Fire risk reduction

News and Updates

A fireball rushes out of the opening of a small metal compartment in a concrete room.

A Machine Learning-Based Solution Could Help Firefighters Circumvent Deadly Backdrafts

October 17, 2022

The NIST team got data from hundreds of backdrafts in the lab to use as a basis for a model that can predict them.

Flames rising from a burning fence are spreading to a tree above and a shed nearby.

NIST Study Finds Wildfire Hazards in Residential Fences and Mulch Beds

August 11, 2022

When building fences and landscaping their properties, homeowners should keep fire safety on the top of their minds.

AI May Come to the Rescue of Future Firefighters

August 10, 2022

New research suggests that AI could provide first responders with a much-needed heads-up about a dangerous condition called flashover.

Projects and Programs

Public Health Risks to First Responders

Ongoing

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

Real-Time Flashover Prediction Model for Multi-Compartment Building Structures Using Attention Based Recurrent Neural Networks

March 17, 2023

Author(s)

Wai Cheong Tam, Eugene Yujun Fu, Jiajia Li, Richard D. Peacock, Paul A. Reneke, Thomas Cleary, Grace Ngai, Hong Va Leong, Michael Xuelin Huang

This paper presents the development of an attention based bi-directional gated recurrent unit model, P-Flashv2, for the prediction of potential occurrence of

An Automated System for Flow Characterization at Exhaust Ducts and Smokestacks

February 10, 2023

Author(s)

Rodney Bryant, Artur A. Chernovsky, Joseph A. Falco, Iosif Isaakovich Shinder

This report summarizes the design and description for an automated system of velocity traverse probes. Performance of key components of the system are also

Low-GWP Alternative Refrigerant Blends for HFC-134a (Presenatation)

January 31, 2023

Author(s)

Harrison M. Skye

The choice of message and messenger to drive behavior change that averts the health impacts of wildfires: an online randomized controlled experiment

December 16, 2022

Author(s)

Payam Aminpour Mohammadabadi, Jennifer Helgeson, Paul Ferraro

Background To reduce the negative health effects from wildfire smoke exposure, effective risk and health communication strategies are vital. We estimated the

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