BC Chapter

The prevention of fire and explosions in dusty occupancies has been studied for over a century and consequently, the mechanisms of fire and explosions are well understood. The key codes and standards set out good practices to prevent and mitigate the impact of fires and explosions in various processes but relatively few professionals are experienced in conducting a complete analysis of the actual conditions in real manufacturing plants. John Bachynski B.Sc. P.Eng. will present an overview of factors leading to dust explosions and summarise state of the art approaches to explosion prevention and systems to mitigate the damage that can otherwise result.

The effect of forest fires on fire risk in communities is rarely defined or assessed on a relative scale. While fire modelling of structural fires is reasonably well developed for certain fire scenarios, the modelling of wildfires is in its infancy. In his recent SFPE articles Alexander Maranghides presented a new indexing approach to assessing the wild fire risk to communities. The method takes the various parameters that determine fire spread in wild fire situations- such as topography, ground cover, separation, construction etc.- and assigned it a relative index.

The analysis of fires to determine fire cause and account for the physical evidence as well as accounts of what transpired leading up to and during the fire event has often relied on experience and known patterns of fire behaviour for various types of fires. Over the last 20 years the use of fire science and investigation techniques have developed to the point thatanalysis of large fires relies increasingly on correlation of the predicted fire behaviour with the actual observed or recorded information from witnesses, responding agencies such as the fire service etc.

Peter Senez and others from the Sereca fire team will present an overview of these techniques illustrated by actual examples taken from real cases.

A future session may be held should there be further interest in the application of CFD modelling to support complex investigations where replication of fire behaviour in particular cases is possible.

Date: February 18, 2014
Time: Registration and Reception 5:30pm
Location: False Creek Yacht Club (1661 Granville Street)
Cost: Members - $30; Non-members $35. Please bring cash or a cheque payable to BC Society of Fire Protection Engineers to cover the cost of dinner.
Registration Deadline: February 14, 2014

Free parking is available in the Yacht Club parking lot.

The Association of Professional Engineers of BC (APEGBC) recently published the Guidelines for Fire protection Engineering Services for Building Projects.

The publication of this guide is as a result of efforts by the
Building Code Committee of APEGBC and those fire protection engineers who spent over a decade contributing to various constituent sections. Bob Heikkila will make a joint presentation with Murray Johnson overviewing the guide to practice and presenting details that will highlight the key requirements relevant to FPEs, fire protection contractors and other engineers. Final format for the presentation may change.

All FPEs, sprinkler contractors, specialist designers, building officials, CPs and other interested parties are asked to attend.

A brief overview and follow up discussion will follow on the new Surrey Assurance of Independent Fire Suppression Systems Design Concept Review.

Date: December 3, 2013
Time: Registration and Reception 5:30pm
Location: False Creek Yacht Club (1661 Granville Street)
Cost: Members - $30; Non-members $35. Please bring cash or a cheque payable to BC Society of Fire Protection Engineers to cover the cost of dinner.
Registration Deadline: November 29, 2013

Free parking is available in the Yacht Club parking lot.

Jack Mawhinney of Hughes and Associates in Baltimore, Maryland will present
the season's opening presentation on: Fire Protection Challenges and
Solutions in Rail and Road Tunnels. Jack has an international reputation as
a fire protection engineer- partly as a result of his work on water mist
systems. He has done much to further the cause of fire research and its
application to difficult design problems.