Gas Explosion at Medical Building in Spokane Injures One
Last week, one person suffered minor injuries after a gas explosion in the boiler room of a medical building located at QualMed Plaza in Spokane, Washington. The flash explosion blew the doors off of the entryway to the boiler…
Commercial Fire Protection Engineering with PyroSim
When planning a unique structure, building designers may find their plans depart from certain building and fire code regulations. A small complication or oversight in code compliance can throw everything off schedule and…
Enhancing FDS Analysis
New computing architectures allow sophisticated, powerful fire modeling simulations that are crucial for the future of fire safety. However, the computing resources that are needed to use these tools has historically been…
What’s Going on at SUPDET 2013 this year?
The 17th annual Suppression, Detection, and Signaling Research and Applications (SUPDET) symposium has been happening all week in Orlando. This year’s program has been addressing the latest on topics including: Detection…
10th Anniversary of Station Nightclub Fire
February 20th, 2013 marks the 10-year anniversary of the tragic Station Nightclub fire that killed 100 people and injured 200. The fire is one of the most deadly nightclub fires in the history of the United States.…
Collaborating with Fire Protection Contractors via the iPad
When we inspect a new construction site for fire alarms and sprinklers, we are a tool in the fire protection contractor’s arsenal. Our comments help insure the fire alarm and sprinkler contractors produce a fire safe, code…
Using iPad’s Bluebeam App for Fire Protection Inspections
The iPad can be an incredibly useful tool for fire inspections and fire testing, but it requires some customization first. Through experimentation, collaboration, and experience with the iPad, we have unlocked more of the…
Build-Up Suspected in Peanut Roaster Fire
In December, firefighters in Blaine, Washington responded to a fire inside a large roaster at Golden Nut Company. The facility manufactures peanut butter. The fire department, located across the street from the Golden Nut…
Touting the iPad for Fire Alarm and Fire Suppression Testing and Inspections – Part 2
We rolled out iPads to key staff-members in 2012, and Jim Tuten received one of them. Jim opted to use the mobile device for his on-premise fire alarm and fire suppression inspections. The mobile device saves time and…
Nearly a Decade Later, Fire at a Brazilian Nightclub offers Similarities to the Station Nightclub Fire
Sunday morning, 233 people died and more than 100 were injured in a nightclub fire in Brazil. The fire is being called one of the deadliest the world has seen in almost 10 years and occurred at Kiss, a nightclub located in…
Touting the iPad for Fire Alarm and Fire Suppression Testing and Inspections – Part I
About one year ago, I made a conscious decision to apply new information technology to fire protection engineering. That decision has transformed, and continues to transform, our processes in ways we weren’t even expecting.…
Why is Hot Work a Leading Cause of Industrial Fires Even Though They Are Often Preventable?
Hot work is most commonly thought of as welding or oxy-acetylene torch cutting. However, hot work is any work with the potential to produce enough heat to ignite a fire or explosion. In addition to welding and torch cutting,…
