Fire Science Show
Episodes
232 - 2025 Wrap up episode - How fires turn into catastrophies
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Catastrophes don’t happen because of one bad decision; they happen when many small assumptions fail at the same time. I take this opportunity to tal...
Merry Christmas everyone!
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you Merry Christmas, a great time with your families, a bit of rest and time to reflect, and an awesome ...
231 - BESS explosion prevention and mitigation with Lorenz Boeck and Nick Bartlett
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we cover another branch of safety of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), that is explosion prevention in mitigation. I always thought you can...
230 - Wind driven conflagration experiments with Faraz Hedayati
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A facility with 105 synchronized fans pushing hurricane-class wind across a full-size house while a live fire... This is not science fiction - this is...
229 - Learning from 900 fires with Björn Maiworm
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What can you learn after processing observations across 900 severe fires? A lot. Actually, I will send you to the paper straight away:Evaluating 900 P...
228 - Quantifying the expected utility of fire tests with Andrea Franchini
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do you expect from running a fire test? I would hope that it improves my state of knowledge. But do they do this? We often pursue them blindly, b...
227 - The differences between EV and ICEV fires in car parks
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A viral clip of an EV igniting was what started my worries about safety in car parks I have been designing. Are we ready for fast growing fires? Since...
226 - New Swiss fire safety code with Gianluca De Sanctis and Sofia Kourgiantaki
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is a massive effort to rewrite a national fire safety code around measurable risk, explicit targets, and cost-effectiveness. But sometimes, there a...
225 - Battery Energy Storage Systems with Noah Ryder
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Demand for the energy storage is as high as ever, and is about to triple-quadruple. The development of technology is at unprecedented phase, and even ...
224 - Navigating the complexities to change our field - a roundtable with Steve McGuirk and Brian Meacham
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, in the Fire Science Show, we host a roundtable discussion on complexities in fire safety science and engineering.Most safety failures don’...
223 - Heat-induced delamination in CLT with Antonela Čolić
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Fire Science Show we invite dr. Antonela Čolić from the OFR Consultants, to break down the performance of adhesives used in C...
222 - Integrating WUI risk management and fire safety engineering with Pascale Vacca
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we try to demonstrate another step in integrating fire engineering into WUI risk management, and vice versa. These two areas together ...
221 - Fire experiments at the ISS (SoFIE-MIST) with Michael Gollner
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fire doesn’t play by Earth’s rules once you leave gravity behind. In this deep dive with Professor Michael Gollner, we unpack what the recent expe...
220 - Test vs experiment with David Morrisset
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we dive into the ap between standardized tests and experiments, trying to figure out (a) is there a difference and (b) if there is, co...
219 - Giving back with the SFPE Foundation - with Leslie Marshall
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we give focus to the SFPE Foundation – a catalyst transforming how fire engineering research is funded, conducted, and shared globa...
218 - Fire decay and cooling phases with Andrea Lucherini
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when the flames die down? It's a question rarely addressed in fire engineering, yet the decay and cooling phases of fires can be mor...
217 - Things that go wrong with the smoke control and how we fix them
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In my personal view, an alarming truth about building fire safety lies in the gap between what's designed and what actually works in a building. ...
216 - What do we measure and how? with David Morrisset
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when we stick a thermocouple into a fire? The answer is surprisingly complex and has profound implications for fire safety engineering. I...
215 - Lessons from the 2018 Camp Fire with Eric D. Link
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California serves as a haunting reminder of how rapidly wildfires can overwhelm communities. We have not k...
214 - Thermal Imagers with Martin Veit
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The world looks entirely different through a thermal camera lens, especially in a fire scenario. These devices reveal harsh temperature gradients betw...
213 - Setting up your own chatbot with Ruggiero Lovreglio and Amir Rafe
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The AI revolution has arrived, but fire safety engineers face a critical dilemma: how to leverage powerful AI tools while protecting confidential proj...
212 - A glossary for evacuation with Enrico Ronchi and Ezel Üsten
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When experts from different disciplines attempt to collaborate on complex problems, such as evacuation modelling, we often discover that we're no...
211 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 17 - Detecting fires
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 17 of the Fire Fundamentals, we delve into the fire detection technology. Fire detection forms the critical foundation of all active fire p...
210 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 16 - Turbulence with Randy McDermott
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the 16th part of the Fire Fundamentals series, we invite Randy McDermott from NIST to join us for a deep dive into turbulence and its critical role...
209 - Updates from the SFPE with Chris Jelenewicz
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast episode, I invited Chris Jelenewicz, the CEO of SFPE, to bring me up to date on the society. The SFPE Handbook on Fire Protection Engi...
208 - The basics of fire water supply with Szymon Kokot
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Water might seem like the simplest part of firefighting – just point and spray, right? Well, as you can imagine, the reality is a bit more complex. ...
207 - Fire Safety of Balconies with Mike Spearpoint and Konstantinos Chotzoglou
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As a consequence of the Grenfell Tower disaster, some strong legislation was proposed, such as a combustible ban on building walls. This, however, aff...
206 - Fire Engineering Infrastructural Projects with Mukesh Tomar
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today I'm taking you for a sightseeing trip to see what fire safety looks like beyond our usual office, residential buildings and car parks. Fire...
205 - FDS maintenance and development with Randy McDermott
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Randy McDermott takes us behind the scenes of fire science's most critical software tool in this conversation about the Fire Dynamic Simulator...
204 - 4th Birthday of the Podcast. Some stories about the past and the future
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Four years ago, what began as a mission to preserve valuable fire safety engineering conversations has grown into a fairly large platform connecting p...
203 - The lessons from repeating Jin's experiment on visibility in smoke
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I've finally done it. We've repeated Jin's experiment! I thought I knew-it-all about that experiment, but boy... knowing and doing it a...
202 - Designing fire safety with firefighters in mind
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The gap between fire safety engineering and firefighting operations creates a profound challenge that affects building safety worldwide. Even experien...
201 - The last fire - a novel set in industrial fire engineering with Joaquim Casal
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when a lifetime of studying industrial fire hazards meets the creative mind of a novelist? In this conversation with Professor Joaquim Ca...
200 - Façade flammability across scales and standards with Guillermo Rein and Matt Bonner
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 200! And for this special episode, I've travelled to London to interview Prof. Guillermo Rein and Dr Matt Bonner on a piece of research...
199 - Commercial Timber Guidebook with Danny Hopkin and Luis Gonzalez Avila
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We know a whole lot more about mass timber in fire than we did a few years ago (even when I’ve just started the podcast 199 episodes back …). But ...
198 - Waste and recycling fires and how to fight them with Ryan Fogelman
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The devastating impact of waste and recycling industry fires costs approximately $2.5 billion annually in the US and Canada alone, with lithium-ion ba...
197 - Fire spread through external walls pt. 2 with FSRI
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When wildfire threatens neighbourhoods with closely-spaced homes, what determines whether flames leap from one structure to the next? The FSRI researc...
196 - Fire spread through external walls pt. 1 with FSRI
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast episode, we host Rebekah Schrader, Joseph Willi, Daniel Gorham and Gavin Horn, all from the FSRI, to cover their recent experimental r...
195 - Fire Safety Cases with Chris Mayfield and Martyn Ramsden
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The UK's Building Safety Act requires high-risk buildings to maintain comprehensive fire safety cases - living documents that identify hazards, m...
194 - Playing with batteries with Xinyan Huang
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Xinyan Huang from Hong Kong Polytechnic University shares his expertise on battery fires and the various experimental methods researchers us...
193 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 15 - Extinguishing systems with Bogdan Racięga
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to another Fire Fundamentals. This time the episode is focused on various extinguishing technologies. Invited guest - Bogdan Racięga, Directo...
192 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 14 - Jet fan systems for car parks
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jet-fan systems effectively control smoke in car parks by creating directed airflows that transport smoke from one point to another, similar to how lo...
191 - Committee participation with Birgitte Messerschmidt and Kees Both
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode explores the invaluable contributions of community participation in fire safety technical committees. Joining committees is not just abou...
190 - Car park fires review with Zahir
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With the emergence of electric vehicles, fire safety and dynamics have entered a new domain, raising crucial questions about existing protocols, desig...
189 - Simple things that work
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode emphasises the value of focusing on simple things in fire safety engineering, something we somehow miss when we go too deep into the tech...
188 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 13 - Porous solid fuels
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Fire Fundamentals, together with Dr Sara McAllister, we dwell on how stuff burns... And it is far from an easy question. While the ...
187 - Smouldering of preserved timber with Wenxuan Wu
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can a tiny amount of bio-protective coating completely change the fire behaviour of mass timber logs? If you asked me that some time ago, I would say ...
186 - Egressibility: a paradigm shift in evacuation research with Enrico Ronchi
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If we truly want to account for the population at a disadvantage in evacuation, there is only this much we can do with the current approach... Pre-eva...
185 - Recap on wildfire science
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the aftermath of the LA Pacific Palisades Fire, I've decided that instead of inviting one expert to discuss the event, I will give a voice bac...
184 - Cost-benefit analysis in structural fire safety with Thomas Gernay and Chenzi Ma
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode delves into the financial aspects of fire safety in building design, highlighting the balance between cost and effectiveness. My guests -...
183 - Innovation and fire safety with Vincent Brannigan
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
History repeats itself. A new thing is invented. We learn about it, understand it, and apply measures to capture its behaviour and regulate it. And th...
182 - Bias in fire research
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fire is a highly contextualized problem; therefore, there is no such thing as an unbiased or "objective" fire experiment. It is a thing that...
181 - Regulatory regimes with Vincent Brannigan
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I just drove 500 km to have a conversation with Professor Vincent Brannigan from the University of Maryland, a very unique expert who combines law wit...
180 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 12 - Pressurization systems
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of fire science fundamentals, we cover the pressurisation systems. These are smoke control solutions used to prevent smoke from access...
179 - Assurance in fire safety with Abhishek Chhabra
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Discover the hidden backbone of fire safety with assurance industry expert Abhishek Chhabra as we unravel the essential frameworks that keep our build...
178 - Origin stories of fire prevention and firefighting with Michał Stachowicz
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happy 200th birthday, Scottish Fire and Rescue Services!!! I'm a bit late to the party. Still, I've done my best to celebrate your anniversa...
177 - Physics-Based Modelling of Fire Spread with Francesco Restuccia
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wildfire modelling is quite complicated when you wish to integrate different fuel packages with different properties in 'real' environmental...
176 - The Myth of Panic with Daniel Nilsson
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You are not supposed to use the word 'panic' in the context of human behaviour in fires, yet this episode contains 196 instances of it. Why?...
175 - Changes in the UK fire regulations with Dame Judith Hackitt
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Grenfell Tower tragedy has triggered a Public Inquiry (which just published their final report), and concurrently - a review of the UK Building Re...
174 - My predictions for AI in fire
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
AI is changing the world. But can artificial intelligence truly revolutionize fire safety engineering? In this episode I took out my crystal ball, and...
173 - Pathway to scalable fire CFD
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CFD is the most talked-over subject in the Fire Science Show. There are two reasons for that: one, it is interesting and relevant for so many of the A...
172 - Lessons from mass timber experiments with Danny Hopkin
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One could argue full-scale experiments on fire phenomena are the most enriching for our knowledge as the fire community. The costs associated with the...
171 - Exploring Water Mist Systems with Max Lakkonen
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I approach modelling water mist with caution. Not that I don't understand it, but because I lack clarity in the goals and objectives, as well I&a...
170 - Integrating Fire Safety and Security Objectives with Stewe Gwynne and Aoife Hunt
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What happens to controlled doors when a fire is detected in the building? They unlock. Elevators? They go down. People are guided somewhere, and the f...
169 - Engineering car parks for EV's with Ali Ashrafi and Pawel Woelke
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
EVs are becoming more of a 'normal' part of fire safety engineering rather than an 'exotic problem'. I've invited two colleag...
168 - Fires in Waste Industry with Ragni Fjellgaard Mikalsen
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fires in the waste industry are not discussed much unless one sees a giant smoke plume in the media, followed by advice to close your windows. In thes...
167 - CFD for consequences and fire growth with Jonathan Hodges
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk with Jonathan Hodges of the Jensen Hughes on his experience with using advanced modelling in the realm of fire safety engineer...
166 - Bio-based insulation with Patrick Sudhoff
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the everchanging world every now and then we get a new driver, that dictates most of our choices. In the current built environment and building ind...
165 - Best Practice vs. Appropriate Practice with Arnold Dix
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is the "best practice" always the best approach to solving an engineering problem? Can we consider "best" and "appropriate&qu...
164 - Experiences with AI with Xinyan Huang
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The last time I had Xinyan on the show was in 2021, and we were all excited about the possibilities that AI could bring to Fire Safety Engineering and...
163 - Fire Fundamentals pt 11 - Soot in Fire Safety Engineering
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Soot is perhaps the most complex product of combustion, and at the same time one of the most profound for our everyday fire safety engineering. The to...
162 - Experiments that changed fire science pt. 9 - Jin's experiment on visibility in smoke
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Experiments that Changed Fire Science we cover T. Jin’s experiments on the visibility in smoke – two experiments carried out in...
161 - Community evacuation with Enrico Ronchi and Max Kinateder
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is evacuation of a community during a wildfire largely different from evacuation of a building? How much of the knowledge from the building fires is d...
160 - Fire Fundamentals pt 10 - Flame Spread with David Morrisset
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the episode 10 of fire fundamentals together with David Morrisset, a nearly graduated PhD student from the University of Edinburgh, we explore the ...
159 - The WUI Problem with Michele Steinberg and Birgitte Messerschmidt
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With two Directors at NFPA - Michele Steinberg and Birgitte Messerschmidt, I'm trying to find an answer to a burning question - "what really...
158 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 9 - Know your boundaries (in CFD)
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today's Fire Science Show, we talk about how boundary conditions can make or break your fire simulation models. We'll explore boundary co...
157 - Revising Critical Velocity with Conrad Stacey and Michael Beyer
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A critical velocity episode... who would have thought? Even though I'm not an enthusiast of this approach, I have to admire the new science and r...
156 - Trigger Boundaries with Harry Mitchell and Nick Kalogeropoulos
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if you could predict the last possible time to evacuate your community before a wildfire wreaks havoc? What if you had that knowledge years befor...
155 - New Guideline for PV Fire Safety with Grunde Jomaas
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Misconceptions in fire science are a strange thing. You present countless proof, publish research papers, and carry conversations, and yet… they liv...
154 - Fire Fundamentals pt. 8 - Compartment Fire
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happy birthday, Fire Science Show! On the 3rd Anniversary of the podcast launch, I'm thrilled to deliver an episode on one of the most fascinati...
404 - Short technical break
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I'm very sorry, but I could not finalize the episode to air this week in time, and in consequence, I have chosen to have a short technical break ...
153 - Fire Safety Engineer of the Future is a Great Communicator
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A few weeks ago in Copenhagen, stepping onto the stage to open the SFPE Fire Safety Conference and Expo on Performance-Based Design, I took a bit of a...
152 - Why we need good standards with Björn Sundström
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we dive into standardization efforts for fire safety. An entire universe of testing laboratories, committees, auditors, and certifier...
151 - Elevator evacuation with Axel Mossberg
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The fire is detected in the building. Please evacuate. Do not use the elevator.I’ve heard this emergency message perhaps a thousand times. It is dee...
150 - Wind Turbine Fires with Guillermo Rein
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wind turbine fires - are they an issue, or are they not? In this episode, I am joined by Prof. Guillermo Rein of the Imperial College London, who rais...
149 - CROSS UK with Neil Gibbins and Peter Wilkinson
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CROSS UK is Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures in UK. CROSS is a confidential reporting system which allows professionals working in the bui...
148 - Building Integrated Photovoltaics with Reidar Stølen
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Fire Science Show we go in depth on the Building Integrated Photo-Voltaic systems (BIPV). It is a topic relevant to many fire e...
147 - Wildfire Industrial Interface and risk assessment with Eulàlia Planas
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we explore wildfire's impact on industrial fire safety with Professor Eulàlia Planas from Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya...
146 - Take care of your mental health with Ann Jeffers
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Depression and anxiety are on the rise in both academia and engineering consultancies. Everyone is constantly stressed and pushed to their limits. The...
145 - Fire Safety Engineering in South Africa and Beyond with Richard Walls
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the stark realities of fire safety engineering in South Africa (and beyond) as we sit down with Professor Richard Walls fr...
144 - Design fire generator with Greg Baker
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine if we had a tool that we could use to design a design fire. Instead of simply assuming fire growth characteristics by slapping the alpha-t2 fu...
143 - Fire Fundamentals pt 7 - CFD simulations of fires
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today's fire fundamentals episode, I have chosen a difficult job: explaining how CFD modelling works without the ability to put a single equat...
142 - Uncertainty in fire measurements with David Morrisset
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If the word 'uncertainty' sounds extremely boring to you, this episode will prove you wrong. I have invited David Morrisset from the Univers...
141 - Smouldering in Mass Timber with Harry Mitchell
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, I am meeting up with Imperial Hazelab's Harry Mitchell, who is finalizing his PhD thesis on mass timber fires and, quite uniquely - in...
140 - Development and implementation of the SBI test with Rudolf van Mierlo
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tests in the world of reaction to fire are supposed to be representations of real fire scenarios, allowing us to grasp the characteristics of building...
139 - Wind and Fire Interactions for Safer Open Car Park Design
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I've finished my first large research grant! I guess that makes me a 'real' scientist now. Came here today to share some most interesti...
138 - Getting ready for the Wildfires in Northern Europe with Nieves Fernandez-Anez
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is interesting to see changes in our profession that happen directly in front of our lives. Climate change and in consequence the changes in the wi...
137 - e-mobility fires with Adam Barowy
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of the Fire Science Show welcomes once again Adam Barowy from the Fire Safety Research Institute to shed light on the pressing issue of f...
136 - Fire Fundamentals pt 6 - The fire automation in a building
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Fire Fundamentals, we dive into the life-saving choreography of fire detection and building automation systems that must work toget...
135 - Contemplating a design fire for car parks
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 48, my guest Mike Spearpoint said that in mid '90s, he participated in experiments on vehicle fires, as at that time, there were doubt...