Understanding the principles of fire safety is important as it helps inform designers, integrators and maintainers (practitioners) of fire safety systems and equipment.  The principles are built on a foundational knowledge and understanding of combustion and the byproducts of the combustion reaction.

In this series of evolving articles we unpack these principles to assist and enable readers to have a better understanding of the topics discussed.

Without a foundation in these subjects, practitioners may not implement solutions that adequately solve the problem for which they are intended. Worse still, a solution could be implemented that adversely affects life safety and property protection.