Epidemiological studies report an association between exposure to biomass smoke and cardiopulmonary morbidity. The mechanisms for this association are unclear. The aim of the present study was to characterise the acute pulmonary and systemic inflammatory effects of exposure to forest fire smoke. Seasonal forest firefighters (n = 52) were recruited before and/or after a day of fire-fighting. Exp...

As we read through the medical literature, we are always looking for the “hottest” new advances (jumping right into the smoke/fire analogy thing): basic science that gives us new mechanistic insights, clinical trials that confirm or reject our so-called insights, major new diagnostic and therapeutic options, and breakthrough technology. We are a lot like forest rangers, sitting up on a platform...

Fire Alarms are widely used and have become a standard household safety device in many countries. There are various different types of fire alarms and each of them has their own pros and cons. In order for the fire alarms to work efficiently, their placement becomes very important. While this is good, it still left with a potential problem. In a big house or building, when one of the alarms is ...

In this study, satellite-based remote sensing techniques were developed for identifying smoke from forest fires. Both artificial neural networks (NN) and multithreshold techniques were explored for application with imagery from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) aboard NOAA satellites. The NN was designed such that it does not only classify a scene into smoke, cloud, or clear ...

The objective of this work was to investigate preliminary design criteria of automatic fire alarm systems for some places with high flow velocity, e.g., exits of large underground car parks, the air outlets of large air conditioner etc. In addition, another main motivation of this research is to evaluate the appropriateness of Chinese standard which states that photoelectrics should be used in ...

Conducting fire evacuation drills in modern buildings under realistic fire conditions can be difficult. Typical fire drills do not feature dynamic events such as smoke filled corridors, fires in unexpected places or blocked fire exits that require on the spot decisions from evacuees. One alternative is the use of virtual environments. Virtual environments can support the training and observatio...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) produces a daily satellite based smoke and fire analysis for the US. The capability to specify smoke concentration levels and to identify the start time, duration and areal extent of a particular fire which is producing smoke emissions has recently been added. Smoke concentration values are obtained from visual inspection of animated Ge...

Smoke toxicity in a building fire should be watched carefully. In fact, people died in building fires were mainly due to smoke, not heat. Many tests were developed to determine the toxic potency data for different materials. Samples of surface lining materials commonly used in Hong Kong are tested to determine the toxic potency data of burning those selected materials. Smoke toxicity and the ef...

Abstract Smoke from the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California blanketed a large part of region for 2 weeks, creating poor air quality “unhealthy” range millions people. The NOAA Global System Laboratory’s HRRR-Smoke model was operating experimentally real time during Fire. Here, output is compared to surface observations PM 2.5 AQS and PurpleAir sensors as well satellite observation data. at 3-...

Abstract The evolutionary role of fire in animals has been poorly explored. Reptiles use sensory cues, such as smell (chemoreception), to detect threats and flee. In Mediterranean ecosystems, is a threat faced by reptiles. We hypothesized that the lizard Psammodromus algirus recognizes detecting smoke, which triggers behavioral response enhances survival fire-prone ecosystems. predicted lizards...