About Us

About Us

We provide specialist advise and training on the Air Track Management (ATM) Fire-fighting System, flashovers and backdrafts, fire investigation, fire risk assessments, fire safety advice, fire warden/marshal training, fire sweeper training, fire extinguisher training and fire evacuation training.

Please find below some extracts from the testimonials received from readers of the book ‘Smoke Burns’

Dear John,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for publishing the above book! As a serving Crew Manager with Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service & A Fire Safety Consultant. ‘Smoke Burns’ which I read on Friday night, I found to be the most comprehensive & informative publication I have ever had the pleasure of reading; I have read many books on this subject in my line of work and nothing has compared to it. I believe every recruit who passes out at the end of the their training should receive a copy for their future reference & development, to enable them to effectively confront a compartment fire. I hope our own CFBT instructors will practice these techniques in CFBT courses in the future? I will certainly recommend to training school they consider purchasing their own copy if they have not done so already? Once again, thank you for giving us such an informative book on a truly fascinating subject.

Kind Regards

Simon Maher.
T&P Fire Division Ltd                                        8 October 2007
  

www.tpfire.co.uk     

     

Hi John,

The book arrived safe and sound, many thanks.

You are to be congratulated on a truly fine piece of work John. I am finding the book to be extremely ‘readable’ or ‘Fire-fighter friendly’ for want of a better description. As you are no doubt aware, many of the available publications relating to fire behaviour are extremely ‘heavy going’ for your average fire service reader, you however seem to have an excellent knack of explaining things in ‘easy to follow’ terms, whilst, also maintaining the ‘science bit’ to reinforce your point. (With some excellent analogies, a couple of which I have already included in my Lessons!).

In particular, I wholeheartedly support your argument for the vital importance of controlling the air track at incidents, which of course makes perfect common since when you understand how fires can develop. This fact however is largely lost on far too many fire-fighters that I come by. Indeed I have been making this argument for some time now and the procedure currently taught remains “Open the door and wedge it open”! One size fits all.

Fortunately, the future does indeed look a little brighter. I am currently in the early stages of a project to completely re-write how BA & CFBT regional training should be delivered. There is real potential to make vast improvements to the way fire-fighters are currently trained throughout the entire region.

However this project is as daunting as it is exciting and I would be extremely grateful if I could pick your brains from time to time. I have to say though that reading your book is extremely encouraging in itself in my little quest to make the troops safer.  Well-done mate.

Many thanks again John

Kind regards

Dave Williams

Hampshire                                                         9 October 2007

Hi John

On Saturday I get your book! Thank you very much for this!

I took it and on my first free Sunday since weeks, I read nearly half the book!

Just to let me say: Really great!

This is the book I have been waiting for! I can find all my minds in your book!

With great respect! Bravo John!
Jürgen Ernst

Germany                                                          10 October 2007

www.feuerwehr-boeblingen.de

John,

I enjoyed reading your book, but it is going to take a couple more reads to get the concepts ingrained and changing the way old hands think takes time. I am glad that I attended your lecture before I read the text. This will be a must read for every fire-fighter.

Great article, as are all of your articles (Articles Section). How much can we learn?

If, we take the time to study/read the gases? As dynamic as fire is, each fire has more similarities than differences. When I look at case studies I want to revert to the basic training I had years ago. I keep telling myself that it is physics, not chemistry that is the major concern.

Have a great weekend.

Melvin Byrne

Virginia. USA                                                    13 October 2007

TESTIMONALS CFBT Conference Böblingen.

10 November 2007 T

n

d it is a great source of encouragement to myself to know Bonsoir John

So how was your “Sunday burn” in Germany?

Hope you enjoyed it and that you re now safe back home, after your trip;

Sincerely, thanks again for your Passion and “cartoons”, meeting you again was a “grand” moment (each time I learn so much), and I had almost read all your book by the time we arrived home, last Sunday!  I like it a lot, because I find its knowledge very “practical”, so close to “real life” Fire-Fighting, back to the “basics” that we shall all master in order to perform our job more safely and efficiently.

Very great also your case story presentation at the Böblingen CFBT Conference, but on the DVD it is in German! Please if you get a chance to mail me the English version, I’d rather translate it to the troops from English than German! Good Luck with the sales of the book.

Etienne Semence

Yvelines. France.                                   13 November 2007

Hello John!

Like I promise, when I come home I will send you a mail, and here I am. I start to read your book. For now is very interesting. Most of things from first chapter I already know, but your style of writing makes it more interesting, it is like you chat with reader. I read just first and half of second chapter…….

With Respect

Mario Rogina. Dipl. Ing.

Varazdin. Croatia.                                   15 November 2007

Dear John,

I am just finished reading your book. Excellent!!

The facts you tell should be part of a standard smoke diver training, even 21 years after two fire-fighters lost their lives in Sweden. The fire service in many countries is far away from such standards. There is still much to be done.

I am looking forward to your new book. Do you know already the time of release?

Kind regards

Dietmar Kuhn.

Germany.                                              19 November 2007

Hi John

This is Stefan, we met in Böblingen …

I soaked over the half of your book in the last 2 days… and I love it… Thank you for that great experience on Sunday and please excuse my poor English…. Hope we can meet again in England or on any other place on that world.

Stefan

Germany.                                         20 November 2007

Dear John

I’ve just finished your book, for the third time! Many thanks to help in the way of safety and knowledge for us.

I’ve so many questions, for you now!

I will send it to you step by step, because it will be too long for to write it all in one e-mail.

I was very happy to see you again in Böblingen, ten years after our first meeting in Manchester.

Ronan Vinay

Nantes. France                                 20 November 2007

FURTHER TESTIMONIALS

John,

Thanks very much for the book of all the days to land on my doorstep it arrived on my birthday.Thanks for the kind words as well, its always been a pleasure mate to meet up and any time I can help I will. I hope the book gets the exposure it deserves, I’m not going to say gets the success it deserves because to get the book published in the first place proves its a success already. Well Done mucker.

I am about half way through the book the little joke about the over-weight fire-fighter had me in stitches. Just a couple back for you. I served my time at GEC in Trafford Park. If you can remember, the place was massive. On my first day I asked how many people worked there a foreman said quick as a flash about half of them. Obviously not said about a grafter such as I.

Take Care

Mark Jones (Jonesy)

Trafford. England                                   28 November 2007

Hallo John,

Sorry for my very bad English. The Book is very great, and thank you for signature. I’m very happy. I will never forget this day. We will see as again. I hope.

Cheers

Sven Antica

Böblingen. Germany                              1 December 2007

Hi John,

On a wet and miserable Sunday morning I have finally remembered to visit your web site, it is excellent and I have read the feedback you have got on your excellent book. As you know I am just a member of the public who over many years has watched firemen and women rushing into fires and just admired there dedication and public service and courage in putting themselves directly in harms way to save others in danger.

Having read your book I now realise how cool calm and collected fire personnel have to stay whilst “under pressure” in assessing how to fight a fire whilst saving others and most importantly protecting themselves and their colleagues at times of high tension and extreme danger, it seems to me that all fire personnel should read this book and realise there is a safer way to fight fires.

Regards

Allen Jones

York. England                                           2 December 2007

Hi John

I just finished reading your book and was very pleased with it.  It captured very well everything about fire behavior (and fire fighter behaviors) that we have discussed many times over the years. I am hopeful that fire fighters in the United States will start to pay attention to the basics we have neglected teaching for so long. We need every edge we can get to combat an “enemy” we keep giving the advantage to, either through poor tactics and decisions based on an incomplete

knowledge of fire behaviors, and light weight construction methods that do not account for the effects fire have on structural elements.

As I reflect back over the fires I have fought over the years without fully understanding what I was exposing myself and my crews to, it is frightening to me to realize how many times I was LUCKY as opposed to smart. Such as going in through an open outside slider door that was like walking into a black looking glass (the definition from outside to inside was that stark) should have been certain death;we were lucky the

roof vented itself and the explosive mixture we were in stayed rich enough in that room while we sprayed the ceiling.The application of water at the right time was luck, not skill and if I had to do that one over again, water from the outside in the air track first would have been the safe route to go. Learning that smoke burns and CFBT methodology have certainly shown me I was just following the bad examples of those who taught me.

Unites States fire fighters (and the rest of you too!), take heed.  The days of being aggressive for the sake of being aggressive need to end.

Risk benefit analysis along with an excellent knowledge of the science in John’s book can change our fire fighting paradigm that will increase our chances of going home safely every night.  Believe!  If you are skeptical, I’ll share my experience with you because I was too when I first met John years ago; John can forward my contact information.

Read the book with an open mind and you will be on the path to

enlightenment!

Warren Whitley

Virginia. USA.                                               7 January 2008.

Hi John

I am a CFFT Trainer for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and have just read your excellent book, which I have enjoyed very much.

I have some questions which, hopefully you may be able to answer.

1. Is there anything to be gained by using a water spray to inert cold static grey smoke in a compartment which is separate from the closed up fire compartment before ventilating the cold grey static smoke & in general can you do any good applying water to cold smoke that is in a separate compartment from the closed up fire compartment?

2. What pressure does the Mitre operate at?

3. Is there any where you know of that safely does multi- compartment CFFT training using live fire which would allow us to practice the SOPs in your book?

4. Do you have a contact for Huhta gloves?

Many thanks for producing such a great piece of work, John.

Hope to hear from you soon. All the Best.

Rob Munday

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service     17 January 2008.

I loved reading your book, especially your little stories and jokes cracked in the chapters made it a fun to read!

What is more, in my opinion it is a very important step to bring into firefighters’ minds that smoke actually burns and teach them all the aspects related to air management, air tracks, smoke behaviour and fire dynamics.

We all have to keep on working hard in improving our abilities and that of our brother and sister firefighters in fighting fires in safer and more efficient way than we have in the past. In my opinion, your book is a step in the right direction!

Adrian Ridder

Germany                                             10 February 2008.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the above readers for their kind comments and for granting permission to post these extracts from their testimonials and it is a great source of encouragement to realise that it seems I have pitched the book at the right level and it is going to be of use to fire-fighters reading it and maybe achieve it’s original objective of ensuring fire-fighters return home safe to their families after a tour of duty.

John Taylor                                           17 February 2008.