Breaking the Water Barrier
February 2025
Presented "Bushfire Sprinklers: Breaking the Water Barrier" at the Fire Protection Association of Australia's "Bushfire Sprinklers: the future" event held in Melbourne, Victoria....
WEEDS Info
WEEDS installation near Sacramento
This is an owner-built system in Northern California.
The video links show WEEDS operation under windy conditions.Photos and videos used with permission.
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Backyards and Beyond, 2013
The effectiveness of water spray technologies for wildfire protection was discussed at Backyards and Beyond, 2013, in...
Wildfire
Wildland Fire Still an Unsolved Problem
SOURCE: RAMONA SENTINEL Michael Scott-Blair’s two articles in the July 9th Sentinel on retired Chief Steve Butler’s efforts to raise fire awareness and on his fire equipment company raise a number of important issues that people living in the San...
California Office of the State Fire Marshal Task Force on Wildfire Protection Building Construction
Assisted the State Fire Marshal’s Office in establishing a framework for testing ignition-resistant construction proposed for the 2010 update to the California Building Code, Chapter 7A. Final draft 5/21/2009. Chapter 7A Task Force Recommendations ...
The County's 'Shelter-in-Place' Gamble
SOURCE: UNION TRIBUNE: By Joseph W. Mitchell May 2, 2007 Twenty years before the Cedar fire roared through San Diego County, Australia was devastated by the Ash Wednesday fires, which destroyed 2,463 homes and killed 76 people. In the aftermath of...
Power Lines and Wildfire
14th annual International Association of Fire Safety Science Symposium
October 2023
I attended the 14th annual International Association of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) symposium to present my analysis of California utility wildfire and risk models:
Analysis of utility wildfire risk assessments and mitigations in...
Power Line Failures and Catastrophic Wildfires Under Extreme Weather Conditions
Presentation to the International Conference on Engineering Failure Analysis (ICEFA12), The Hague, Netherlands, July 1-4, 2012 PowerPoint Presentation VIEW POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
Utility Liablity Cost Recovery Opposition
In 2009, California electrical utilities PG&E, SCE and SDG&E proposed creating a formal mechanism through which they could recover liability losses from wildland fires from ratepayers regardless of whether or not they were responsible for starting...