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Engineering Laboratory /Fire Research Division

Engineered Fire Safety Group

The Engineered Fire Safety Group develops and applies measurement science for cost-effective fire protection and risk-informed life safety decisions for buildings and wildland-urban interface communities.

The Engineered Fire Safety Group also develops advanced, validated models with quantified accuracy and integrates the knowledge, tools, and models to assess building performance with respect to ignition, fire growth and spread, detection, suppression, toxicity, and egress.

A 3D render of a gas burner producing smoke inside an airliner's overhead compartment.
New Fire-Simulating Tool Could Improve In-Flight Fire Safety
Side view of a woman wearing safety glasses, ear protection, and a blue lab coat. With one hand, she is holding a stainless steel frying pan over an electric stove. With her other hand, she is using a spatula to prod bacon in the pan. The room is smoky.
New Smoke Alarms Are Better at Detecting Fires but Still Beep for Bacon

News and Updates

Projects/Programs

FDS Ceiling Smoke

Advanced Fire Modeling

Ongoing
This project develops and maintains robust, validated fire models—and the associated visualization and analysis tools—for performance-based fire safety, forensics (fire reconstruction), and fire research applications in the built and natural environments.
Smoke swirls around a white smoke detector on a ceiling.

Building Fire Safety Evaluation

Ongoing
This project aims to reduce residential fire deaths and injuries by advancing detection systems, researching smoke measurements, and evaluating new technologies' impact on safety. It develops datasets and models to assess building fire hazards, informing better codes, standards, and public awareness efforts.
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Publications

Thermal Exposure of Objects Near Burning Electrical Enclosures

Author(s)
Kevin McGrattan, Isaac Leventon, Scott Bareham, Gabriel Taylor
This report documents a series of fire experiments performed within steel electrical enclosures and on open "ladder back" cable trays. The first objective is to...

Awards

Amy Mensch

Amy Mensch Received The Early Career Award

For exemplary contributions in the engineering profession in 10 years or less since graduation, including research advancements, leadership contributions, academic achievements, and community involvement.
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