Learning from fire investigations and research – A Norwegian perspective on moving from a reactive to a proactive fire safety management

Abstract

Investigation of fires are useful tools for gathering experience and knowledge of how and why fires occur and why they develop as they do. Several tools for accident investigation that also are applicable for analysis of fires are available. Data from fires is valuable for different branches of the fire safety science and are also used in revisions of fire regulations. This paper describes the concept of accident investigation with focus on learning and presents how investigation from fires has been used as a valuable tool in Norwegian fire safety management. Examples of how learnings have improved the residential fire safety level in Norway over the last decades are described. Three different analyses of fatal fires over four decades have given knowledge about how and why residential fires start, and how the victims could be characterized. The fire fatality rate in Norway has decreased by 50% from 1970 until 2014, one of the reasons for this is believed to be implementation of several targeted fire safety measures over the years. Through fire investigations combined with research, new trends in society and their possible implications on fire safety can be uncovered and lead to a more proactive fire safety management.