The fire services internationally are just one of the players in preventing the occurrence of wildfires. Developers, planners and other professionals have their part to play in ensuring that any residential development is constructed in lands that are risk-assessed for their susceptibility to wildland fire, writes Pat Hunt.

The Engineers Journal is publishing a number of abstracts from the final-year dissertation of Engineers Ireland's accredited BEng in Fire Safety Engineering at ATU Donegal. The three titles include: 'The efficacy of extinguishing agents on electric vehicle fires'; 'Comparison of fire safety equipment in rental dwellings and private dwellings'; and 'An investigation into the practicalities and legalities of controlled burning within Ireland'. 

In the four years since the Grenfell Tower fire, which led to the unconscionable deaths of 72 people, one key question remains unanswered: are Britain's buildings any safer? The short answer is: not yet.

We have a chance to build back the world and build it back better, but we have to protect our resources such as our oceans when we do so. We need engineers to play their part in this new world, but we have to ensure that they always ask the 'Why', writes Patrick Calnan.

Sean Brady concludes this two-part article with a warning to engineers not to become over-reliant on their ‘tools’, but to consider how and when to apply them.

In this two-part article with a difference, Sean Brady looks further afield to explore how ‘expertise bias’ may cloud our judgment.