The book is structured for anyone working in the failure analysis industry. The material is particularly designed for individuals that encounter electrical systems in the process of incident investigations. This includes engineers, technicians, investigators, insurance, legal, supervisors, and staff. There is enough technical information that any investigator will benefit from the material, illustrations, and explanations. The discussion is structured so that the material can also be used as an introduction to investigations. There are over 400 illustrations. The majority are photos of actual incidents we have investigated. Other photos are of events we have created in our research and are used as illustrations and aids. There are numerous diagrams to document the discussion.

This report describes new full-scale compartment fire experiments, which include local measurements of temperature, heat flux and species composition, and global measurements of heat release rate and mass burning rate. The measurements are unique to the compartment fire literature. By design, the experiments provided a comprehensive and quantitative assessment of major and minor carbonaceous gaseous species and soot at two locations in the upper layer of fire in a full scale ISO 9705 room.

This book is a complete guide to becoming a firefighter. The author put everything he knows into simple, easy-to-understand language so that you can easily learn all there is to know about becoming a firefighter - things like:

First Steps to Getting Hired: Important tips to help you start saving lives quickly and easily.

The Detailed Application Process: Catch the eye of your recruiter with these useful tips.

Requirements Preparation: Know what you're doing way before you go for your interview.

Exam Preparation: How to simplify the exam process and blow the test out of the water.

Knowing Your Tests: A simple but useful guide to the most common tests so you're not caught off-guard on test day.

What Does It All Mean?: An outline of all those test scores so you can see where you excel and where you need to do more.

The Interview: Great tips on leaving a powerful impression and getting that call back.

Physical Test: How to get in shape so that you knock your physical test out of the park.

Necessary Equipment: A guide to your life-saving equipment so that you know what will be in your tool belt.

How to Choose, the Firefighter-to-be: Here is how to become the firefighter you've always dreamed of; be in the city, in the army or the wilderness. This guide will help you find out where you want to serve.

Firefighting Lingo: Helpful glossary that will teach you all there is to know about firefighting vocabulary.

If you ever wanted to be a firefighter, but didn't know where to start, then I encourage you to learn from the author's experience and get started on the right footing. This book contains everything you need to know to help you become a firefighter.

Although the number of Christmas tree fires is low, these fires carry a higher level of hazard than other fires that occur in a residential structure. This study, supported by the U. S. Fire Administration, has the following three objectives: 1) characterize the heat release rate of dry Fraser fir trees 2) demonstrate the ignition resistance of a tree with a high moisture content and 3) examine the impact of a residential sprinkler on the heat release rate of a dry tree that is on fire in a compartment.

This book explores various aspects of fire safety in the home. The first section is devoted to addressing the risks presented by cooking fires, as well as detailing the practices that are necessary to prevent the fires. Fires resulting from cooking continue to be the most common type of fire experienced by U.S. households, and they are also the leading cause of home fire injuries. The U.S. Fire Administration and the National Fire Protection Association collaborated in an effort to research the types of behaviours and sequences of events that lead to cooking fires and develop sound recommendations for behavioural mitigation strategies that will reduce such fires and their resultant injuries and fatalities. Other sections include simple tips for fire safety, risk factors to older adults, and information to support the benefits of a wider utilisation of smoke alarms in the home. This book consists of public domain documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

Fire Bomber Into Hell is the story of Fire Bombing as told by the author who flew bomber aircraft both in the United States and Canada for a total of 37 years. A must read for the person curious about what it takes for a pilot to fly daily into the dangerous boundary layer of air seething with rotor winds, downdrafts, severe turbulence and walls of fire.

In this report, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides a review of the state-of-the-art on how fire effluent might affect people. The available scientific literature on the effects of narcotic and irritant gases, smoke obscuration, and heat on humans and animals were reviewed. The fire effluent data presented in this report are categorized by levels of effect on humans; specifically 1) minor physiological effects that are unlikely affect job performance or duties, 2) moderate to major physiological effects that may negatively influence job performance or duties, and 3) major physiological effects that may render an individual unable to perform his/her job duties. Where possible, NIST has identified groupings and/or contradictions for the compiled exposure data. With this information, one can estimate how exposure to various fire effluent might affect the operators' ability to perform critical procedures during a fire event.

The objective of this study was to better understand the relative change in sound level from an activated PASS when it is being used by a firefighter. The alarm signal sound level can be affected by a range of factors including location of PASS device on the firefighter (front, side, or rear), position of the firefighter (prone, supine, fetal), the volume of the room, the wall linings or materials, the presence of furniture or other objects, and background sounds. NFPA PASS Standard 1982 (2007) includes a muffle test where sound attenuation is measured in a sound chamber. While this allows each PASS device to be evaluated under carefully controlled conditions, the testing protocol includes only the location of the pass and the position of the firefighter. This study examined the attenuation of the alarm signal in a more typical room environment than a sound chamber. This study also documented typical background sound levels for fire apparatus, fire fighting equipment, offices, living room, and vehicles. Comparing the background sound levels with the sound attenuation data provides a better understanding as to whether the decreased sound levels will be distinguishable above background sounds.

This study reported here was conducted for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under Contact Number NA1341-02-W-0686. Hughes Associates, Inc. performed this work with assistance from Greenhorne & O'Mara, Inc. and Thornton-Tomasetti- Cutts, LLC. The study was commissioned to analyze the needs and existing capabilities for full-scale fire resistance testing of structural connections. The Scope of Work consisted of three separate tasks...Task 1. Identification of Building Collapse Incidents; Task 2. Survey of Fire Resistance Test Facilities; and Task 3. Needs Assessment.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been conducting research to characterize and understand thermal imaging cameras (TIC) performance. NIST's findings and recommendations are described.

The NFPA 2001 standard on the use of clean agents for the suppression of fires arose from the phase-out of Halon 1301. Standard methods exists for specifying the amount of clean agent required for Class A and Class B fires, but the recommendation for Class C fires (those involving energized electrical equipment) defaults to the Class A values. While this may be appropriate for some Class C fires, there is concern that higher agent concentration may be necessary if energy is added to the fire by the electrical source. A number of test methods have been proposed to determine the amount of agent required to suppress fires in energized electrical equipment; however, there has been no broad agreement on a test method to include in NFPA 2001 for Class C fires. The present project was sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association Research Foundation to address the need for a standard test to be included in NFPA 2001 for Class C fires. The goals of the project are to understand the fire threats occurring in energized electrical equipment, and suggest a test protocol which can properly estimate the amount of agent required to suppress fires in those situations. As a first step, phone interviews were conducted with members of the technical panel and with the sponsors of the present project. These representatives, as well as other expert sources recommended by them, provided information on the likely fire threats expected in the field. Detailed case studies were supplied by FM Global. Detailed notes of the conversations as well as summaries are provided, and the data provided served as one source for definition of the threat. In order to illustrate the relevant parameters necessary to consider in fires over solid materials with added energy, a thorough literature review was performed. Topics included materials flammability and fire suppression, with the latter broken down into: a theoretical description of fire suppression, flow-field effects, effects of heat addition on suppression, and suppression of flames over condensed-phase materials. A major resource was the previous work to develop standard tests for suppression of fires in energized electrical equipment. By analyzing these in detail, and considering the relevant physics of the suppression process outlined in the review section, the desired properties of a standard test were developed, and the range of values of the most important parameter (the flux of added energy) was estimated.

This report describes a thermally-induced electrical failure (THIEF) model's ability to predict the behavior of power, instrument, and control cables during a fire. The model is intended to be incorporated as a subroutine for deterministic fire models, and it is of comparable accuracy and simplicity to the activation algorithms for various other fire protection devices (e.g., sprinklers, heat and smoke detectors). THIEF model predictions are compared to experimental measurements of instrumented cables in a variety of configurations, and the results indicate that the model is an appropriate analysis tool for nuclear power plant applications. This work was performed as part of the CAROLFIRE (Cable Response to Live Fire) program sponsored by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The experiments for CAROLFIRE were conducted at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Details of the CAROLFIRE experimental program are contained in Volumes 1 and 2 of this three-volume series.

The Forest Service and Interior agencies have initiated a number of steps to address key operational areas previously identified as needing improvement to help federal agencies contain wildland fire costs, but the effects on containing costs are unknown, in part because many of these steps are not yet complete. First, federal fire-fighting agencies are developing a system to help them better identify and set priorities for lands needing treatment to reduce fuels, but they have yet to decide how they will keep data in the system current. Second, federal agencies have taken some steps to improve how they acquire and use personnel, equipment, and other fire-fighting assets -- such as implementing a computerised system to more efficiently dispatch and track available fire-fighting assets -- but have not yet completed the more fundamental step of determining the appropriate type and quantity of fire-fighting assets needed for the fire season. Third, the agencies have clarified certain policies and are improving analytical tools that assist officials in identifying and implementing an appropriate response to a given fire, but several other policies limit the agencies' use of less aggressive fire-fighting strategies, which typically cost less. Fourth, federal agencies, working with non-federal entities, have recently taken steps to clarify guidance to better ensure that fire-fighting costs are shared consistently for fires that threaten both federal and non-federal lands and resources, but it is unclear how the agencies will ensure that this guidance is followed. This book is an edited and excerpted version.

Chief Dewey Whetsell is a thirty-four year veteran with the forty-member Cordova (Alaska) Volunteer Fire Department providing structural, marine fire protection, underwater rescue/recovery, and Search and Rescue operations. He is a recipient of Alaska's highest fire service award. Chief Whetsell is past-president of the Alaska Fire Chiefs association and certified Level IV instructor. He authored the 160-hour Senior Fire Officer's Course covering NFPA-1021, among numerous other courses. At the invitation of the Alaska Departmetn of Emergency Services, Chief Whetsell represented the City of Cordova during the 1989 Exxon-Valdex oil spill and eventually was responsible for impementation of the Incident Command System in spill response plans by major oil companies shipping oil in Alaska waters.

Closed-circuit breathing devices recycle exhaled air after scrubbing carbon dioxide and adding make-up oxygen from a tank of pure oxygen. Use of this equipment allows first responders to work for up to four hours without swapping out cylinders and scrubbing canisters. Firefighting situations in which these devices would be useful include tunnels, mines, ships, high-rise buildings, and environments contaminated with biological or chemical toxins. A risk perceived by firefighters entering environments containing open flame and high radiant heat is the possibility of fire ignition in the vicinity of the respirator caused by the outward leakage of oxygen around the facepiece. This paper presents the results of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of oxygen dissipation into the environment surrounding a respirator facepiece.

The International Consortium for Fire Safety, Health, and the Environment (ICFSHE), with funding provided by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, awarded a contract to the SP Swedish National Testing and Research Institute (SP) for a "Scientific Evaluation of the Risk Associated with Heightened Environmental Requirements on Outdoor Power Equipment." As part of this study ICFSHE requested that the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (BFRL/NIST) provide experimental support to SP. A work statement was adopted that involved characterizing the ignition of typical outdoor fuels by ignition sources representative of those expected for outdoor power equipment exhaust systems. This report summarizes the findings of the BFRL/NIST investigation. One series of experiments was designed to simulate the ignition behaviors of fuels that come into direct contact with a heated surface.

This paper reports an experimental technique that is developed for instantaneous planar measurement of droplet size and velocity for dilute sprays in general and sprinkler sprays in particular. This particle tracking technique relies on photographic measurements of two-color fluorescence or fluorescence and Mie scattering from droplets to determine their size and velocity. Measurements were made in a plane that passes through the vertical axis of symmetry of an axis-symmetric sprinkler spray. Drop velocities and drop sizes down to 200 m were measured from the digitized double-exposed photographs of sprinkler sprays. The directional ambiguity was resolved by color differentiation. A combination of fluorescence and Mie scattering was investigated for a 250 mm x 350 mm measurement area, while two-color fluorescence was investigated for 460 mm x 540 mm measurement area. Dye selection and concentrations were determined by testing the fluorescence output of various water tracer dyes. Collection optics and laser powers were varied to optimize the color differentiation and maximize the resolution for drop size measurements.

Beroes explains that a government-mandated warning label--costing about a penny and placed on dangerously flammable clothing--can protect everyone, from children to seniors, from painful, disfiguring, even fatal burn injury. (Technology & Industrial Arts)

This popular safety best-seller is designed to help the user quantify the expected damage of potential fire and explosion incidents in realistic terms, identify the equipment likely to contribute to the creation or escalation of an incident, and communicate the fire and explosion risk potential to management. Based on Dow's Fire and Explosion Risk Analysis Program, the index provides a step-by-step, objective evaluation of the actual fire and explosion, as well as reactivity potential of process equipment and its contents.

Zac Unger didn't feel like much of a fireman at first. Most of his fellow recruits seemed to have planned for the job all their lives; he was an Ivy League grad responding to an ad at a bus stop. He couldn't keep his boots shined, and he looked terrible in his uniform. Working Fire is the story of how, from this unlikely beginning, Zac Unger came to feel at home among this close-knit tribe, came to master his work's demands, and came to know what it is to see the world through a firefighter's eyes. From the raw material of his days' work--alarm calls both harrowing and hilarious, moments of triumph and grief--Unger has forged a timeless story of finding one's path, and a rousing adventure about the bravery and sacrifice of everyday heroes.

On the web: http: //www.zacunger.com

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

On July 14, 2001, at the ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc., plant in Michigan, a pipe attached to a fitting on the unloading line of a railroad tank car fractured and separated, causing the release of methyl mercaptan, a poisonous and flammable gas. As a result of its investigation, the NTSB identified safety issues and detailed recommendations which are found within this document.

On June 29, 1998, at Stock Island, Key West, Florida, a Dion Oil Company (Dion) driver was on top of a straight-truck cargo tank checking the contents of its compartments and preparing to transfer cargo from a semitrailer cargo tank when explosive vapors ignited within the straight-truck cargo tank. The ignition caused an explosion that threw the driver from the top of the truck. The fire and a series of at least three explosions injured the driver and destroyed the straight truck, a tractor, the front of the semitrailer, and a second nearby straight-truck cargo tank. As a result of its investigation of the accident, the National Transportation Safety Board identified three major safety issues and makes recommendations to the Federal Highway Administration, Dion, the Florida State Fire Marshal, the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Agriculture, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the National Fire Prevention Association, the National Association of State Fire Marshals, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs.