re12winnersThis year's RE12 Fire Service research event has been hailed as a huge success by both delegates and co-organisers the Institution of Fire Engineers and the Fire Service College.

The annual conference, which takes place at the College in Moreton-in-Marsh, provides an opportunity for all those involved in fire safety research to present their findings to both members of the Service and academics.

This year's papers and presentations covered a wide range of topics, from fireground safety to the psychology of juvenile fire-setters, giving the judges of the annual FIRE/Gore research excellence awards a harder job than ever before.

The winners of the main award (pictured above with FIRE editor Andrew Lynch and Gore's Dave Frodsham) were last year's poster winners Di Catherwood, Geoff Sallis, Graham Edgar and Andrew Medley from the University of Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire FRS. Their paper discoursed on Scoping the fireground: Assessing the range of information used by FRS personnel in fireground training exercises.

Frodsham, Product Specialist at WL Gore & Associates, commented: "We are committed to supporting the development of new ideas an innovation in the UK Fire Service and hope that these awards will encourage continued research in the sector."

The poster award winner meanwhile was by Dr Nadia Al-Sabouni from Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue (main pic), whose presentation was titled The Reliability Index.

Speaking after the event - which this year attracted around 100 delegates - organiser Anne Eyre said: "The buoyant support of RE12 from presenters and delegates demonstrates the continuing need and value of opportunties to share research and best practice across the fire community. Roll on 2013!"

Posted 19/11/2012 by philip.mason@pavpub.com