Fire fighting

News and Updates

The graphic depicts a firefighter wearing protective turnout gear with a diagram of the three layers of the gear, which are the outer shell, the moisture barrier and thermal barrier.

Wear and Tear May Cause Firefighter Gear to Release More ‘Forever Chemicals’

January 16, 2024

Are firefighters at risk of increased exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in their protective clothing?

Four small dark glass ampules stand on a lab table, market with skull and crossbones danger icons.

NIST Researchers Develop Standards to Help Eliminate ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Firefighting Foams

September 18, 2023

These foams contain chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have raised environmental and health concerns.

Groups of people sit or lie in a parking lot surrounded by low buildings as fires burn in the forest beyond.

NIST Issues New Guidance for Emergency Response During Wildfires

August 23, 2023

Lessons learned from the 2018 Camp Fire in California include strategies for protecting lives when there is not enough time to safely evacuate all residents.

Events

5x5: The Public Safety Innovation Summit

Tue, Jun 25 - Thu, Jun 27 2024

5x5 ― the confirmation of a strong and clear signal ― and the place to make your voice heard and drive public safety

Projects and Programs

Indoor Localization and Tracking

Completed

This web page is simply a pointer to another page that covers the extensive research program in indoor localization and tracking at NIST.

Smart Fire Fighting

Ongoing

In 2011, the fire departments in the United States responded to more than 484,5001 structure fires. These fires resulted in approximately 2,640 civilian

Low Heat Release Upholstered Furniture

Ongoing

To reduce the flammability of residential upholstered furniture (RUF), the fire safety community has developed test methods and mitigation strategies based on

Engineered Fire Safe Products

Ongoing

The Engineered Fire Safe Products (EFSP) Project is developing a database (the NIST Material Flammability Database) to maintain the tools (experimental and

Publications

The Effect of Mandatory Fitness Requirements on Cardiovascular Events: A State-by-State Analysis Using a National Database

March 1, 2024

Author(s)

Dillon Dzikowicz, Sankalp Saoji, Wai Cheong Tam, Wendy Brunner, Mary Carey

Background: Cardiovascular events are known to be the leading cause of death among on-duty firefighters. Implementing fitness standards may help reduce the

Building Fire Hazard Predictions Using Machine Learning

January 26, 2024

Author(s)

Eugene Yujun Fu, Wai Cheong Tam, Tianhang Zhang, Xinyan Huang

The lack of information on the fire ground has always been the leading factor in making wrong decisions . Wrong decisions can be made by individual firefighters

Data-Driven Wireless Fire Hose Flow Rate Apparatus

January 25, 2024

Author(s)

Christopher U. Brown, Gregory W. Vogl, Wai Cheong Tam

Towards Real-Time Heart Health Monitoring in Firefighting Using Convolutional Neural Networks

June 28, 2023

Author(s)

Jiajia Li, Christopher U. Brown, Dillon Dzikowicz, Mary Carey, Wai Cheong Tam, Michael Xuelin Huang

A machine learning-based heart health monitoring model, named H2M, was developed. 24-hour electrocardiogram (ECG) data from 112 professional firefighters was

Software

FDS and Smokeview

Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of fire-driven fluid flow. The software solves numerically a form of the Navier

ToGS Turnout Gear Selector

Turnout Gear Selector (ToGS) helps the manufacturers, purchasers and users of fire turnout gear evaluate and select the turnout coat and pants ensemble that