Fire risk reduction

News and Updates

Draft California Fire Code Includes NIST Tool to Evaluate Wildfire Hazard

September 13, 2021

Severe wildfire disasters are often the product of numerous factors — vegetation, drought, a lack of firefighting resources, and many others — coalescing

Firefighters spray water into a burning concrete building with a sign saying "NIST Fire Research."

How AI Could Alert Firefighters of Imminent Danger

June 1, 2021

Firefighting is a race against time. Exactly how much time? For firefighters, that part is often unclear. Building fires can turn from bad to deadly in an

Flammability Reduction Group provides virtual seminar on Reducing the Fire Risk of Residential Upholstered Furniture Fires as part of SFPE Member Series

May 24, 2021

The “Low Heat Release Upholstered Furniture” project at the Fire Research Division (FRD) of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducts

Projects and Programs

Public Health Risks to First Responders

There is growing evidence that firefighters (FF) are being exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) associated with their gear. The source of the

Publications

Response Time Impact of Smoke Alarms

September 9, 2021

Author(s)

Stanley W. Gilbert, Thomas Cleary, Paul A. Reneke, Richard Peacock, David Butry

It can be assumed that smoke alarms reduce reported fires and casualties by reducing on average the amount of time it takes to detect a fire. This paper sets

Behavior of Composite Floor Assemblies Subject to Fire: Influence of Slab Reinforcement

September 1, 2021

Author(s)

Lisa Choe, Selvarajah Ramesh, Chao Zhang, Charles Clifton

A series of fire experiments are being conducted on the 2-story steel framed building with composite floors in the National Fire Research Laboratory. This paper

CFAST - Consolidated Fire and Smoke Transport (Version 7) Volume 5: CFAST Fire Data Generator (CData)

June 11, 2021

Author(s)

Paul A. Reneke, Richard Peacock, Stanley W. Gilbert, Thomas Cleary

This document provides documentation for creating and running Monte Carlo simulations with the Consolidated Fire And Smoke Transport (CFAST) model using the

Improving the State-of-the-Art in Flow Measurements for Large-Scale Oxygen Consumption Calorimetry

May 6, 2021

Author(s)

Rodney A. Bryant, Matthew Bundy

The accuracy of the exhaust flow measurement contributes significantly to the uncertainty of calorimetry measurements for large fire testing. Less than ideal

Tools and Instruments

Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD)

The National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) operates calorimeters to measure the heat and combustion products for fires in the range of 50 kW to 20,000 kW