History of FSTAR

In January 2012, leading experts in fire service research and operations gathered for a “Changing Severity of Home Fires” workshop to review the latest research that would impact the fire/emergency service. The group mapped out a path for how to best use the studies to inform and train firefighters in the report Residential Fire Environment.

FSTAR: Fire Dynamics

The IAFC was awarded a Fire Prevention and Safety grant award to produce the first iteration of FSTAR. In this stage, FSTAR focused on translating emerging science and research on modern fire dynamics into simple, web-based toolkits. See our first Featured Studies on Fire Dynamics.

RESCUES

The IAFC also worked with the International Fire Research Center and Policy Institute (Institute) to develop the Researchers Creating Usable Emergency Solutions (RESCUES) project. Concentrating on health and wellness research, RESCUES built relationships with researchers and scientists working on a wide variety of fire/emergency service research. RESCUES also looked at how best to translate the science. An evaluation conducted by George Mason University found that fire/emergency service members preferred, and learned more, from focused, research-based fact sheets than from full research documents. See the RESCUES Featured Studies.

These projects worked to bring the information and knowledge learned through research to the forefront of the fire service

FSTAR Research

Launched in 2014, FSTAR Research focused on building a searchable repository of fire service research. Using lessons learned from the first FSTAR and RESCUES, we focused on improving the translation of research into Featured Studies. Try the FSTAR Search to find research.

FSTAR Health

Beginning in 2015, FSTAR Health focuses on firefighter health and wellness. Through the development of a Provider’s Guide to Firefighter Physicals FSTAR will develop clear guidance to medical providers on how to deliver optimal care to firefighters and continuously monitor their wellness due to the increased and unique risk of firefighting.