Two firefighters were killed in Chesapeake, Virginia when they became trapped by a rapidly spreading fire.

A large warehouse fire in a 211,000 SF complex resulted from a transformer explosion this morning at the Wix Distribution Center in Gastonia, NC. The building complex was a former textile mill and was built in 1917. Published report indicate that more than 60 firefighters operated at the scene to control the fire. It was […]

Light Weight construction has given way to Engineered Structural Systems (ESS) which in today’s evolving fireground, have an even more extensive array of performance, operational and integrity issues that affect a building’s performance under fire conditions.To unequivocally state that nothing has changed in buildings, occupancies, fire flow delivery rates and demands for increased proficiencies of […]

Understanding the building – its complexities in terms of anatomy, structural systems, materials, configuration, design, layout, systems, methods of construction, engineering and inherent features, limitations, challenges and risks – is fundamental for operational excellence on the fireground and firefighter safety.

High-rise fires cause quarter billion dollars of property damage a year according to a new NFPA Report.

  The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) United States Fire Administration (USFA) have recently issued a special report examining the characteristics and causes of Large Loss Building Fires (PDF, 834 Kb).  The report, developed by USFA’s National Fire Data Center, is based on 2007 to 2009 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). […]

The Albuquerque Fire Department seeks to improve operations from past performance Four firefighters with the Albuquerque (NM) Fire Department were injured during operations at a three-alarm fire that injured raged through the Royal Crown Apartment Complex  in southeast Albuquerque on Friday February 4, 2011. The injured firefighters were among four who fell through the floor […]

Operational Safety Considerations at Ordinary and Heavy Timber Constructed Occupancies  Building Type III and IV Training Materials for the Fire Service This program was developed to support the case study information published within the 2009 Near-Miss Reporting Calendar for the Month of May, 2009 for the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System.  If youÂ’re not familiar […]

  Thirty years ago on the morning of November 21, 1980, 85 people died and more than 700 were injured as a result of a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was the second largest life-loss hotel fire in United States history. It was determined during the investigation that the […]