Explore every episode of the podcast Fire Science Show
Dive into the complete episode list for Fire Science Show. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Title
Pub. Date
Duration
166 - Bio-based insulation with Patrick Sudhoff
28 Aug 2024
00:49:03
In the everchanging world every now and then we get a new driver, that dictates most of our choices. In the current built environment and building industry, carbon dioxide feels like such a driver. We don't like it, we want to get rid of it... One way is to sequester or store large amounts of CO2 in our buildings. Ways to do that - more obvious is mass timber, but thats not the only thing. Let's talk bio-based insulation.
In this episode I've invited Patrick Sudhoff, now from DBI but the research was carried at University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal. Patrick carried his PhD on the smouldering fires in bio-based insulation, and thus has built a good knowledge base around the topic. We discuss all the types of different bio-based insulations, what they are made of and where they are used. First we cover the drivers and need for the new material, as well as the benefits it brings to the table. We discuss the challanges with the onset of smouldering, transition to flaming and spread of fire through the structure.
List of projects that were related to the subject and discussed in the podcast:
„More than just insulation additional benefits of insulation materials made from renewable raw materials “, 6 different research areas: fire protection, soundproofing, thermal insulation, sustainability analysis, moisture protection, emissions, 2016-2020, 12 institutes plus external partners
“PyroProBiD – Development of a smoldering prognosis model for bio-based insulation materials”, 2020-2023 (my PhD project), Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg & University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg Stendal
“HoBraTec – Optimization of firefighting procedures for multistorey timber buildings", 2022-2024, Fire Brigade Hamburg & University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal & Institute of Fire and Disaster Protection Heyrothsberge
Sudhoff, P. (2024): “Modeling the Fire Behavior of Bio-Based Insulation Materials”, Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Fire Safety of Facades 2024: 10-12 June 2024. Lund, Sweden, ISBN 978-91-89971-04-2
Steen-Hansen, A., Fjellgaard M., Ehrlenspiel, R. (2023): “Smouldering fire test methods - Documenting the potential for smouldering fires in thermal insulation”, Report number: FRIC Report D3.1-2023.06, November 2023, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.21978.72640
Steen-Hansen, A., Mikalsen, R.F. & Jensen, U.E (2018) Smouldering Combustion in Loose-Fill Wood Fibre Thermal Insulation: An Experimental Study. Fire Technol 54, 1585–1608. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-018-0757-4
---- 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.
165 - Best Practice vs. Appropriate Practice with Arnold Dix
21 Aug 2024
00:59:01
Is the "best practice" always the best approach to solving an engineering problem? Can we consider "best" and "appropriate" practices synonymous, and if not - how big is the gap between them? Join us as we welcome Professor Arnold Dix back to challenge conventional wisdom in engineering. Focusing on the nuanced distinction between "best practice" and "appropriate practice," we explore how context-sensitive solutions outperform complex and costly standards. Using real-world examples like tunnel ventilation systems, we illustrate the power of practicality, cost-effectiveness, and suitability in engineering, particularly in fire safety.
We also uncover the hidden economic motives that shape our engineering standards. From Stockholm’s innovative fire suppression mechanisms integrated into everyday systems to the critical role of regulatory bodies in enforcing effective safety measures, we highlight the benefits of familiar, reliable solutions over specialized ones. Personal anecdotes and international examples, including a farm story and regulations in Poland, bring these concepts to life, showing how everyday systems can enhance reliability and community awareness.
Finally, we explore how different nations approach tunnel construction and infrastructure preservation. Highlighting the challenges and successes of countries like Argentina, Chile, China, and Malaysia, we emphasise the importance of building local expertise and resilience. This episode invites you to reconsider how we define and implement standards across various fields by examining practical solutions in ventilation systems and the importance of context-sensitive engineering practices. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on what constitutes best engineering practice and beyond.
---- 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.
156 - Trigger Boundaries with Harry Mitchell and Nick Kalogeropoulos
19 Jun 2024
00:58:20
What if you could predict the last possible time to evacuate your community before a wildfire wreaks havoc? What if you had that knowledge years before the wildfires happened and built up your preparedness based on this knowledge? What if you knew how this boundary changes with wind, dry weather and direction? I think you get a knowledge-based decision model, and that is exactly what my guests today have been looking for.
Join us as we explore this cutting-edge approach with Imperial Hazelab Dr. Harry Mitchell and Nick Kalogeropoulos, who reveal the trigger boundary methodology developed within the WUI-NITY project. Their innovative work determines optimal evacuation timings by calculating an imaginary line where the time needed to evacuate aligns perfectly with the available time, thus ensuring safer exits. This episode promises to equip you with new insights into fire safety engineering that go beyond wildfires.
We take a sobering look at the dire consequences of delayed evacuations, spotlighting real-life tragedies like the 2018 Mati fire in Greece. Our discussion underscores the crucial importance of recognising imminent danger, addressing architectural hindrances, and improving inadequate road networks.
In the episode, we discuss the first iteration - the Population Evacuation Trigger Algorithm (PERIL), a tool designed to establish robust trigger boundaries for more effective and timely evacuations. This was later developed into a probabilistic tool, with a significantly higher capabilities.
In the episode, we discuss the complexities of wildfire evacuation modelling, discussing how transitioning from single scenario studies to probabilistic models offers a more nuanced understanding of various parameters such as wind and fuel moisture. Operational fire models like Farsight are pivotal in predicting fire spread and smoke, balancing detailed physical models with actionable results. We wrap up by emphasising the necessity of integrating community resilience, fuel conditioning, and improved planning to mitigate wildfire tragedies, highlighting the collaborative efforts that make these advancements possible.
---- 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.
072 - Extracting the secret of IMFSE from Bart Merci and Eulalia Planas
19 Oct 2022
01:00:03
Many creators will not agree, but in some cases, copying is the highest form of admiration. And there are things in Fire Safety Engineering that are more than worthy of being copied. One of them is the famous International Masters in Fire Safety Engineering course, carried together by the Universities of Ghent, Edinburgh, Lund and a new member - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. And from what I've just learned from one of the masterminds - Prof. Bart Merci and Prof. Eulalia Planas- they do not mind that.
Of course, starting a second IMFSE is probably not feasible, but let us focus on WHY this particular programme is so successful. What makes this group of people so sought on the job market, and so competent when pursuing careers in academia? How is this programme so consistent, year after year, delivering world-class fire engineers? We try to isolate the little things that differentiate this programme from others in the world, so copying their success is a little easier. This episode is for anyone who is seeking an answer to the question, of what makes a great fire engineer.
If you are in a (lucky!) position to choose your MSc course, make sure to consider applying to IMFSE at www.imfse.be If I was making that decision today, I would not hesitate for a second!
---- 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.
071 - Risk as a tool for thinking with Ruben van Coile
12 Oct 2022
00:56:03
When thinking about 'risk' do you view it as a tool? I usually thought about it as a concept or maybe as a measure of 'how safe my building is?', but I have not really appreciated how beneficial it might be when used in such a way. Once you take it in its basic form - presentation of probabilities and consequences of fires in your buildings, you may use it to find answers to questions, that are a struggle to answer in another way. You can understand the performance of your building, its shortcomings and strengths.
I did not find this out on my own. It just had an amazing guest - prof. Ruben van Coile, outlined the risk concept for me, so I could discover it once again. And here, we both welcome you to join us in this discovery.
As you are done with this episode, I definitely recommend episode 45 where Ruben van Coile and Danny Hopkin discuss how risk can be used to determine the foundations of fire safety. If you liked this one, episode 45 is for you.
I will also shamelessly copy the list of resources provided the last time, as they are as relevant to this episode:
R. Van Coile, N. Elhami Khorasani, D. Lange, and D. Hopkin, ‘Uncertainty in Structural Fire Design’, in International Handbook of Structural Fire Engineering, K. LaMalva and D. Hopkin, Eds. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021, pp. 323–411
Also, keep your eyes open for the next edition of SFPE Handbook where my guests are publishing a new chapter on "Economics and Decision Making in Fire Risk Analysis"
---- 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.
070 - Fire resistance is whatever you want it to be with Piotr Turkowski
05 Oct 2022
00:55:49
Today we talk fire resistance, but unlike you have ever heard. Join me and Dr Piotr Turkowski - two fire laboratory professionals in an honest discussion about their craft. The challenges in standardization and committee work, discoveries in laboratories that are very tough to implement in the test method design, and sometimes unscientific approaches which are necessary for a market consensus. All the challenges that make us view fire resistance in a different way than you may have.
A video of our lab, if you are curious on how the biggest furnaces we talked about look like
The paper about the steel beam that Piotr has mentioned
The paper about the shear response of deep precast/prestressed concrete hollow core slabs subjected to fire
The paper about the intumescent reaction mechanisms
The paper about modifying the insulation criterion
---- 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.
069 - Challenging fires at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) with Michael Gollner
28 Sep 2022
00:58:49
Why so many researchers are spending their time tackling fire issues at the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)? What is so challenging about this? We always lived near nature, why today this emerges as one of the 'hottest' topics of fire science? As my today's guest Prof. Michael Gollner says - you need a very bad combination of weather and vegetation conditions to create a really bad fire. However, these conditions are occurring more and more often - in California they are not even considering fire seasons anymore, but wildfires become a threat all year round. I don't want to jump to unsupported conclusions, but damn, the prominence of wildfires seems to be the consequence of climate change that we will see soonest, and will hurt us a lot.
In this episode, we take fire engineers into the world of WUI. We try to narrow down WHY fires coming from the outside are so dangerous and so different from threats we know. We discuss the paradigms of fire safety engineering and WUI preparedness, including defendable zones, threats from firebrands and the effects of wildfire smoke on the occupants.
Finally, Michael shares with me his own experience with evacuating from a wildfire - a disturbing and interesting perspective of a fire scientist experiencing this first-hand.
Please take a look at these wildfire and WUI resources:
---- 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.
068 - Human walking speed and factors that influence it with John Gales
21 Sep 2022
00:58:30
What factors influence the walking speed of an occupant? Is it just their physiology and crowd density? It seems it is more complicated than that (as most things are in fire science...). Dr John Gales of York University takes me on a journey through their extremally interesting research on anthropomorphic data and movement speeds, which they have been extensively carrying through the last years. You will learn why the crowd at a football match will have a different characteristic than one attending American football (handegg?). Why evacuation is quicker in torrential rain than in fire, and how stimuli may drive the walking speeds as well. And how a beer tent helped uncover that!
John has mentioned a lot of resources that may be of interest.
Chin, K., Young, T., Chorlton, B., Aucoin, D., and Gales, J., (2022) Crowd Behaviour in Canadian Football Stadia - Part 1 - Data Collection. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (Canadian Science Publishing). 49 (7)
Chin, K., Young, T., Chorlton, B., Aucoin, D., and Gales, J., (2022) Crowd Behaviour in Canadian Football Stadia - Part 2 - Modelling Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (Canadian Science Publishing). 49 (7)
Yerushalami, A., Folk, L., Carton, H., Gales, J., Khan A., Weckman, B. (2022) Fire Evacuation Modelling of a Canadian Wildland Urban Interface Community. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (Canadian Science Publishing). 49 (1)
Arce, S., Jeanneret, C., Gales, J, Antonellis, D., and Vaiciulyte, S. (2021) Human Behaviour in Informal Settlement Fires in Costa Rica. Safety Science (Elsevier). 142. 105384.
Young, T., Gales, J, Kinsey M, and Wong W. (2021) Variability in Stadia Evacuation under Normal, High-Motivation, and Emergency Egress. Journal of Building Engineering (Elsevier). 40
Folk, L., Gonzales, K., Gales, J., Kinsey, M, and Carratin, E. and Young, T. (2020) Emergency Egress for the Elderly in Care Home Fire Situations. Fire and Materials (John Wiley). 44(4): 595- 606.
---- 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.
067 - Next-gen smoke control experimental facility and a digital twin with Grzegorz Krajewski
14 Sep 2022
00:35:27
We've felt a bit awkward about how FSE handles smoke control in corridors. If you look closely into common practices, they rarely do include impressive engineering - more often you see some 'tips and tricks' that make the CFD simulations work out and systems are accepted. Doors opening/closing in specific timeline points, heat source sizes or soot generation parameters... I agree it does not necessarily mean that all the systems are designed wrongfully, or they do not provide safety... but in fact - how can we tell what they provide if we are not evaluating them in a clear and robust way?
In this episode, I talk to my colleague from the ITB - Dr Grzegorz Krajewski, about a next-generation smoke control experimental facility that has just been built at the ITB. From this talk, you will learn what doubts we have about the modern approach to designing smoke control in corridors, how we want to study it with our new facility and how you can take part in defining a new 'point zero' for the future of the smoke control.
If you like what you hear, and you would like us to conduct a specific experiment in the new facility, please reach us! We will do everything we can to run it.
---- 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.
066 - Fire Safe Use of Wood in Buildings with Andy Buchanan
07 Sep 2022
00:57:53
I wonder if we will be ever able to say: we know exactly how to build fire-safe buildings with mass timber. However that day may never come, each day of research brings us a little bit closer to achieving this goal. And some days - like the one in which Andy Buchanan and Birgit Östman published their open access handbook on fire-safe use timber, we definitely leap towards success!
In today's episode, I'm interviewing prof. Andy Buchanan on his thoughts on fire-safe use of timber, in relation to the handbook published recently (Book website). We discuss why some buildings bring more challenges than others, and how different the mass timber compartment fire can be from a contemporary noncombustible structure. What do we know about the behaviour of timber, how engineers can predict that behaviour and how that knowledge is put into practice? This episode is not about the book, it is about a mindset of how to safely approach the challenges lying ahead.
Oh, and about that book I've mentioned... The best part - the Authors and sponsors have paid for it and it is accessible online. No tricks. You can download the pdf right here. Enjoy!
---- 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.
065 - Understanding mesh sensitivity and model uncertainties with Jason Floyd
31 Aug 2022
00:55:19
Will a higher resolution mesh make my CFD more accurate? That is a harmless question, and most of us would tend toward 'I guess yeah'. But let us try and unpack this. Into atoms! What does higher resolution mean? How exactly solver deals with increased spatial discretization and what are the exact consequences of that? What is a high resolution for a tiny orifice and what is a high resolution for a road tunnel? But it gets better... What makes CFD more accurate? Is it better alignment with experimental data - if so, do you know the experimental and numerical uncertainties that allow you to actually compare them? If not, how can you tell if the second try in the mesh sensitivity study is a disturbing result or something well within the numerical uncertainty?
Oh boy, such a simple question and so many things to answer.
And you have guessed it - that is what we are trying to do in this podcast episode with dr Jason Floyd of the UL Fire Safety Research Institute. And on top of that, you will learn a ton about mesh sensitivity and model uncertainties. You will also know why some models are more difficult than others - especially when you start to play with fluid-solid interaction and pyrolysis.
This episode was inspired by Bryan Klein - props to Bryan! He was a guest on the podcast and we have covered a very similar topic in it - you may want to listen to it as well! The trigger to make this episode came from the issue tracker, and you may want to check that thread as well
If you have some great podcast episode ideas, let me know! I'll get this done, I'm doing this whole thing for you.
---- 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.
064 - Heat stress in fires - from inside and outside with Denise Smith and Gavin Horn
24 Aug 2022
01:02:17
This amount of heat flux for this amount of time, routine conditions, check, done. This is how I used to do my engineering and tenability assessment related to heat stress... up till today when prof Denisse Smith and prof Gavin Horn took me on a bumpy journey into the physiology of humans in fire conditions and in personal protective equipment (PPE). It is astonishing, that the stress on the body of the firefighter may be as great from the fire as from their own heat generation due to work being done. If you think about it - it is obvious. PPE protects the heat transfer...both ways! You won't heat up, but you cannot really cool down either.
This is something that every firefighter knows (feels), but why we - fire engineers should think about that? When we design a building, we design it for firefighter accessibility. We provide them with tools to reach the place of fire and begin efficient extinguishing actions. But what if just getting to the place where the fire is, is so physically exhausting, that efficient actions are unlikely to be carried out? Do we ever think that when we design a risky environment on the 30th floor or 5 floors below the ground? Or when our landscrapers have such vast walking distances, that mistaking an entrance may be an error that costs you dozens of minutes? Boy was I uneducated in this regard, and I am really thankful to Denisse and Gavin for teaching me some really important lessons they have learnt through decades of experiments in this field.
If you would like to learn more, you should check out the websites of their respective institutions, as they are filled with great resources on this subject:
---- 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.
063 - Why do we need a handbook of fire and the environment with Brian Meacham and Margaret McNamee
17 Aug 2022
00:55:49
Do we need another fire handbook? If so, what handbook would that be? I guess a question like this must have gone through Brian Meachams' mind when he got the idea for a handbook of fire and environment. And he got a brilliant co-editor - Margaret McNamee to support him in this tough work. The effect - a complete piece on the environmental effects of fires - but beyond just smoke and contamination. A piece that deals with the complexities of the modern world, sustainability and resilience. One that considers product lifecycle assessment as much as the toxicity of its combustion products. A holistic view gives us fire engineers a different lens to view our work through.
In this episode, I interview Brian and Margaret on why this handbook came to life. That why is probably the most important question to be asked. If there was no reason, why go through all this effort to structurize and condense the knowledge we have so far amassed? If why does not exist, why would anyone go through the hassle of considering one more (difficult) thing in their project?
Well, I hope I won't spoil the episode, but the why exists. And it is a pretty good one. And to learn it, you have to dig into this episode!
It is behind a paywall, but many universities and institutes should have free access!
The publisher describes this handbook as: The fundamental purpose of this handbook is to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of fire and fire suppression, primarily within the fire engineering and firefighting communities, but also within the environmental engineering and planning disciplines. The Handbook provides readers with a fundamental understanding of the problem and its magnitude and includes a set of tools and methods for assessing environmental, social and financial impacts, and a set of tools for identifying and selecting appropriate mitigation options.
Presents previously unavailable material on identification, assessment and mitigation of environmental fires
Facilitates readers with knowledge in one area to focus on topics where they lack expertise
Extensively cites detailed studies and reports to support in-depth study in each of the topic areas
---- 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.
155 - New Guideline for PV Fire Safety with Grunde Jomaas
12 Jun 2024
00:56:38
Misconceptions in fire science are a strange thing. You present countless proof, publish research papers, and carry conversations, and yet… they live their own lives—spreading with no control and cluttering communication. One space is full of them—the fire safety of photovoltaic installations on flat roofs. In the Fire Science Show, we already had two very powerful episodes on PV—one with Jens Kristensen and one more recently with Reidar Stølen.
In today's episode, we highlight a new guideline document published by the team at FRISSBE led by Prof. Grunde Jomaas. I invited Grunde to walk me through their document, and I took this opportunity to learn the origins, sources and inspirations for all the aspects they covered. The guideline takes you through ignition, fire spread, building roof construction and firefighting, giving a unique holistic overhaul of the topic. Most importantly, it is short, concise, and written in the most approachable way. This is a really good example of how communication in fire science should look.
As my personal recommendation, Grunde is a top communicator on LinkedIn, and you should follow him. He also runs a weekly newsletter, Burning Matters. I highly recommend this resource!
---- 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.
062 - BIM (not only for fire) with Peter Thompson and Rino Lovreglio
10 Aug 2022
00:59:42
It does not matter if you hate or love BIM, does not matter if you use it daily or have no idea what it is... Building Information Modelling will be an important part of our engineering future and we better get used to it. In this episode, I talk to Peter Thompson of GHD, who had previously worked at Autodesk as a Revit developer, and prof. Ruggiero Lovreglio, a teacher of computer methods in design at Massey University. Having two experts - one a developer, and the other a user of BIM I try to get balanced answers on what BIM means for Fire Safety Engineering and how will it impact our future. And I must say I am surprised by the answers - I was pretty sure we will spend an hour talking about issues with transferring the models, but after this talk, this whole BIM environment seems like a pretty good idea!
I hope you will also enjoy this journey through the near and a bit future of BIM technology. Looking forward to hear back from you about your BIM journeys, thoughts and ideas on how make this the technology of the future FSE.
---- 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.
061 - Glazing in fire with Yu Wang
02 Aug 2022
00:47:59
The relation between ventilation conditions and fire severity is quite a fundamental one. You don't even have to be a fire safety engineer to realize that more air means a bigger fire. But how does air get into the compartment fire in the first place?
Through broken windows of course!
And here we come to the subject of today's episode. Because with all the considerable improvements in glazing technologies for building facades, is it really okay to assume that the glazing has failed and all we are left is a giant hole that allows the air flow inside? How does the glass fail, and when and what exactly are the consequences of this failure? These are the questions asked to professor Wang Yu of the State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS) at USTC, China. Yu takes me through his research from his PhD at Edinburgh, and through more recent experiments carried out by his group in China. We discuss FEM modelling of glass and some specific behaviour of modern glazing technologies exposed to different kinds of fires.
If you would like to learn more about this fundamental topic, here are some great further reading resources (Yu has so far 29 papers on this subject and these are just the tip of the iceberg!):
---- 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.
060 - How PV panels change the fire behaviour of roofs with Jens Kristensen
27 Jul 2022
00:43:18
[March 2023 update] The Thesis PDF is finally available! Check it here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369141515_Fire_risk_associated_with_photovoltaic_installations_on_flat_roof_constructions_-_Experimental_analysis_of_fire_spread_in_semi-enclosures
If a PV panel is fire safe, and the roof is fire safe, what is the outcome of a panel placed on the roof? Not a great surprise that merging two things that meet their requirements within their respectable eco-systems gives a not such a fire-safe outcome after all... This is the difference between considering systems versus product characteristics, and in relation to the fire safety of PV panels, something truly unique to my today's guest - dr Jens Steemann Kristensen.
Jens has gone a long way from burning PV panels in a cone calorimeter to trying to understand the holistic behaviour of panels placed on the roof. Join me in learning about his journey, his doubts and findings, and most importantly - some really interesting findings in how the issue of fire-safe PV roofs can be solved.
---- 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.
059 - Residential fire safety with Dan Madrzykowski and Charlie Fleischmann
20 Jul 2022
00:55:10
How much the fire scene at households has changed over the last 30 years? Why modern furniture burns worse than one made with wood, cotton and other natural materials? And what does that mean to firefighting? What challenges do modern firefighters face fighting residential fires... There is so many questions to be asked about residential fires, and in this episode, I answer a lot of them with the firefighting research legends - Dan Madrzykowski of the UL Fire Safety Research Institute and professor Charlie Fleischmann from the University of Canterbury.
After listening to this episode you must check the website of the UL FSRI! That is a vault fille with fire science gold, not to be missed by anyone passionate about fire safety.
And if you are here to find some info about the Fire Hose Prop we have discussed, seek no more - just follow this link to learn all about it.
---- 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.
058 - Animal pyrocognition - a path to undestand our beginnings with fire with Ivo Jacobs
13 Jul 2022
00:29:30
Have you wondered how fire science started? But I mean the real real start... not 1666 one, nor the one when we've started to build furnaces... The start when the first evolutionary ancestor of homo sapiens figured out this warm bright thing could be used to process food. The start when this bright thing was protected and used intentionally. The bright thing that was so important for our kind, that the proof for this relationship can be found literally in our anatomy...
The best way to study this origin would obviously be a time machine. I don't have that. But I have the second-best thing - a real scientist Dr Ivo Jacobs studying the relationship between animals and fire, to uncover how our ancestors could have learnt how to behave at the fire and how to use fire to their advantage. There is not much fire safety engineering in this episode, but there is something really magical to learning how impactful that thing we study was for our kind. And I hope you will really enjoy this.
And if this sparked your interest, go on and check these great resources:
---- 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.
057 - Structural fire engineering with Thomas Gernay
06 Jul 2022
00:53:47
The subject of structural fire engineering was long overdue in the podcast schedule. But once I finally got it on my agenda, I made sure to interview one of the very best there are - prof Thomas Gernay of John Hopkins University. Not only a structural engineer and researcher, but also one of the developers of SAFIR® - one of most popular structural fire engineering numerical codes out there.
In this discussion I get to ask some important questions on the role structural fire engineering plays in engineering modern buildings, and Thomas makes the point that it it the way forward in understanding the building performance in a holistic way. I learn about FDS-SAFIR integration (which is superb interesting!), challenges with new materials and the development of design fires (hint - travelling fires get a ton of mention, so be sure to also tag episode 27 with Guillermo Rein on them!). And as usual, in the end, we geek on the future of fire science and technology. God, I love these discussions so much!!!
---- 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.
056 - Performance Based Fire Protection Engineer with David Stacy
29 Jun 2022
00:54:31
How does being a volunteer firefighter improve your abilities to do Performance-Based Design (PBD) and how your knowledge in PBD may translate to firefighting? That is not a question you can ask to every fire protection engineer, but luckily - David Stacy is one who can answer that fully. Tapping into his unique skillset and career path I try to extract answers on how does one translate firefighting experience into improved design. Where does he see the most immediate gain (duh - communication!), and how does a fire safety engineer seek knowledge.
And knowing that Dave builds his own machines and does his CFD, I would not be myself if we eventually did not venture into world of CPU's, BIM and difficult choices when managing uncertainties in commercial and scientific projects.
Join us in this multi-faceted episode, and hopefully enjoy the talk between two fire safety engineers, who are absolutely passionate about their work.
Oh, and make sure to check Dave's company - Performance Based Fire Protection Engineering webpage. Lots of great resources and more of them coming!
https://www.pbfpe.com/
---- 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.
055 - The future is exciting with Arnold Dix (part 2)
22 Jun 2022
00:58:15
I once said the future looks stupid... but after this discussion with Arnold Dix, I know - future is exciting. And for Fire Safety Engineers and others involved in fire protection - the future seems to be super exciting! In this episode, we let go and try to discuss the future tech in the world of tunnelling. From autonomous vehicles in tiny (and seems a bit dangerous) tunnels, McDonnaldization of TBM's, Hyperloops to city concepts build all the way around humans (and tunnels!). This is a future to look for, and I hope to live through at least some of these inventions. They will not come without challenges, but that is the point of being an engineer, right?!
This is the second part of two-piece interview with Professor Arnold Dix. If you can't get enough of Arnold (like me), I have great news for you. There are six episodes of the Tunneling Journal podcast exclusively with Arnold, that you can listen here: https://tunnellingjournal.com/podcasts-tunnelling-journal/
Highly recommended!
---- 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.
054 - The sustainability talk, tunnels and fire safety with Arnold Dix (part 1)
15 Jun 2022
00:54:24
A few episodes ago I called for better communication in fire safety. And in this episode, tunnel fire safety legend Prof. Arnold Dix is answering that, by teaching us the ways of the 'sustainability' talk - how to communicate better having the global sustainability goals in mind? But it is not only a way of communication. It is a mindset. And it is a powerful one, leading to a rethink of the concept of safety and how one is delivered. A rejuvenating perspective in which we are mindful of our solutions and the goals we wish to achieve.
It may be too good to be true, but then again... it is not the first time the tunnelling industry is ahead of the curve. We are still discussing how to deal with risk methods, while for a long time it is a standard approach in tunnelling. We still wonder if buildings really need to survive burnout, while tunnelling talks about resiliency. We wonder which plume model to use in our atria, while tunnelling fully embraces PBD. These are just some examples, but they really highlight how this industry is on the leading edge in innovative and disruptive ways for fire safety.
I hope you will enjoy this episode. There is a lot we can learn from the tunnelling industry, that we can implement at every end of fire safety. And if you like this talk I have good news for you! Next week, join us for part 2. Innovative approaches in transportation, how will they change our cities and the landscape of fire protection engineering! An episode not to be missed.
---- 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.
053 - The number one skill to thrive as an FSE I've learnt in 1 year of podcasting
08 Jun 2022
00:40:22
It has been one year since I started this show. I've promised you that we will learn Fire Safety Engineering together, and today comes a great time to reflect on some lessons learnt. In this episode, I will take you on a short journey through some most insightful moments in the show, that allowed me to identify the number one skill needed to thrive as a fire protection engineer.
What is that skill? Well press the play button and find it for yourself! The answer is 35 minutes away, and I promise this will not be a time wasted.
In this episode I have repurposed parts of other excellent interviews, each of them worth a listen (or a re-listen):
---- 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.
154 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 8 - Compartment Fire
04 Jun 2024
00:50:13
Happy birthday, Fire Science Show!
On the 3rd Anniversary of the podcast launch, I'm thrilled to deliver an episode on one of the most fascinating aspects of fire science - the compartment fire. Instead of going through the usual curriculum of the phases of fire, transitioning into flashover and flashover itself, I instead focus on the methodology's practical aspects. Which parts of the building have the largest impact on the fire? What is the impact of the opening? How much fuel matters? What happens in a large compartment, and how does it differ from a small one? Those are the sorts of questions I've asked myself while preparing for this episode, and the answers are hopefully in the episode.
In the episode, I highlight the essential contributions of key figures like Quintiere, Drysdale, Kawagoe, Haramathy and Torero, whose pioneering work has shaped our understanding of fire dynamics. Listen as we dissect the impact of openings on fire behaviour, the role of materials, and the challenges of modelling complex fire scenarios, offering practical insights for fire engineers.
Reflecting on historical milestones and recent advancements, we also examine the travelling fire framework and its application in the structural analysis of large buildings. This episode emphasizes the significance of parametric fire curves and the need for an integrated approach to fire physics in engineering.
If you would like to dive deeper, read:
D.Drysdale, Introduction to Fire Dynamics (book)
B. Karlsson and J. Quintiere, Enclosure fire dynamics (book)
T.Z. Haramathy, A new look at Compartment Fires Part I and Part II (1972)
K. Kawagoe, Fire Behaviour in Rooms, Report of the Building Research Institute No. 27 (1958) - this one I do not have the direct link, so I will take a bit of a search.
Thank you for being with the Fire Science Show for 3 years! As we celebrate our commitment to delivering high-quality content every Wednesday, I look ahead with excitement and gratitude, dedicated to continuing our shared journey of learning and discovery in the fascinating world of fire science. Thank you for being part of our community, and here's to many more enlightening episodes!
---- 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.
404 - Host not found, throat infections suck.
01 Jun 2022
00:03:59
With this lifestyle, this was inevitable... due to a busy week I had to move the schedule a bit and was pretty sure I will get away with it by recording a solo episode... but my throat has decided otherwise and I kind of cannot record a full episode. I need a week off to heal this up before the 1-year anniversary episode that I care a lot about!
In the meantime, please try and enjoy some excellent episodes from the past, which I have recommended in this short apology piece:
---- 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.
052 - More realism in evacuation modelling with Anne Templeton
25 May 2022
00:49:27
You have seen these lovely evacuation simulations, the ones with a bunch of agents moving together or clumping at an exit. Ones that we use to determine ASET condition, and which are present in almost every large PBD project...
Maybe even you are running such simulations. So, with that experience in mind - have you ever wondered if what you see makes sense. We all feel that humans in groups behave differently than a bunch of units in a crowd. But to what extent that 'different' could be important? That is the question with which I have approached dr Anne Templeton from the University of Edinburgh. Anne is a renowned scientist in the field of crowd psychology. She was kind enough to tell me the difference between psychological and physical crowds and why sending students to a pub helped here quantify that. Tap into this episode if you would like to learn the new stuff we are finding about human behaviour, and how that may change our future modelling and evacuation planning.
---- 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.
051 - Fire Science in eyes of a firefighter with Szymon Kokot
18 May 2022
00:51:41
In this show, we often discuss how fire science can help firefighters. Today we drop the UNO reverse card and figure out what firefighters actually need from fire science. And for that, I've got a perfect person to talk to - a firefighter, commander, instructor and a fire scientist. Szymon Kokot of the Nidzica Fire Brigade and CFBT Poland
With this talk, I wanted to achieve two answers. How firefighters view fire science (and how to make it more useful to them). And how engineers should view firefighting operations. You will learn a lot about the commanders' role and multiple not-so-obvious factors that go into consideration when battling a fire. From this talk, you will understand why risks related to high-rise (and large space) buildings are so different from simple structures.
I hope you appreciate this point of view. For me, it was very eye-opening. We need to be more sensitive to the needs of the firefighters, and more often include them in our discussion. At the same time, we need to find a way to communicate fire science and engineering to them, so they can fully benefit from the technologies we introduce with them in mind.
---- 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.
050 - Wind, fire and a surprise
11 May 2022
01:09:12
Episode 50! Time to celebrate, and for this one we have a surprise. A mysterious host takes over the show to interview a wind and fire modelling celebrity...
Ok, this should be enough to not reveal everything once the show notes get auto-posted on all social media :) I am super happy for multiple reasons. You guys were with me 50 times on my way to share fire science with everyone who wants to listen. You have downloaded my content 25.000 times. And finally, I get to share with you some of my own science. Could not be happier! Thank you so much to Guillermo Rein for creating this opportunity for me.
I hope that the subject of my work is interesting to you. I have some papers to share, along with the most important ones that were mentioned in the episode. Psst...some of them are behind a paywall but I am MORE THAN HAPPY to share the copies with you, just send me a request through my ResearchGate profile :)
---- 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.
049 - What burns inside a battery with Francesco Restuccia
04 May 2022
00:55:49
So we all know batteries burn... but do we know what exactly does burn? What is inside this tiny metal cylinder that scares so many of us? We try to understand it a bit more with Dr Francesco Restuccia of Kings College London, who is an expert in battery fire safety and self-heating. And this combination of skills gave him a unique view of the challenges of fire safety of batteries - especially the ones that are stored in warehouses and not fueling anything. Francesco takes me on a journey into the world of cathodes, anodes and electrol... I mean battery juice. Knowing what is inside and why it burns is fundamental to understanding how can we protect the world from the risks arising from Li-ION batter technology. And I hope this podcast episode is a concise introduction to this!
And here is a paper choice curated by Francesco, containing the important papers discussed within the episode (because we discuss real science here! :))
---- 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.
048 - Car parks, design fires and the broad world of fire science with Mike Spearpoint
27 Apr 2022
01:14:51
Did you know first car parks were built for electric vehicles? Or what clever techniques can be used to model the spread of fire between vehicles? Or what challenges scientists meet burning vehicles, and why pneumatic suspension makes stuff more interesting... These (and much much more) are the things you learn by inviting Mike Spearpoint of the OFR for a lovely chat about design fires in car parks, and car parking infrastructure in general.
But wait for it, there is much more. The hidden underlying message about the broadness of fire science, and the holistic view on how certain compartments are used today (and how it differs from their past use). Delightfully refreshing point of view! Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
---- 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.
047 - Effective pressurization of compartments with Grzegorz Sypek
20 Apr 2022
00:55:56
Pressurization is a common strategy for protecting spaces against the infiltration of smoke. However, the solution has a kind-of bad press as "not-working" or "incapable to meet its design goals". We know, that the systems are as good as their design, and in this episode with my guest, Grzegorz Sypek, we try to bust some myths around PDS systems. We touch on the important design points and the properties of modern solutions available in the market. We also discuss the standardization of PDS systems in Europe, giving a glimpse into incoming EN 12101-6 and EN12101-13.
If you seek help with the design of pressurization systems for your buildings, feel free to contact Grzegorz @ gsypek@gmail.com
---- 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.
046 - Fire Code Tech crossover with Gus Gagliardi
12 Apr 2022
00:46:49
This week we do something funny - a crossover episode with the host of the Fire Code Tech podcast - Gus Gagliardi. We end up discussing the paths of fire safety engineers, from school to specialized roles in engineering companies, and the challenges associated with that.
We hope you liked this twist to the podcast, and maybe discovered a new show to follow up! If you want to hear a familiar voice, you can start with this episode https://firecodetech.com/research-smoke-control-systems-and-cfd-with-wojciech-wgrzyski featuring yours truly :)
---- 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.
045 - Foundations of fire safety with Ruben van Coile and Danny Hopkin
06 Apr 2022
00:58:52
How does one decide when a building is fire safe? That is a real hell of a question to answer! Is it when no harm can occur? But such a condition can never be fulfilled... there is always a meteor waiting around the corner to fall into your building! So if some situations can occur for which we cannot prepare, when do we decide we are 'safe enough'?
This is the tough question we try to decipher together with prof. Ruben van Coile and prof. Danny Hopkin. It is an inspiring journey, and you can trust me on this - at the end the episode gets even better!
Also, Danny was kind enough to curate this fantastic list of resources for you to read, if you would like to build a more complete idea on the concepts of risk and safety:
R. Van Coile, N. Elhami Khorasani, D. Lange, and D. Hopkin, ‘Uncertainty in Structural Fire Design’, in International Handbook of Structural Fire Engineering, K. LaMalva and D. Hopkin, Eds. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021, pp. 323–411
Also, keep your eyes open for the next edition of SFPE Handbook where my guests are publishing a new chapter on "Economics and Decision Making in Fire Risk Analysis"
---- 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.
044 - Improving fire safety of battery systems with Ofodike Ezekoye
30 Mar 2022
00:58:26
Since Episode 6, the fire safety of battery systems was not very much visible in the show - a good time to change that! And we do this with a true legend of fire safety - Ofodike Ezekoye. In the last year, I have learnt a lot about battery systems, which did not make me more afraid. Entirely opposite - the more I know, the more confident I am in fire science and engineers finding solutions for any outstanding issues with this emerging technology. In this episode, we go through the challenges at different scales of the battery system - from the chemistry of cathode, anode and electrolyte, through challenges in manufacturing and quality control, battery management systems up to the scale of whole off-grid systems. Each presents unique challenges. Each is a place of ongoing innovation.
But the most important, IMHO, is to look at the threat holistically. Even if we remove all the intrinsic dangers of energy storage, the batteries may still be there when a fire starts for other reasons... We may be able to contain the 'thermal' threats, but are we looking for solutions to the smoke? And what to do with billions of already existing batteries that we deal with everywhere in our lives... All these questions got answered here, so you don't want to miss this episode!
---- 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.
404 - Short technical break
29 May 2024
00:02:21
I'm very sorry, but I could not finalize the episode to air this week in time, and in consequence, I have chosen to have a short technical break in the podcast. We will return next week with a (hopefully) really exciting episode on compartment fires! It will be kind of a birthday party, so I'm looking forward to that and trying to ensure the episode is worthy of the occasion.
In the meantime, as you perhaps have a spare hour of your time and no podcast to listen to... I would love to invite you to my other project - Uncovered Witness. It is also a podcast focused on fire science - if you like the Fire Science Show, you will also love that one. I'll just share that episode 3 of that series is my favourite, and in my own opinion, among the best content I've ever created :)
---- 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.
043 - Some neglected areas in fire science with Vyto Babrauskas
23 Mar 2022
01:12:49
It is always a pleasure to interview a true legend of fire safety. And when the topic of the interview is their thoughts on neglected areas of our discipline, based on almost five decades of experience? This must end up great! And it did (IMHO).
Please join me and prof. Vyto Babrauskas in discovering what are the parts of fire science that are in need of research. What are some obvious solutions, that I think we all acknowledge, but for some reason, we do not have? What are the dead ends and missing links... And how many of the ideas go to sleep for decades, just to be rediscovered as the field matures.
Please learn more about prof. Babrauskas on his webpage: www.doctorfire.com and his scientific paper repository at ResearchGate
---- 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.
042 - Unsafe environment of post fire scenes with Gavin Horn
16 Mar 2022
01:00:09
We all understand the dangers of smoke inhalation in fires. But what about the site of the fire a few days after it was put out? It looks clean, maybe even lost the smell... Is it something to worry about, or you can rush straight in, wearing your shorts and a t-shirt? Well, I guess I would not be that reckless, but if I can be honest - I don't think I would care that much about protecting myself either... At least that was me before the talk to dr Gavin Horn from UL FSRI.
Gavin spent more than a decade investigating the environment of post-fire scenes. And these places are where many of us work, almost on daily basis. Firefighters, investigators, fire researchers, constructors and demolished... And the scenes do certainly hide some threats within. In this episode you will learn a lot about them, and how these threats change as the environment evolves. More than that, Gavin is a pretty down-to-earth guy and does not imply you should dress for an investigation in a NASA space suit. You have to balance the risks related to contamination through inhalation and absorption, with risks of overheating, falling or cutting yourself, and as well with the capability to do the actual work wearing PPE. That is not the kind of discussion I get with my own H&S experts, and I appreciate this smart and holistic view a lot.
---- 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.
041 - Sprinkler and safety systems reliability with Arnstein Fedoy
09 Mar 2022
00:50:55
How reliable are sprinkler systems? Is it 100%? Is it 95%? Maybe it is 88%... actually, whatever the number is, do we truly understand what does it represent? What does it mean that a sprinkler has succeeded and what does it mean it failed. These are the questions that were behind my today's interview with Arnstein Fedoy. You may remember Arnstein from his short appearance in episode 26 . This time, we've had the whole episode for this discussion, and I must say it was well invested hour on my side.
---- 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.
040 - Resilient road tunnel infrastructure with Ingo Riess
02 Mar 2022
00:46:36
This week I've invited a guest, that I was looking to talk to for a good while... Dr Ingo Riess from Riess Ingenieur-GmbH is someone I look up to in the field of tunnel fire safety, in which I am very active in the last few years. In this chat, we had the chance to go through the concept of tunnel resiliency and calculate the risk related to the whole road network, rather than just a tunnel on its own. This is such a refreshing concept, in which the goal - maximizing public safety - is well defined, and thanks to that, smart decisions can be made. And these decisions are not always to make the tunnel a bit safer - in some cases, it may be just better to invest in other safety infrastructure. This holistic view opens new pathways and possibilities and makes investments in fire safety really reasonable. I absolutely love it, and it is something I wish we can implement in my own country. Outside resilience, we also had a good chance to discuss the ventilation and modelling, design fires and some tough choices the engineers have to make when refurbishing tunnels. If you have anything to do with tunnels, this episode is definitely for you. And if you do not, still can be inspiring, as the world of tunnels is one the forefront of applying risk-based concepts in performance-based engineering. Something, that the rest of the world must eventually catch up.
Also, give a chance to the Graz Tunnel Safety and Ventilation conference, which always delivers the best content related to the fire safety of tunnels: https://www.tunnel-graz.at/
---- 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.
039 - The (near) future of modelling with a tool developer Bryan Klein
23 Feb 2022
00:55:06
What does the future hold? Probably no one knows. But what happens in near future with some of the most popular tools used by the FSE community? That is a great question to a tool developer - Bryan Klein of Thunderhead Engineering, the company that brought us the most popular FDS pre-processor PyroSim and as popular evacuation model Pathfinder.
In this talk, we focus on CFD modelling, and the impact pre-and postprocessing tools had on our capabilities to tackle fire problems with our computers. Mesh resolution and creation techniques. Solver scalability and parallel processing. Most commonly requested tool additions. These are the things you will definitely find in this episode, plus much more!
And do not forget...
September 12-14, 2022 in Brno, Czech Republic. Fire and Evacuation Modelling Technical Conference. You want to be there!
---- 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.
038 - Fire resistance is not always enough for timber with Daniel Brandon
15 Feb 2022
00:57:43
It is the third time we talk about mass timber and fire in this show, and I hope every time the message gets even more refined. In this episode, it is clear - fire resistance is not always enough. But why? You will learn that from dr Daniel Brandon from RISE who spent last years researching timber in fire. In this episode, we discuss the limitations of the fire resistance approach in testing timber structures, and also venture beyond it - how does exposed timber change the fire dynamics in a furnace and how in a real building? How the risk changes once you may have your structure participating in a fire, and why a 2-storey house is pretty safe, while a timber skyscraper brings challenges we have never met before.
You may also want to view other important timber-in-fire discussions from the Fire Science Show:
And also, the most spectacular - see the large timber experiments on your own, to understand what Daniel meant with "the energy must go somewhere" - check this YouTube page
---- 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.
037 - Human behavior misconceptions that lead to (mis)modelling with Enrico Ronchi
09 Feb 2022
00:45:47
If you were investigating phenomena and built your whole narrative around a flawed and debunked concept, would that get published? Would that get cited? Would that be recognized? Many of us would say an obvious *no*, but that is not so obvious when we discuss the human behaviour field of science and the concept of panic (the p-word we do not say!). Even though among top evacuation scientists there seems to be a consensus about why this concept is flawed, every year we see more and more papers in which it is an underlining principle of the research...
And it is a symptom of a potentially worse issue. A complete misuse of models, lack of understanding of fundamentals or blind trust in data. All of these take precious time and resources from studies, that are really needed to push our understanding of human behaviour in fire forward.
Today I give the stage to Prof Enrico Ronchi, who has some tough things to say about the state of evacuation modelling in research. I think this message is important and should cause a moment of reflection on what are we doing, and is it the thing we should be doing.
---- 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.
036 - Researching fire with firefighters - UL FSRI: Steve Kerber and Craig Weinschenk
02 Feb 2022
00:50:04
In this episode I was really happy to host two amazing researchers from UL FSRI - Dr Steve Kerber, the VP of Underwriter Laboratories and Director of UL Fire Safety Research Institute, and Dr Craig Weinschenk, research engineer and a data wizard. Together we venture into the world of fire research carried together with firefighters, with the critical goal of saving firefighter lives and reducing the damage caused by fire. Join us to learn how the largest full-scale fire experiments are performed and what is the recipe to learn the most from them, and share that knowledge in a most efficient manner.
UL FSRI shares tons of useful resources, all that can be found at their website https://fsri.org/ IMHO the most amazing of these resources is the fire investigation page with all the interactive results of large fire experiments. You must check this amazing resource out!
You may also want to check other resources provided by UL FSRI, starting with:
---- 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.
035 - Fire safety as cornerstone of sustainability with Margaret McNamee
26 Jan 2022
01:00:55
Building a fire-safe future is not an easy task. Including sustainability in that build, is even harder. But how hard is it to include fire safety in the discussion, when sustainability itself is a goal? Does sustainability even exist when fire safety is excluded? I think we have learned the hard way that that is not an option. Yet, so often dangerous innovations are introduced without consulting with fire experts. In this episode, we delve into this important and difficult matter with prof. Margaret McNamee of Lund University.
This episode is also an invitation for all Fire Science Show listeners to participate in the Special Issue of the Fire Technology journal: Fire Safety and Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities. Let's take the discussion started in this episode, and exchange the ideas within the fire community on what sustainability means for us, and how can we achieve it. We are looking forward to all of the submissions to this special issue. The deadline is 31st July 2022.
If you would like to connect with Margaret, you can do so through her Twitter and LinkedIn. You may also want to read up on the IAFSS Agenda for 2030 which also covers many of the issues related to sustainability discussed in this episode.
---- 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.
034 - Fire safety as a human right, not a privilege with Danielle Antonellis
19 Jan 2022
00:53:38
There are topics in fire science that gain more attention than others. Timber in fire. Batteries. Facades. They are novel, complex, challenging and yet as engineers, we must handle them in our everyday job. But are they important? If we could create an unbiased measure of *importance* of a subject, would they get on top of the list? I'm sure they wouldn't, but I'm pretty sure the subject of today's episode would rank on the very top of that list.
Danielle Antonellis is a founder of a non-profit organization, Kindling, which aims to deliver fire safety to all who do not have access to it. Including societies in low-income countries, people living in informal settlements and socially excluded citizens of the western world.
Kindlings' mission statement is: "(...) to connect fire safety knowledge with local and global humanitarian and development efforts aimed at reducing the unequal impact of fire on people, property and livelihoods in vulnerable communities around the world."
It is a powerful message and an episode filled with hope and willingness to help others. If you ever wondered how a fire safety engineer could change the world, stop for a while and listen to this conversation.
If you want to learn more about this topic, you can connect with Danielle on her LinkedIn or Twitter and follow Kindling here.
Learn more about the Kindling mission and achievements in this report.
---- 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.
153 - Fire Safety Engineer of the Future is a Great Communicator
21 May 2024
00:38:25
A few weeks ago in Copenhagen, stepping onto the stage to open the SFPE Fire Safety Conference and Expo on Performance-Based Design, I took a bit of a gamble. I was invited to give an opening keynote, but instead of talking about my fire science and engineering, I've chosen to confront an often-overlooked cornerstone of our profession: communication. If you follow the podcast, it is not something new to you. I brought up this case multiple times - Fire safety is not just about the technical mastery of fire dynamics and code compliance – we, as engineers, need to be as adept with our communications so that our solutions are put into practice.
In this episode, I'm giving my best attempt to recreate my I share the insights from my keynote, focusing on articulating complex fire safety strategies across diverse competencies and the crucial need for innovation in our communication methods. The art of communication within fire safety engineering is akin to translating an intricate language for a varied audience. From investors to fellow engineers in MEP and HVAC, ensuring each stakeholder not only grasps but values the information is key to effective implementation.
By popular request, I hope you enjoy this talk for all those who were not able to make it to the SFPE conference in Copenhagen. And those who were there, this perhaps serves as a good refresher of that event and perhaps a point to restart some of the most interesting discussions that happened there.
---- 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.
033 - Science, theatre or engineering? Polish take on hot smoke test with Piotr Smardz and Janusz Paliszek
12 Jan 2022
00:58:57
Have you ever heard about the hot smoke testing approach? If you had, there is a great chance you have not heard anything positive about it... From our experience, this method is often downplayed as useless, unrealistic and inconclusive. While to some extent you have to agree with the limitations, in Poland we have found a way how to turn this theatrical tool into a powerhouse of engineering. And this episode is all about this.
I have invited two FSE's - Janusz Paliszek and Piotr Smardz of company INBEPO who are experts in carrying hot smoke tests. Together, we try to debunk the myths around the method and showcase its true strength - the ability to quickly verify the global behaviour of the fire safety automation within the building.
If you are interested more about the hot smoke testing, you can reach Piotr at piotr@inbepo.pl or through his LinkedIn and Janusz at janusz@inbepo.pl
---- 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.
032 - Closing the year with a look back on 2021 and forward to the future!
22 Dec 2021
00:52:37
Welcome to the final episode of this year! I hope you all had a great year. For me, it was probably the most challenging, and the most rewarding year of my whole professional career. Join me in this episode recollecting the things that have happened in the show, and bringing back some of my favourite episodes of the show.
For the next two weeks, I'm on a break with my family, so the next episode will come up on 12.01.2022!!!
---- 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.
031 - Suppressing tunnel fires with water mist with Johny Jessen
15 Dec 2021
00:49:10
Can water mist be used in tunnels? I wondered that for a long time, and with every tunnel project, many questions around this issue were piling in my head. When dealing with large infrastructure projects you really need to work your way around multiple functional aspects of a system - maintenance, water and power consumption, drainage capacity, availability of elements and their certification... You would love to focus purely on the fire safety aspect of the issue, but you cannot. Unfortunately, this is often the world of fire engineering. And in this world, we make decisions based on what we know about systems - and when we don't know enough - we test it!
And for the water mist question, I've found the perfect person to give me some answers. Johny Jessen from VID Fire Kill has visited me in my office and told me about his experience with full-scale fire tests of water mist systems in a tunnel, carried by Efectis. You know he is serious about what he is doing when you learn that the fire source used for this test was approx. 250 MW! This discussion goes deep into the testing and the differences between suppression systems and challenges that modern engineers face in landmark projects.
Johny has asked me to invite you to his LinkedIn profile, where he shares a lot of great resources related to water mist technology - so here you go! And the VID Fire Kill profile.
You may also like to check this whitepaper on the experiments carried in Spain that we discussed in this episode. More materials, including videos of the test, can be found on the project website.
I must also give a shoutout to friends at Efectis who have done some really great job engineering these fire tests! From one fire science enthusiast to another, hats down.
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