Over recent weeks, tens of millions of people across the U.S. and beyond have been reminded of the power of fire. Canadian wildfires brought grey/orange skies, eye and throat irritation, and more serious reactions among people with respiratory problems. Concerns about other types of fires can be much greater than smoke from forest fires.
To combat fires the first responders sometimes can’t avoid being close enough to burning material, exposing them to potentially harmful gases, and particles released by burning materials. Thanks to product testing and certification standards, consumers can assume that their appliances won’t start a fire and that the belongings in their home won’t burn easily, and won’t release toxic material if they do.
Cambridge is the new home of the country’s largest and most advanced research and testing facility center for fire-related risks and their prevention. The Fire and Risk Alliance (FRA), with headquarters in Rockville, MD, has purchased 6 lots, covering more than 30 acres, at the Dorchester Regional Technology Park near the Cambridge Airport. FRA operates other research and training facilities in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as offices in Maryland, Massachusetts, Georgia, California, Illinois, and North Carolina, Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
Construction of a state-of-the-art 30,000-sq-ft testing, research, and training facility will be completed in the next few months. The official opening of the facility will take place in time to host FRA’s first Annual Global Symposium in September. More than 250 participants from all over the world will visit Cambridge for four days, starting with a charity golf tournament, followed by 2 days of technical sessions devoted to American energy infrastructure and data center sectors, and ending with a facility tour and demonstrations.
Fire & Risk Alliance specializes in the most complex, high-consequence fire challenges facing modern industry. Of these emerging technologies like battery energy storage systems, electric vehicles, electric power utility grid resiliency programs and data centers are a company priority. Fire behavior in these settings is poorly understood and the stakes are high.
This important addition to Dorchester County’s business community is projected to create 30 new full-time jobs by the end of 2027, growing to a total workforce of 100 to 300 employees — spanning both skilled and unskilled positions — within three years.
Susan Banks, Director of the County’s Economic Development Center said ”Fire & Risk Alliance is a highly specialized testing and research operation that will bring high-quality jobs to Dorchester County. The facility has the potential to serve as a catalyst for future investment, attracting complementary businesses, research partnerships, and a highly skilled workforce that will strengthen Dorchester County’s economy for years to come.”
The largest building on the FRA campus is the Large Fire Lab, a massive building roughly the area of a football field with ceilings 65 feet high. This enables research on fire behavior in the real world of homes, workplaces, and communities, not the small scale of other testing labs. Researchers will be able to burn almost anything in this lab, from a single item to a collection of different goods from a warehouse, or an entire battery storage system the size of a shipping container. The results of these tests are used in product certification updating safety codes that serve the goal of public safety; these are done in conjunction with National Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTL) like Underwriters Laboratories.
Massive battery banks are used to store power from solar and wind farms, avoiding the loss of energy not used when generated. Battery banks are now showing up in communities across the country. Fire behavior of these infrastructures and the associated health and environmental risks are not well known. FRA evaluates the fire resistance of materials they use and analyzes the substances released by fire. The resulting data will directly inform safety certifications, building and fire codes, and the training of first responders who may one day face these scenarios in the field.
FRA’s Largest lab is an enclosed structure with a nominal 75 by 125-foot calorimetry collection hood directly above the test area. The entire ceiling is a state-of-the-art vacuum hood connected to a particulate collection system. All emissions are monitored in real time, and every measurement must remain well below the thresholds set by the Maryland Department of the Environment and other public health agencies. All water run-off will be collected in tanks, treated and removed to an approved facility. FRA maintains its own internal response team for emergencies. Local fire departments will be contracted to stand by during testing.
“There’s no facility operating at this scale in the U.S. right now,” said FRA Founder and CEO Scott Bryant. “Modern materials and energy systems are creating fire risks we’ve never encountered before.”
In addition to testing, a significant portion of the space will be a training center that draws on FRA’s latest research and technology development. New training opportunities for first responders, officials responsible for enforcing fire safety codes, and local, regional, and national fire departments will be an important activity for the new facility.
Fire protection engineering is at the heart of FRA’s mission, and their plans include a scholarship and mentoring program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in this discipline. FRA already has an apprenticeship program for Montgomery County high school students and a scholarship program at UM College Park.
FRA plans to provide local residents, students, and fire service professionals opportunities to understand the facility’s mission through scheduled tours, open house events, and community engagement opportunities. These programs will be announced as the facility comes online.