those fans crank up and blow onto the fully engulfed home.

From fire to ice... we take you inside IBHS' hail lab, where they make and study the impact of hail on roofs. Shooting hail at roofing materials of various ages and construction materials, helps IBHS make recommendations for the best roofing material. Coupled with science they collect storm chasing severe storms, and scientists use this data to publish their findings on https://IBHS.org. See what happens when our team gets to fire the hail gun!

All of this science helps drive building codes, which makes construction smarter and safer for homes and businesses.

Want to see over 30 minutes of the wind-driven fire experiment uninterrupted? 📹 Join our channel membership to get access such a perk: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmhGiYbMDccQcdSjpf87nGg/join

And join us again next week when our team gathers at IBHS to provide a retrospective on the severe weather, the interviews and memories from the first 500 episodes of our weekly podcast!

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The Carolina Weather Group operates a weekly talk show of the same name. Broadcasting each week from the Carolinas, the show is dedicated to covering weather, science, technology, and more with newsmakers from the field of atmospheric science. With co-hosts across both North Carolina and South Carolina, the show may closely feature both NC weather and SC weather, but the topics are universally enjoyable for any weather fan. Join us as we talk about weather, the environment, the atmosphere, space travel, and all the technology that makes it possible.