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Brannigan's Building Construction For The Fire Service
In 1971, Francis L. Brannigan created the first textbook focused on Building Construction for the Fire Service. His goal was to offer the most comprehensive building construction resource available to fire fighters in order to save fire fighter’s lives. His motto, “Know your buildings,” impacts every aspect of this book. It presents critical firefighting information, in an easy-to-understand format, and ensures that fire fighters have the knowledge they need before they step onto the fireground.

Buildings on Fire
Dedicated to the Art & Science of Building Construction, Fire Fighting and Command Risk Management for Operation Excellence and Firefighter Safety

Construction Concerns: Roofs: Snow Load

Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions (UL online course)
The course compares the fire performance of conventional solid joist lumber and light-weight lumber as used in floor and roof construction and allows fire professionals to better interpret fire hazards and assess risk for life safety of building occupants and firefighters. This two-hour online presentation summarizes the research of this project and communicates learnings as they relate to fire service tactics and residential building codes.

Fire Safety Design in Buildings.pdf (Canadian Wood Council)
A reference for applying the National Building Code of Canada fire safety requirements in building design (1996)

Two Roof Fires

Understanding Building Construction
Good website with a brief introduction to a wide range of building construction topics.

Codes

NFOC 2005 Division B Part 2 - Building and Occupant Fire Safety.pdf
National Fire Code of Canada 2005

NBCOC 2005 Volume 2 Division B - Occupancy Classification List.pdf
National Building Code of Canada 2005

Photovoltaic Systems

UL examined fire service concerns of photovoltaic (PV) systems and the potential impact on firefighting operations. These concerns included firefighter vulnerability to electrical and casualty hazards when mitigating a fire involving PV systems. As a result of greater utilization, traditional firefighter tactics for suppression, ventilation and overhaul have been complicated, leaving firefighters vulnerable to potentially severe hazards. Though the electrical and fire hazards associated with PV systems have been known for some time, a very limited body of knowledge and insufficient data exists to understand the risks to the extent that the fire service has been unable to develop safety solutions and respond in a safe manner.

Experiments were conducted on functional PV arrays at UL’s Northbrook, IL campus and the Delaware County Emergency Service Training Center. Following the fire experiments, the PV modules were examined to determine their ability to generate power representing potential safety hazards for firefighters, particularly during overhaul operations.

This online firefighting training program details the results of these experiments to provide knowledge the fire service can use to examine their thought processes, standard operating procedures and training content. Several tactical considerations were developed utilizing the data from the experiments to provide specific examples of changes that can be adopted based on a departments current strategies and tactics.

Firefighter Safety and Photovoltaic Systems Overview
Firefighter Safety and PV Course (UL)
Firefighter Safety and Photovoltaic Installations.pdf Research Project