The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Fire Research Division is committed to better fire fighting, prevention, and control through research conducted at NIST Engineering Laboratory in Gaithersburg, MD.
NIST Engineering Laboratory's Fire Fighting Technology Group (FFTG) enables advances in fire fighter safety, fire ground operations, and effectiveness of the fire service; develops and applies technology, measurements and standards, and improves the understanding of the behavior, prevention and control of fires to enhance fire fighting operations and equipment, fire suppression, fire investigations, and disaster response. "Topics currently being studied include ventilation and suppression tactics, thermal exposures to electronic fire fighter safety equipment such as portable radios and thermal imagers, and the convective and radiative heat transfer exposure limits of fire fighter protective clothing," says Daniel Madrzykowski, a fire protection engineer in the FFTG.
To learn more about the work they are doing, please visit the Fire Fighting Technology Group website. The Fire Research Division also has a Wildland Urban Interface Group, an Engineered Fire Safety Group, a Flammability Reduction Group, and a new group that runs the soon to be opened National Fire Research Laboratory. There are a number of other social media outlets, blogs, and other content available that highlights their work.
NIST Fire Research Division frequently posts live updates of work being done across the United States, such as Live Fire Dynamics, in conjunction with several associations, government agencies, local fire departments and educational institutions on their Twitter account @NIST_Fire.
A recent blog, posted on the NIST Tech Beat, titled, “Firefighters Portable Radios May Fail at Elevated Temperatures” found that radios used by firefighters can fail to operate when subjected to temperatures of 320 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
Find videos of fire simulations and additional studies from NIST Fire Research Division on the NIST YouTube Channel, including this recent video titled, “Examining Fire Fighting Tactics under Wind-Driven Conditions,” where Chicago Fire Department Battalion Chief Peter Van Dorpe introduces a five-part presentation on how new fire research points the way to more effective ways to fight high-rise fires.
You can also download several fire videos/presentations, fire research related EL developed software products, and several publications available on CD or DVD on their website.
