The US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has published its annual report on fire losses, showing that 1.3 million fires were reported by fire departments in the USA in 2018, resulting in over 3 600 civilian deaths, 15 200 civilian injuries and US$ 25 billion...
The International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) has published (in Fire Safety Journal) its “Agenda 2030 for a fire safe world”, as a call for dialogue between fire scientists, fire engineers, regulators and funding agencies. Input to this Agenda included...
Konrad Wilkens Flecknoe-Brown, DBI (Danish Institute of Fire & Security Technology), presented fire tests of polyurethane slabs (1.2m x 0.6m x 50mm), showing that flame spread, time to peak heat release, and peak heat release rate are all very variable and...
Brian Lattimer, Jensen Hughes (now with Virginia Tech), USA, summarised challenges for fire safety requirements in railways in the USA. The USA, in NFPA130 and 49CFR238.103, currently specifies the radiant panel test and accepts higher heat emissions, whereas the EU...
Presentations noted the strong growth potential of wood-based materials, as a sustainable and ‘desirable’ construction material, but also the specific fire safety challenges to address. Colleen Wade, Branz Ltd, New Zealand, noted that wood structure construction is in...
