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Engineering Laboratory

Fire Research Division

News and Updates

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NIST Conducts Full-Scale Experiments to Demonstrate Flammability Risk of Residential Upholstered Furniture (RUF) and Potential Mitigation Strategies

March 12, 2020

The NIST Flammability Reduction Group (FRG) is conducting a series of full-scale fire experiments in collaboration with the National Fire Research Laboratory

NIST Releases a New Standard Cigarette for Testing the Flammability of Mattresses and Furniture

February 19, 2020

In efforts to reduce the number of deaths from smoking-related fires, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a new supply of a

The Ninth Triennial International Fire & Cabin Safety Research Conference

October 29, 2019

Two members of the NIST Flammability Reduction group recently attended the Ninth Triennial International Fire & Cabin Safety Research Conference, which was

A woman wearing safety goggles (Laura Dubrulle) hold a stack of square wood samples in a scientific lab.

Spotlight: Laura Dubrulle

October 15, 2019

Closing down a highway of fire: NIST guest researcher Laura Dubrulle wants to keep your fence from going up in flames and taking your home with it. With small

Interflam 2019

July 14, 2019

Six members of the NIST Fire Research Division (including three current or former members of the Flammability Reduction Group) recently traveled to the Royal

FRPM19

July 1, 2019

Three members of the NIST Flammability Reduction group recently traveled to Turku, Finland for the biennial European Meeting on Fire Retardant Polymeric

Guidelines for Participation in the 2020 MaCFP Condensed Phase Workshop

June 14, 2019

The Measurement and Computation of Fire Phenomena (MaCFP) Working Group of the International Association of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) has released its “

Flammability Reduction Group Members Present at the 2019 BCC Flame Meeting

June 1, 2019

Two members of the NIST Flammability Reduction Group (FRG) recently traveled to San Antonio, Texas for the 30th Annual Conference on Recent Advances in Flame

NIST Drafts Public Comment to California Code of Regulations

May 14, 2019

Drs. Mauro Zammarano, William M. Pitts, Anthony Hamins, and Richard Gann of the Flammability Reduction Group submitted comments for consideration to the State

Dr. Mauro Zammarano selected to deliver keynote presentation at the European Meeting on Fire Retardant Polymeric Materials

May 13, 2019

Dr. Mauro Zammarano has been selected to deliver a keynote presentation at this year’s European Meeting on Fire Retardant Polymeric Materials (FRPM19). Dr

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Gatlinburg Welcome Center sign is half-burned, leaving only the Gatlinburg name and a white arrow. Debris lies on the ground in front of the sign.

Official NIST Survey to Support Data Collection on Chimney Tops 2 Fire, Improve Emergency Communications

March 29, 2019

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking help from residents of Sevier County

Tested in the Flames

December 21, 2018

FIRES START WITH SIMPLE INGREDIENTS—fuel, oxygen, and a spark—but combustion scientists still struggle to understand the complex ways those ingredients interact

A rectangular-shaped model of a thatched roof is attacked by embers emitted from the pipe-shaped mouth of the NIST Dragon device.

A Fire-Breathing Dragon Helps Fight Ember Attacks on Thatched-Roof Buildings

December 17, 2018

Visitors to the historic mountain villages in central Japan marvel at the elegance of the steep thatched-roof farmhouses found there. Known as “gassho-zukuri,”

Rescuing Our History from the Ashes

October 26, 2018

What strikes terror in the hearts of museum curators everywhere? Budget cuts, surely. But worse yet, the prospect of precious, irreplaceable relics being

Lecture Presented at the 2018 European Symposium on Fire Science

September 28, 2018

Dr. Isaac Leventon recently returned from Nancy, France, where he attended the 2018 European Symposium on Fire Safety Science (ESFSS 2018) to deliver a lecture

Flammability Reduction Group Welcomes Dr. Andre Thompson

September 3, 2018

Welcome Dr. Andre Thompson! Andre recently joined the Flammability Reduction Group in the Engineering Laboratory at NIST as an NRC post-doc. Over the next 2

Skeleton of bright green and yellow with some pink and dark blue

NIST Shows Laser Ranging Can ‘See’ 3D Objects Melting in Fires

August 8, 2018

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used a laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system to image three-dimensional (3D)

In this photo, we see a split-screen image of a laboratory fire. The left side shows the fire obscuring the view of an object behind it while the right side shows the same object with the clarity dramatically enhanced using ordinary blue light.

NIST Unblinded Me with Science: New Application of Blue Light Sees Through Fire

July 23, 2018

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated that ordinary blue light can be used to significantly improve the

Full-Scale Furniture Fire Experiments

June 29, 2018

The Flammability Reduction Group recently completed a two-week-long series of full-scale furniture fire experiments in the National Fire Research Laboratory

Highlights from the 29th Annual Conference on Recent Advances in Flame Retardancy of Polymeric Materials

May 24, 2018

Four members of the NIST Flammability Reduction group traveled to Stamford, Connecticut for the 29 th Annual Conference on Recent Advances in Flame Retardancy

Two firefighters look over the last flames inside a compartment where the flammability of cross-laminated timber buildings is being tested.

New NIST Roadmap Charts Path to Reduced Fire Hazards from Materials

May 21, 2018

Fire researchers will tell you that there’s a simple solution for reducing fire hazards: eliminate flammable materials. If it doesn’t burn, the experts say

Astronaut aboard the International Space Station is seen preparing a carousel holding samples of materials for a smoke detection test.

NIST/NASA Study Shows One Detector Doesn’t ‘Fit All’ for Smoke in Spacecraft

May 1, 2018

What had been a peaceful and productive mission for the six men aboard the Russian space station Mir, including U.S. astronaut Jerry Linenger, nearly became a

NIST Flammability Reduction Group Commissioned a Second Cone Calorimeter for Use in its Cone Calorimetry Lab

April 17, 2018

The NIST Flammability Reduction group recently commissioned a second cone calorimeter for use in its cone calorimetry lab. Originally developed in 1982 by

In this illustration, a gas well field has a circle on it. A dual-comb spectrometer at the center sends out laser light which bounces off mirrors, goes through a gas cloud and returns to the spectrometer for analysis.

Mobile ‘Dual-Comb’ Device Significantly Improves Methane Leak Detection

March 22, 2018

Accurately detecting, locating and quantifying leaks of methane, the main component of natural gas and a major fuel source worldwide, is critically important

2018 Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute Technical Meeting (ESSCI 2018)

March 4, 2018

The NIST Flammability Reduction group traveled to State College (Pennsylvania State University) for the 2018 Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute

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