Interesting For General Audience Episodes
Not a fire professional but you find interest in fire science? Here are some episodes that will be great for you.
Oct. 29, 2025
224 - Navigating the complexities to change our field - a roundtable with Steve McGuirk and Brian Meacham
This week, in the Fire Science Show, we host a roundtable discussion on complexities in fire safety science and engineering. Most safety failures don’t come from a single mistake—they emerge when people, technology, and insti...
Oct. 1, 2025
220 - Test vs experiment with David Morrisset
In this episode we dive into the ap between standardized tests and experiments, trying to figure out (a) is there a difference and (b) if there is, could not understanding the difference quietly erode safety. With guest David...
Aug. 6, 2025
213 - Setting up your own chatbot with Ruggiero Lovreglio and Amir Rafe
The AI revolution has arrived, but fire safety engineers face a critical dilemma: how to leverage powerful AI tools while protecting confidential project data. Professor Ruggiero Rino Lovreglio from Massey University and Dr. ...
June 11, 2025
205 - FDS maintenance and development with Randy McDermott
Dr Randy McDermott takes us behind the scenes of fire science's most critical software tool in this conversation about the Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) developed at NIST. As one of the developers, Randy offers valuable insights into how this essential modelling tool is maintained, improved, and ada…
June 3, 2025
204 - 4th Birthday of the Podcast. Some stories about the past and the future
Four years ago, what began as a mission to preserve valuable fire safety engineering conversations has grown into a fairly large platform connecting professionals across 170+ countries. The journey to 200 episodes and nearly ...
May 13, 2025
201 - The last fire - a novel set in industrial fire engineering with Joaquim Casal
What happens when a lifetime of studying industrial fire hazards meets the creative mind of a novelist? In this conversation with Professor Joaquim Casal, we explore the unique intersection of fire safety engineering and scie...
April 2, 2025
195 - Fire Safety Cases with Chris Mayfield and Martyn Ramsden
The UK's Building Safety Act requires high-risk buildings to maintain comprehensive fire safety cases - living documents that identify hazards, mitigate risks, and establish clear accountability for building safety. This is t...
March 5, 2025
191 - Committee participation with Birgitte Messerschmidt and Kees Both
This episode explores the invaluable contributions of community participation in fire safety technical committees. Joining committees is not just about sharing expertise; it’s a journey that transforms careers and fosters gro...
Feb. 19, 2025
189 - Simple things that work
This episode emphasises the value of focusing on simple things in fire safety engineering, something we somehow miss when we go too deep into the technical details of our projects. I've looked at eight different aspects of fi...
Jan. 8, 2025
183 - Innovation and fire safety with Vincent Brannigan
History repeats itself. A new thing is invented. We learn about it, understand it, and apply measures to capture its behaviour and regulate it. And then another new thing is invented. The measures we used start failing us, an...
Dec. 11, 2024
181 - Regulatory regimes with Vincent Brannigan
I just drove 500 km to have a conversation with Professor Vincent Brannigan from the University of Maryland, a very unique expert who combines law with fire engineering. In this discussion, we go into the complexities of buil...
Nov. 20, 2024
178 - Origin stories of fire prevention and firefighting with Michał Stachowicz
Happy 200th birthday, Scottish Fire and Rescue Services!!! I'm a bit late to the party. Still, I've done my best to celebrate your anniversary in the best way I can - by giving homage to the amazing fire safety engineering an...
Oct. 30, 2024
175 - Changes in the UK fire regulations with Dame Judith Hackitt
The Grenfell Tower tragedy has triggered a Public Inquiry (which just published their final report ), and concurrently - a review of the UK Building Regulations and Fire Safety. The latter task was given to Dame Judith Hackit...
Aug. 21, 2024
165 - Best Practice vs. Appropriate Practice with Arnold Dix
Is the "best practice" always the best approach to solving an engineering problem? Can we consider "best" and "appropriate" practices synonymous, and if not - how big is the gap between them? Join us as we welcome Professor A...
May 22, 2024
153 - Fire Safety Engineer of the Future is a Great Communicator
A few weeks ago in Copenhagen, stepping onto the stage to open the SFPE Fire Safety Conference and Expo on Performance-Based Design, I took a bit of a gamble. I was invited to give an opening keynote, but instead of talking a...
May 8, 2024
151 - Elevator evacuation with Axel Mossberg
The fire is detected in the building. Please evacuate. Do not use the elevator. I’ve heard this emergency message perhaps a thousand times. It is deeply engraved in my mind to the extent that the moment I hear the first beep ...
April 2, 2024
146 - Take care of your mental health with Ann Jeffers
Depression and anxiety are on the rise in both academia and engineering consultancies. Everyone is constantly stressed and pushed to their limits. The system is built this way... And imagine that on top of the inadequate ment...
March 27, 2024
145 - Fire Safety Engineering in South Africa and Beyond with Richard Walls
In this episode, we discuss the stark realities of fire safety engineering in South Africa (and beyond) as we sit down with Professor Richard Walls from Stellenbosch University. Our journey through the recent history of devas...
Dec. 12, 2023
132 - Dis-abling buildings - fire safety features from wheelchair user perspective with Mary Button
This is an important episode. Our guest for today, UK fire engineer Mary Button, who uses a wheelchair herself, shares some of her own stories and feelings describing the reality for many disabled individuals. Drawing from he...
Nov. 21, 2023
128 - Fire Safety Engineering with Dr. Ricky Carvel
Dear friends of the Fire Science Show, and listeners of the Smart Passive Income Podcast - today is some sort of a special broadcast. As I have just been featured in THE podcast https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/shows/spi/ I...
Sept. 6, 2023
117 - Global wildfire emergency and the key role of FSEs with Albert Simeoni
In the midst of horrible wildfire season around the globe, I have reached out to Prof. Albert Simeoni from Worcester Polytechnic Institute for some hands-on commentary on what is happening around, and why fires all over the g...
July 12, 2023
109 - Forensic Fire Science with Richard Roby
In this episode, we uncover the intricate process of fire investigations with renowned combustion scientist and fire investigator, Dr. Richard J. Roby from Combustion Science and Engineering. With over five decades of experie...
Feb. 28, 2023
091 - Fire fundamentals pt 2 - Ignition with Rory Hadden
Welcome to Fire Fundamentals pt. 2 with Rory Hadden. This episode is focused on the concept of ignition and its role in fire safety - as an event leading to fires, as something often investigated post-fire, but also as a vehi...
Nov. 23, 2022
077 - Informal settlements - we need solutions not gadgets, Richard Walls
Delivery of fire safety to one billion inhabitants of informal settlements cannot be done through a single solution. No magical extinguishing ball nor hyper-sensitive sensor can solve this issue. As it is not a single issue -...