FSRI’s Fire Service Technical Panel Holds First Meeting to Advise on Multi-Story Tactics Research Project
Twenty-eight fire service technical panel members recently held their first meeting in Philadelphia, PA, in support of the research project Fire Dynamics and Firefighting Tactics in Multi-Story Residential Structures. The Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), part of UL Research Institutes, relies on technical panels to guide research projects’ design and scope, experiments, data analysis, and tactical considerations. This esteemed group brings years of firefighting experience serving communities where townhouses and rowhomes are common residences, making them well-suited to the project’s goals of exploring firefighting strategies and tactics in multi-story homes.
Onboarding the Technical Panel
Principal research engineer Keith Stakes led the three-day meeting by discussing the project background, proposed timeline, and roles of both technical panel members and the FSRI project team. The panel then met a range of FSRI staff members to gain a deeper understanding of the breadth of FSRI fire service research and to explore the new features and benefits of the firefighting training platform, the Fire Safety Academy.
Visiting the Structures and Gathering Insight from the Technical Panel
The highlight of the meeting was when the panel toured FSRI’s research facility in Sharon Hill, PA. Panel members had the opportunity to walk through the modern townhouse and traditional rowhome, observing differences in design and construction practices. They also noted commonalities in the structures, including limited access points and the potential for lateral and vertical fire spread.
Back in the meeting room, panel members discussed experimental opportunities in the two structures. The group reflected on various fire service challenges, including which room or fire location would present the most challenging response as well as how their respective departments would approach suppression, ventilation, and search in different fire locations (e.g., compartmented bedroom vs. common space).
“The technical panel members bring a wealth of experience. I am grateful for their active participation and energy during the past three days. With their collaboration and guidance on this project, I am excited to uncover highly sought-after answers for the fire service.”
—Keith Stakes, FSRI Principal Research Engineer
Integrating Technical Panel Feedback
The FSRI research team will continue to partner with the technical panel to formulate an initial set of research questions and experimental scenarios to test. Stay tuned for more updates on how this project is helping firefighters effectively navigate the complexities of fires in these structures.
