Fire Dynamics for the Fire Service

Dan Madrzykowski of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) discussed recent studies and concepts in fire dynamics in his Monday FDIC 2010 workshop. Madrzykowski reviewed some of the studies NIST is undertaking in the area of fire dynamics, including a study on the various fuels used in flashover simulators and the characteristics of hose streams and the degree to which they “push fire.”

Madryzkowski discussed how the deficit of fire behavior knowledge is affecting firefighter safety, especially with the decrease in the number of fire calls we are responding to. It used to be that fire behavior knowledge was passed on from “salty dogs” to younger members, but as these veterans retire, we are now left with “firefighters who haven’t seen a fire in six months” and lack the experience to know how it may behave.

The workshop emphasized how knowledge about fire dynamics can impact firefighter safety, and one of its stated goals was to provide information that students could bring back to teach their members. Madryzkowski stressed the difference between theory and tactics, and behind traditional fire behavior (in which fires grow to flashover then gradually burn out) and “typical” fire behavior, in which firefighters may help fires achieve flashover stage by “incidental” ventilation, i.e. the opening of compartment doors. “A flashover may be waiting for you,” he explained.

Speaking to a full room, Madryzkowski sought to help firefighters apply the conclusions of recent fire science studies to their work on the fireground. Madryzkowski, a fire protection engineer with the NIST’s Building and Fire Research Laboratory, has conducted research in fire suppression, large fire measurements, fire investigation, and firefighter safety. He was the recipient of the ISFSI/Fire Engineering George D. Post Instructor of the Year award in 2009, and recently co-wrote an article with Steve Kerber of Underwriters Laboratories on positive-pressure ventilation that was published on FireEngineering.com.