The surge in large loss fires in frame construction projects is not a new event. I began discussing this type of loss in 2000 following a large fire in Ybor City. I did not learn about this from insurance sources, but from my work as a training officer in the fire department. The topic was “Conflagrations” and how they were outside the experience of most fire departments. Twenty years later this remains the case and despite paying the monetary losses, the insurance industry

The release of the report on the Plainfield, IN Wal Mart warehouse fire has brought renewed focus to the issue of how the fire service can manage extremely large buildings with high fuel loads. I spent two days with a group of firefighters at a Blue Card Big Box seminar. The focus was to understand the new strategic and risk management approach to managing these events. As a former fire chief with 40 years of experience in fire protection consulting for property insurance, I

Post Flashover Residential Fire My career in fire protection began in the late 1970’s when I entered the public fire service. I went on to work in building management as a life safety director for high-rise office buildings in the 1980’s and eventually moved into the insurance industry in the mid1980’s. Fire protection has been a core part of my life for the last 50 years, and I was proud to serve my community for 20 years in the fire department. In the early 1980’s, I wen

I have been in the insurance risk control field for 40 years. I have learned that I should never throw a tie away, they will eventually...