Prudent Management of Downed Electrical Power Line Incidents
Vyto Babrauskas provides some insights for firefighters on responding to downed electrical distribution lines.
9 min read
Vyto Babrauskas
The Latest
Protecting Lives of Firefighters Is Not Necessary
Almost 10 years after the West (TX) explosion, no substantive changes have been enacted to protect the public and firefighters from a similar disaster.
10 min read
How NOT to Investigate Fires
Finding the origin, cause, and the responsibility for a fire—in that order—is basic to present-day, science-based fire investigation, Vyto Babrauskas writes.
10 min read
Smoldering Fires: Factors and Fuels
Smoldering fires constitute a unique, specialized form of combustion. Vyto Babrauskas reviews some of the highlights of research on this topic.
11 min read
More Vyto Babrauskas
Can We Improve Sprinkler Protection for Warehouses?
After a series of large and destructive warehouse and big-box store fires, Vyto Babrauskas examines how the fire safety profession may improve.
5 min read
A View from America: Disastrously Bad High-Rise Safety in UK
Glenn Corbett and Dr. Vyto Babrauskas discuss what they perceive to be the shortcomings of high-rise fire protection and response across the pond.
8 min read
Electrical or Unknown? Electrical Fires and Explosions
Electrical fires may be a leading cause of fires in the United States, but official statistics may not reflect its true ranking.
14 min read
The Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG): Not Good Enough, Not Safe Enough
Vyto Babrauskas presents examples of the Emergency Response Guidebook's limitations and the role they might have played in specific incidents.
12 min read
Ammonium Nitrate: Tragic Lessons Still to Be Learned
Beirut, Lebanon. West, Texas. Ammonium nitrate (AN) disasters cause devastation and death, but they don't need to happen at all. Dr. Vyto Babrauskas says there's…
13 min read
Water Streams, Power Lines, and Shock: How Serious a Hazard?
Water can have significant electrical conductivity and the potential for electric shock, but the electrical hazard is largely imagined rather than real, according to the…
12 min read
The Grenfell Tower Fire and Fire Safety Materials Testing
A 1939 flame spread test identified a key issue in relevant to the UK’s Grenfell Tower fire.
20 min read
Will Firefighters Be Any Safer Under the New Hazardous Materials Code?
NFPA 400, Hazardous Materials Code, was revised to incorporate lessons learned from the ammonium nitrate explosion at the West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas. Will…
18 min read
