We are working closely with the Illinois Fire Service Institute to apply diode laser absorption measurements in fire fighting scenarios to help both occupants to survive and fire fighters to more effectively carry out their duties without incurring unexpected harm. In recent years we have taken part in full scale controlled fire attack experiments to evaluate various counteractive measures with collaboration from the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and NIST. You can read more regarding this campaign from the following links.
Shruti Ghanekar assembling portable diode laser absorption sensors
We package the diode laser absorption sensors and control unit into a portable unit which can be deployed onsite. Currently, our efforts are focused on measuring both water and other harmful combustion species (i.e., HCN) during fires to determine occupant survivability. In addition to the laser diagnostics measurements, we have also assisted in measuring off-gassing properties of face masks to determine of harmful contaminates are being produced during fire fighting scenarios.