Web Site Offers Easy Access to Life-Saving Fire Service Research

A new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Web site offers easy access to reports of NIST fire investigations, summaries of research projects and videos of NIST fire research experiments and tests. The site Fire.gov, builds on the success of the NIST electronic quarterly of the same name that reports on fire research activities around the world.

NIST fire engineers created Fire.gov to provide ready access to their efforts to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards to better understand the behavior, prevention and control of fires and to improve firefighting operations and equipment, fire suppression, fire investigations and disaster response.

Firefighters can easily find NIST research on methods and technologies for fighting fires, including safe use limits for turnout gear, the performance of thermal imaging cameras, Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) devices, Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) techniques and the impact of firefighting hose stream methods. Current and past issues of the Fire.gov newsletter, sponsored by the United States Fire Administration (USFA), are still featured on the new site.

The site also links to NIST studies on flashover fires, structural collapses and specific disaster investigations, including the investigation of the 2003 Station Nightclub fire that claimed the lives of 100 people and an analysis of the 2003 Cook County Administration Building fire that killed six people and injured several more.

The new web page complements links to useful software tools, reports, and videos with links to a wide variety of private, professional and government fire organizations.