Over the past several years, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) have been working together with the fire service to examine fire dynamics and fire fighting tactics. More than a hundred experiments have examined the changes in the fire environment over time, impact of ventilating ventilation limited fires, implications of flow control and effectiveness in suppression tactics. These experiments were conducted with fire fighters from across the country from departments of different types, with varying levels of staffing, resources and operating procedures. The NIST and UL studies have produced tactical considerations that have become common themes over several studies which may change the way you view your standard operating guidelines.
NIST and UL Fire Behavior Research: (7) Video Lecture Series