In the News
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Wildfire research at WPI
The devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area exemplify the dangers of wind-driven fires in inhabited areas. WPI’s Department of Fire Protection Engineering is leading research designed to understand how fires spread with the goal of contributing to measures that can better protect communities and firefighters.
WPI’s experts in this field include those who are part of the National Science Foundation’s Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center, a collaboration with San Jose State University, to study new fire detection methods, first responder safety, and wildfire suppression systems.
WPI’s research, which involves faculty and ongoing experiments conducted by students in a state-of-the-art wind tunnel on campus, was featured by several media outlets including The Boston Globe, WCVB, Spectrum News 1, NECN, and NBC 10 Boston, The NBC 10 Boston story was re-aired by more than a dozen television news stations in cities around the country including Washington, DC, Minneapolis, Dallas, Albuquerque, Spokane, Yakima, WA, Fresno, CA, Albany, NY, Topeka, KS, Greenville, SC, Abilene, TX, and Elmira, NY
For its coverage of the L.A. fires, The New York Times interviewed Albert Simeoni, professor and head of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, about how the wildland fires in Southern California transformed into urban fires, leading to extensive loss of life and destruction of property. Simeoni also provided analysis for the fact-checking website Full Fact for an article addressing online claims about the wildfires.
The Associated Press also interviewed James Urban, an assistant professor of fire protection engineering, for an article that helps explain how firebrands, or flying embers, contribute to the spread of wildfires. The AP also interviewed Urban and visited campus to observe fire laboratory experiments for its coverage explaining how fire whirls, or fire tornadoes, can develop in large fires like those occurring in the Los Angeles area. Their experiments were photographed and featured in an AP article, "Fire tornadoes pose a threat in California. A fire lab shows how they work" and in an AP video. The video was also featured in an on-air report by WHDH-TV in Boston.
Professor Urban also spoke with WPTF, a news radio station in Raleigh, NC, about how wind and drought factored into the California fires, and about wildfire prevention.
As brush fires in the northeast continue, WPI students and faculty in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering are doing research and hands-on projects that help better understand how wildfires spread and their impact. Spectrum News 1 Worcester reported on the laboratory experiments being conducted aimed at protecting solar energy infrastructure from wildfire threats.
James Urban, assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, spoke with 7News about active brush fires in Massachusetts, the elevated fire risk in the area, smoke hazards, and the challenges of putting out these types of fires in dry and windy conditions.
Drought and winds have increased wildfire risk in Massachusetts. Dozens of fires have started in the last month. James Urban, assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, provided insight into the factors leading to the elevated risk for an article in The Boston Globe.
“When you go from a lot of wet weather to a lot of dry weather, there’s a lot of fine fuels that grow and then die. If it dries out, that can be very dangerous tinder for a wildfire to start and spread.” James Urban, assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering, explains how dry weather is a factor in brush fires around the Northeast.
James Urban, assistant professor in Fire Protection Engineering, talked with the Telegram & Gazette about using a federal grant to test his forest-fire research at the International Space Station.
Astronauts on the International Space Station will perform experiments for a study led by James Urban, assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering. A spacecraft carrying materials for the experiments was launched to the space station on August 4. Urban studies wildfires and believes the experiments in microgravity will provide insight on non-steady flame behavior and lead to better understanding of how wildfires spread on Earth.
New announcement will allow WPI to build upon its longstanding expertise in fire protection to study new fire detection methods, robotics solutions to enhance first responder safety, and fire suppression systems for wildfires.
WBUR reports on the addition of WPI to a federal Wildlife Interdisciplinary Research Center. The work will focus on fire detection models, first responder safety, and wildfire suppression systems.
Fire protection engineering professors Albert Simeoni and James Urban were quoted in a Reuters Fact Check article on the dynamics of the devastating fires in Hawaii. They explain how wildfires spread and why some things in a burned area avoid damage when so much else is destroyed.
Drought and high winds were major factors in the devastating Maui fire. In this Los Angeles Times article, fire protection engineering professor James Urban explains the dangerous combination and how flying embers can spread. The article was republished by more than 40 newspapers and digital outlets including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald, and Yahoo!
ISS360 reports fire protection engineering professor James Urban is working on cutting edge research to better predict the spread of massive, deadly wildfires by studying flames on the International Space Station.