Through our ongoing in-house research program, Sereca is committed to develop a better understanding of fire behaviour. Combining research and education we continually refine our analytical capabilities and advance our knowledge of fire.

Live Burn Exercise

Manuel Quimper Motel – September 2010

Between September 19 and 24, 2010, you would have noticed a lot of activity around the old Manuel Quimper Motel in Sooke on Vancouver Island.

The hotel was the site of a live fire exercise staged by the BC Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), the Fire Prevention Officers Association of British Columbia (FPOABC), and Sooke Fire Rescue. The live burns were part of an Annual Training Course that also consisted of hands-on fire investigation training and presentation sessions.

For our part, we continued our ongoing research and development program, and updated attendees on the use of computer fire modelling.

Before the experiments were conducted, our engineers constructed fire models of each test to predict the behavior of the fire and smoke. In each room, we set up monitoring equipment including video cameras, thermocouples, and gas detectors.

The information we gathered will be used to further research into fire ignition, growth, development, and simulation.

We’d like to thank the IAAI, FPOABC, Sooke Fire Rescue, and the other participants for a successful event. If you have any questions about this event, or our research program in general, please contact us at info@serecafire.com.