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.

Projects and Programs

Indoor Localization and Tracking

Completed

Please see the page that describes NIST work in this area.

High Temperature Performance of Fire Fighter Equipment

Ongoing

OBJECTIVE: To improve the safety and effectiveness of fire fighters by developing science-based standard test methods that characterize the performance of fire fighting equipment and gear under fire environment conditions. TECHNICAL IDEA: This project aims to improve the performance of fire fighter

Fire Risk Reduction in Buildings Program

Ongoing

Objective: To develop and apply advances in fire and structure-fire measurement capabilities and behavior predictive computational tools, standardized fire testing tools and methodologies, advanced fire detection technologies, and advanced fire resistant materials to enable innovative, cost

Automated Tools for Material Property Calibration

Ongoing

Objective: To develop open source, freely available tools for property calibration and maintain archived, version-controlled material property sets with demonstrated accuracy. These tools should be: Accurate: Parameters predict experimental data Realistic: Values agree with physics Efficient: Fast

Publications

Examining the Effects of Deep Learning Model Structure on Model Interpretability for Time-Series Classifications in Fire Research

September 13, 2024

Author(s)

Wai Cheong Tam, Fan Linhao, Qi Tong, Fang Hongqiang

This present work utilizes an interpretability model to understand and explain the decisions of deep learning models. The use of DeepLIFT is proposed and

Detecting Firefighter's Thermal Risks in a Commercial Building Structure Using Machine Learning

August 30, 2024

Author(s)

Qi Tong, David Stroup, Wai Cheong Tam

A multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) machine learning model is developed to simultaneously detect firefighter's thermal risks across a commercial building

Towards Better Understanding of Deep Learning Model for Time Series Forecasting in Fire Research

July 29, 2024

Author(s)

Linhao Fan, Qi Tong, Hongqiang FANG, Wei Zhong, Wai Cheong Tam, Tianshui Liang

Deep learning model has been a viable approach to forecast critical events in fire development. However, prior to its implementation in real-life firefighting

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

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