Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers

In the 1960s, a massive fire broke out in a Syrian city, considered one of the worst disasters to happen in the Arab world in the last two centuries. On November 13, 1960, in the city of Al-Hasakah in northern Syria, a fire broke out in a cinema hall packed with nearly 500 children who were there on a school trip to the "Amuda" cinema. The fire that ill-fated day killed 200 children, none of them older than 12. The Amuda cinema building was old, with crumbling walls made of highly flammable construction materials, and it had only a single exit, on top of a complete lack of the firefighting equipment we know today. Fire incidents have been happening in countries around the world for hundreds of years, and they've caused the deaths and injuries of thousands of people. But the destruction they cause to buildings has become far less severe over the past few decades, and deaths and injuries in any given fire around the world rarely exceed a few dozen people now, thanks to the development of fire protection systems, technologies, and tools invented by "fire protection engineers." This shows you just how important the work these experts do really is. A fire protection engineer is tasked with preventing fires from breaking out in buildings by recommending construction practices and the best fire-resistant building materials. They're responsible for developing measures that help detect smoke when a fire breaks out and prevent it from spreading, in addition to designing safe routes and exits for people to escape buildings. They're also the ones who design and install fire protection systems and tools, such as sprinkler systems and fire extinguishers. All of this helps reduce loss of life and property and prevents fires from spreading to neighboring buildings.

Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa