This book was initially written with the express purpose of making fire dynamics science accessible to Firefighters and practitioners at all levels. Although fire dynamics is a scientific discipline, we have kept jargon and mathematics to a minimum wherever possible, with the express intention of this being a very basic introduction to fire dynamics.
The success of the book pleasantly surprised, and has been cited in academic papers, used as mandatory reading by the Institution of Fire Engineers' and used by many fire departments, training providers and organisations throughout the world.
As we approached the five year anniversary, having delivered training and assistance to Firefighters all over the world, with the assistance of our friends at IFRA and other charitable organisations, alongside our day jobs as professional Firefighting Instructors, we reflected and bought the books forward to become even more helpful.
Shan developed the IFE's International Tactical Firefighting (Compartment Behaviour Instructors' Programme), of which some of this book addresses parts of the learning outcomes required for successful completion- so we have listed them at the end of each chapter. More are linked in the sequels to this book and of course during the course.
We also realized that during our travels, some Firefighters only have access to a cell phone as a source of information, the developing world often can't afford books- so this edition will also have an "e-copy" or "kindle"- within this we've also added hyper-links to public domain videos, kindly provided often by our friends, which are available on our YouTube channel which is all free. A big thank you to our friends globally for their support with that and we feel it helps to embed the simple learning in this edition.
Hopefully those introduced will want to learn more and progress onto the more technical and detailed publications on this subject. Think of this book as the first 'stepping stone' onto more detailed and academic publications on this subject.
A sound understanding of the fundamentals of fire development forms the essential foundation of safe and efficient fire and rescue operations. This empowers us to protect our colleagues and the communities we serve.
This book would not have been possible without the innovators in this field who have successfully linked theoretical fire dynamics with the practice of successful and professional firefighting in the field and giving us their time and indulgence with this project. Thank you especially to Bill Gough, Martin Arrowsmith, "The Exbendables", Andrew Starnes, Bobby Halton, David Kay, Matthew Swan, David Payton, Nick Lacey, Sean McKee, Chris Gannon, Steven Burns and anyone else I've overlooked and apologise for. I will make special mention to those former, and serving Officers in the UK that supported me when it was politically easier to take other options.
About the Author :
Benjamin Walker is a globally acclaimed presenter and international compartment firefighting instructor. He started his career in the Metropolitan Tyne & Wear Fire Brigade, working and commanding some of Europe's busiest fire stations. Following a spell at a small rural fire department, he took a study sabbatical in the United States, obtaining several fire service certifications and studying FEMA's Emergency Management qualifications. Returning to the UK to train the London Fire Brigade in compartment firefighting, he was recognised by the Institution of Fire Engineers, winning the Godiva Award and subsequent works and contributions led to award of the Fellowship of the Institution aged 40. He has had operational spells at Fire EMS departments in the USA including riding out with Chicago Fire Department, Newport FD and studying Emergency Medicine at Roger Williams University, Providence, Rhode Island. In demand as a presenter and instructor, he has taught on multiple occasions at the world's largest conference, FDIC in Indianapolis, and remains determined in his pursuit of reducing firefighter line of duty deaths worldwide. He appears as a firefighting subject expert for Sky News, BBC, Russia Today and many other media outlets, writing for The Guardian, FIRE, Fire Risk Management, Fire Engineering and more. Shan Raffel has served as a career firefighter in Brisbane Australia since 1983. His career took a serious change in 1994 after two of his colleagues were killed in the line of duty while conducting fighting operations in a relatively routine fire in a small motorcycle dealership. The Coroner's report was unable to identify the cause of two extreme fire events that cause severe burns, dislocating them from the hose line and rendering them unconscious. In 1996, two other colleagues were seriously injured after being caught in an extreme fire event while conducting search and rescue operations in a smoke-laden section of a Backpackers Hostel in Rockhampton. These events motivated him to develop an extensive report that led to an international study of compartment fire behaviour training (CFBT) in 1997. He studied at the leading training institutions in Sweden and the UK. Over the next three years, he developed the first nationally recognized CFBT program in Australia. Subsequently, he has assisted numerous fire services around the world in the development of their training facilities, instructors, and teaching materials. In 2009 he was awarded a "Churchill Fellowship" to research "Planning Preparation and Response to Emergencies in Tunnels". This resulted in an intensive ten-week international research tour. This included leading fire services, training centres and tunnel operators in the USA (FDNY), Canada, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland. This knowledge was critical in the development of emergency response plans for the 3 largest road tunnels in Australia. His international training experience spans 26 countries, and his International Compartment Fire Behaviour Instructors program gained international credentialing through the Institution of Fire Engineers recognition process in 2018. www.linkedin.com/in/shanraffel
Review :
Dan Stephens
Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor and Inspector at Welsh Government
I am very grateful to Ben and Shan for the opportunity to write the foreword for Edition 2 of Fire Dynamics for Firefighters. It is something I very much wanted to do with Edition 1, but circumstances conspired against me preventing me from doing so at the time.
Fire Dynamics for Firefighters is a book written for Firefighters by Firefighters. It presents scientific and technical material in a simple and easily digestible format. I would very much have valued having it available to me as a recruit Firefighter and through the formative stages of my career, in particular when studying for exams.
Irrespective of the point you are at in your career it is a must have for any Firefighter. It provides highly effective underpinning knowledge to compliment National Operational Guidance and will undoubtedly improve the situational awareness and therefore the safety of any Firefighter who reads it. As a serving Chief Fire Officer Edition 1 was a publication I strongly recommended colleagues to read and I maintain that view to this day with Edition 2 which has been enhanced further still by Ben and Shan.
As someone who has the same passion and enthusiasm for my profession today as I did as a recruit I can't praise Ben and Shan highly enough for the contribution they have made to Firefighter safety through Fire Dynamics for Firefighters and the related publications in the series. I am sure you will derive the same value from their great work as I know I have.
