Mark J. Cotter's Blog – February 2016 Archive (2)

Coming to terms with the significant changes to firefighting tactics wrought by fire behavior researchers and the innovative implementors of their findings is an ongoing process, and there are repeated instances when the new information that has filtered into our understanding again changes our perspective.  This enlightenment is also cumulative, and even exponential, as the same knowledge is applied to other aspects of our craft, and it becomes steadily clearer that much of what we…

A riddle: What feature does almost every dwelling already have, can prevent death despite a raging fire, occupants often neglect to put into service, but which firefighters can utilize to improve conditions?  

Answer: A door.  

Recent fire dynamics research has lead to recommendations for dramatic changes in our approach to structure fires, with debates and arguments…