Author: FME Magazine

The International Water Mist Association (IWMA) will come to Italy once again to hold a one-day-seminar on “Fire Protection with Water Mist”. The seminar, which will be free of charge, will take place at FAST (Fondazione delle Associazioni Scientifiche e Tecniche) in Milan on 11th...

As the annual wildfire season approaches the Indian state of Kerala new equipment has been lined up to battle the blazes without using traditional water hoses which have contributed to creating floods in the past. The government has bought two mini firefighting vehicles which will battle...

Jane Embury, marketing director, Wrightstyle, looks back at one of the worst fire tragedies in the British Isles. Last year saw the appalling catastrophe of Grenfell Tower, which will no doubt see the introduction of new fire regulations for the manufacture and installation of external cladding. Tragically,...

The bespoke vehicle has entered active service with the Red Cross emergency response fleet. The special Land Rover Discovery was developed from the original Project Hero concept car and is the result of an 18-month collaboration between Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations and the Austrian Red...

A fire which started in the early hours of the morning completely gutted a plastics warehouse in Ajman’s new industrial area but no human casualties were reported. The fierceness of the blaze was fuelled because the warehouse was filled with flammable items and that caused Brigadier...

An early morning fire which ripped through a villa in Abu Dhabi killed eight members of an Emirati family, in the latest in a string of fire deaths across the country this year. Another member of the family was injured and transported to hospital. A Civil...

Even a drill hole the size of a pencil that hasn’t been adequately fire stopped can allow rapid spread of smoke in minutes. Here, Keith Wells, Managing Director of Quelfire, explains why effective fire stopping is essential to maintain the integrity of fire compartments. It is...

Emergency response is abound with risk, we can see this, we know this and our ultimate goal is to avoid risk. Opting for lesser solutions to training will only increase risk and should be proactively avoided writes Ashley Price, Vice President of the Fire Science...

In heavy industry, there are continual issues owners and operators face in ensuring consistent plant safety. Some of the key challenges presented to the staff are prevention and control, fire and explosion and corrosion in pipework and structures. Carl Hunter BA (Dunelm) Hons, CEO &...

There are many hazardous environments which pose particularly high risks in terms of fire safety explains Kelvin Miller, Sales Director of Patol. Amongst the most hazardous are those which involve the storage of highly flammable substances, including refineries, petrochemical, gas processing, terminal and offshore facilities....

The question that international Health & Safety expert, Toby Hayward poses, in this article, is how fire safety is dealt with in high hazard projects and industries. To do this he covers some lessons learned as well as some approaches many will be familiar with....

Within the fire & life safety sector we are all familiar with the terms hazard and risk. When we refer to hazards and risk in relation to occupational health and safety common definitions include ‘A hazard is a potential source of harm or adverse health...

A report prepared by the 15-strong Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) predicts a slow down for 2019 of 20,000 barrels per day less in the global growth of oil demand. At first glance that would suggest that the oil and gas industry’s traditional heavy...

InfoBuild’s Editorial Director praises Qatar’s construction growth, as in excess of 11,000 participants shared professional products and skills at the Doha Exhibition & Convention Centre. “There is great growth in the country, with many construction sites and a great vision for the future. I look forward...

A firefighter fell to his death while battling a blaze on the upper floors of a government building in Johannesburg. The fire broke out on the 23rd floor of a tower block which is shared by the South African departments of health, human settlements and co-operative...

The Ford motor company in the US has started a recall involving the recall of nearly 2 million pick-up trucks after identifying a seat belt defect that could trigger vehicle fires. The recall affects the crown jewel of Ford's lineup: the F-150 pickup which  is the...

Firefighters in Germany struggled to contain a wildfire in a woodland site as it approached Berlin because the flames set off World War II ammunition. The flames covered land the size of 500 football pitches but firefighters were prevented from entering certain areas because of exploding...

Texas police officer Sam Click was hailed a hero after he came across a home engulfed in flames and smashed his way through the back door to rescue five children between six months and ten years old. His first reaction had been to make an emergency...

At least four people were killed and 16 others injured when fire broke out on the 12th floor of the Crystal Tower, a residential building in the Elphinstone Road are of Bombay. The fire was reported to have been started by an electrical wiring fault near...

Firefighters from the Ras Al Khaimah Civil Defence department extinguished a fierce fire in an apartment block at Al Nakheel. Eight people were trapped inside the building but were rescued without needing medical aid. The cause of the fire was put under investigation but a report suggested...

The London Fire Brigade is urging the British Government to make the installation of water sprinkler systems mandatory in new schools and when older establishments are being refurbished. The campaign was announced after the release of figures from 2017 showed there were 108 incidents of fires...

A seven-month-old baby boy died after a fire broke out at his Fujairah home. The child was asleep in a room on the second floor of the two-storey villa in the Al Faseel area when an air-conditioning unit caught fire. Firefighters and paramedics were sent to...

A growing number of electric and hybrid vehicles are driving on roads and a new research project funded by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova – Strategic vehicle research and innovation (FFI), where risks posed by lithium-ion vehicle batteries will be addressed and investigated. RISE Research Institutes of...

Since 2016, the International Water Mist Association (IWMA) honours young researchers who dedicate their master and Ph.D. theses to the water mist technology. The deadline to hand in submissions for the 2019 prize will be 30th April 2019. This prize is awarded once a year and...

A dozen workers were injured after an explosion caused a fire to rip through the storage facility at a petrochemical factory close to Cairo’s main airport. Ambulances and fire trucks fought the blaze they were alerted to the fire which covered the scene with a cloud...

Figures released by Ireland’s Department of Housing revealed that the number of people who lost their lives in home fires more than doubled to 41 in 2017 compared to just 20 victims in 2016. And in a campaign to persuade householders to  install fire safety equipment...

Firefighters from two areas of Abu Dhabi’s Civil Defence were praised after they extinguished a fire which erupted in the bows of a merchant ship that was moored in the Emirate’s Icad IIb area. The cause of the fierce blaze is under investigation but it was put...

An off-duty RAK Civil Defence firefighter was hailed a hero after he put out a fire that broke out in his neighbour's house in the Al Dheit area of Ras Al Khaimah. Using equipment stored in his own home Mustafa Al Balooshi extinguished the blaze which...

At the height of the summer tourism industry across Europe, Jane Embury, marketing director for Wrightstyle, reflects on one of the worst fire tragedies in the British Isles. Last year, in the UK, saw the appalling catastrophe of Grenfell Tower, which will no doubt see the...

More that 70 people were reported to have died when a wildfire  ripped through the village of Mati on the Attica coastline of Greece and trapped many residents in their home and cars. Some desparate families that tried to reach the village’s harbour and beach found...

New Tyco® ESFR-22 sprinklers from Johnson Controls added to the Tyco family of storage sprinklers Johnson Controls announces its new Tyco® Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR)-22 pendent sprinklers has joined the Tyco line of storage sprinklers. The ESFR-22 can be installed in storage facilities with a ceiling...

A major fire in a hospital or healthcare facility is horrific and there has been too many global incidents resulting in loss of life in recent years. Having worked in the fire industry for over 30 years and had responsibility for licensing, registering, auditing and...

In this article Steve North, Founder, and Rescue Director of International Road Rescue and Trauma Consultancy (IRRTC) looks at modern vehicles and the technology that is built in to them to protect the occupants. Commonly known in the vehicle and rescue industry as New Vehicle...

In recent years, the issue of cleaning and maintaining firefighter PPE has moved firmly into the spotlight, with the emergence of a possible link between contaminated kit and long-term health. Roger Startin, Joint Managing Director of Bristol Uniforms, looks at the importance of keeping PPE...

Ideally, clean room solutions integrate all the building systems for regulating, controlling and monitoring the space thus minimising risks, increasing efficiency and ensuring compliance to regulations. FME asked Siemens Building Technologies to explain the processes in more detail. For sensitive, valuable goods, the clean room is...

The clean rooms that I am used to dealing with are in an industrial environment and staffed by the white-clad, respirator wearing professionals that are synonymous with this area write FME’s very own international Health & Safety expert Toby Hayward. However, when researching this feature,...

Creating new businesses and industries to replace their traditional economic reliance upon oil and gas production, has become a central theme in the growth policies of several MENA Countries in recent years. None more so than in Saudi Arabia, where two huge projects will be providing...

The figures attached to this year’s wildfire season in the United States have again been huge. One blaze in Colorado scorched over 36,000 acres, nearly 50 deaths have been recorded, tens of thousands of homes evacuated or destroyed and in California alone insurance claims have...

The big cities of this world boast stunning skylines. They are like fingerprints. The problem is that the average fire ladder extends to 30 metres only while a high-rise building is – by definition – 45 metres or higher writes Bettina McDowell, Secretary General of...

Dafo Brand AB in Sweden has separated its vehicle fire detection and suppression operations from its core fire safety equipment business to become Dafo Vehicle Fire Protection AB. “The purpose of this change is to more closely focus on the long term continuous development of...

A raging early morning fire killed 28 valuable racehorses as they were trapped inside a training centre barn in upstate New York just hours after many of them had been in action at the Pocono Downs track in Pennsylvania. Flames emerging from the barn were spotted...

An early morning fire which swept through the Nairobi’s Gikomba Open air market, the largest in Kenya, killed 15 people and injured 70 others even though firefighters managed to contain the flames within an hour and half. The victims were all either traders or members of...

A fire which  broke out in a  new 40-storey  tower which is under construction in Jumeirah Village Circle was extinguished in under two hours by Dubai Civil Defence. Firefighters from Al Barsha and Al Marsa fought the blaze and no injuries were reported. Forensic experts were...

A complete family of 19, has survived a massive fire at their two-storey house in Al-Muraydah district of Ras-Al-Khaimah. Responding to an emergency call RAK fire and rescue teams found three rooms completely gutted by the fire. However they were able to rescue all the house's occupants...

The civil defence authorities in Sharjah and Ajman have announced they will intensify their fire prevention inspection and awareness campaigns which target commercial and industrial establishments. The move follows the introduction in 2017 of a new regulation which obliges the owners of commercial and industrial buildings...

According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a firefighter has a 29% higher risk of contracting various types of cancer than the rest of the US population. They have a 1.39 chance higher of developing skin cancer and are 1.31 times...

Firefighters from the UAE and Saudi Arabia were praised after they worked together to put out a huge blaze that broke out in a warehouse on the border between the two countries. A plume of thick black smoke accompanied the blaze in the Saudi customs facility...

A raging early morning fire killed 28 valuable racehorses as they were trapped inside a training centre barn in upstate New York just hours after many of them had been in action at the Pocono   Downs track in Pennsylvania. Flames emerging from the barn were spotted...

A large fire at one of Europe’s most popular outdoor amusement parks forced the evacuation of an estimated 25,000 visitors. Seven firefighters were injured tackling the blaze at Europa-Park in the town of Rust in southwest Germany. The fire which started at a storage site quickly...