Fire Behavior AND Combustion

The audience for the book is primarily members of the fire service studying fire as part of a degree program, as well as anyone wanting to study fire. The intent of the book is to provide a depth of knowledge in fi re behavior, so hopefully, to provide just a bit of fire behavior information that will help firefighters make more informed decisions. It is also intended to provide enough science and extra physics, so hopefully, as the National Institute for Standards and Technology and the Fire Safety Research Institute continue to study fire, understanding the information will come more naturally to the firefighter. The book is aimed as a bridge between the oversimplistic studies of fire behavior and the full-on calculus-based, deep physics textbooks. I leave mathematical calculations intentionally out of the book but put many formulas into the book to help understand the relationships between values. I attempted to leave openings where the instructor could use the text as a launching point to go into more complicated directions if they choose. I am not a scientist but have learned the value of science and mathematics by studying fire behavior. With the exception of my time in the Safety Division, I spent my entire career riding a fire engine, putting wet stuff on the red stuff. The book contains many case studies because I believe it is best to intertwine real events with the study of fire behavior. Unfortunately, all the case studies have one thing in common, and that is line of duty death. Fire behavior makes every fireground a dynamic and dangerous place that can be very unpredictable. What seems completely benign can become deadly in moments. I am not talking about minutes or even seconds. Sometimes tragedy happens in an instant. Case studies provide real-life fire behavior situations. It is important to note that the event in a case study does not necessarily correspond to the chapter topic. I felt that was too limiting, and there are many important circumstances to study. These fires are presented with the mindset of fire behavior, and I made no judgments or comments on any fireground actions. The presentations are about the fire behavior. This book is not perfect, and I am always open to feedback. In the process of simplification of some of the principles, I may have lost something in the translation. Hopefully, the book leads to a better understanding of the science behind fire behavior and helps forge a better understanding of fire.