Understanding fire.
Reducing risk.
From combustion fundamentals to battery fire safety — deep dives into the science that protects lives and property.
Editor's Pick
The Science of Pyrolysis: How Heat Unmakes Everything
Pyrolysis — heat breaking molecular bonds without oxygen — drives wildfires, battery thermal runaway, biochar, plastic recycling, and even coffee roasting.
Read article →Foundation Posts
The Science of Fire: What You Think You Know Is Wrong
Explore the science of fire — from radical chain reactions and flame anatomy to flashover physics and why modern homes burn 7x faster than 1950s ones.
The Science of Pyrolysis: How Heat Unmakes Everything
Pyrolysis — heat breaking molecular bonds without oxygen — drives wildfires, battery thermal runaway, biochar, plastic recycling, and even coffee roasting.
Recent Articles
Dryer Fire Science: The Physics of Why Lint Ignites
A dryer fire almost always starts with lint. Here is the surface-area physics that turns soft fluff into fast fuel, plus the simple habit that prevents it.
Stack Effect: Why Stairwell Pressurization Fails in Winter
On the coldest night of the year, stack effect can reverse a stairwell pressurization system and pull smoke into the stairs occupants flee through.
NYC's 2023 Battery Fires: 268 Incidents, 18 Deaths
In one year, New York logged 268 lithium-ion battery fires and 18 deaths from e-bikes and e-scooters — and rewrote micromobility safety law.
Are EV Fires Really More Common Than Gas Car Fires?
Across U.S., Swedish, Australian, Norwegian and Polish data, EV fires happen 20 to 80 times less often than gas car fires per registered vehicle.
F-N Curve and Societal Risk: Drawing the Line on Safety
An F-N curve maps the societal risk a regulator will tolerate. Here is the math, the slope, the ALARP carpet, and where each sector draws the line.
LFP vs NMC Battery Safety: Why Chemistry Decides Fire Risk
LFP vs NMC battery chemistry sets the fire risk before any vent opens. Here is why one chemistry burns hotter, vents more gas, and explodes more often.
Browse by Topic
Fire Fundamentals
Combustion, flames, pyrolysis, and heat transfer.
Fire Testing
Cone calorimetry, FTIR, fire test standards.
Battery Fire Safety
Li-ion thermal runaway and abuse testing.
Fire Risk Assessment
Risk analysis methods and case studies.
Fire Safety Engineering
Suppression, detection, regulation, building codes.
Fire in Daily Life
Practical fire safety for home and work.