A new project led by the building research Establishment will provide firefighters with advance information on the likely sequence of events of a fire – before they actually happen.
The three year FireGrid project is supported by the Technology Programme led by the Department for Trade & Industry. The emergency response system will provide information previously only available after a fire and should allow the emergency services to execute a more effective response.
The information available will include crucial details such as how the fire is expected to spread, how the structural integrity of the building will be affected, and how the building occupants are likely to react in response to the fire.
BRE is to lead a consortium including the University of Edinburgh; Arup; ABAQUS UK; ANSYS Europe Limited; Vision Systems (Europe); the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and the Institute of High Performance Computing, A*STAR (Singapore).
Although initially focussing on fire, the methodologies developed by FireGrid may also be extended to other hazards, such as environmental incidents, natural disasters and acts of terrorism.
Further information on Fire Grid is available at: (www.firegrid.org)
