Background of Flow Path Management:

The Founder of Flow Path Management is Captain Trey Smith; Owner of Rescue North Carolina LLC

He is a 35-year veteran of the Charlotte Fire Department (NC). He has served as a company officer for over 28 years. (Ladder 1 & Engine 7)

Captain Smith started his career out as a fire explorer with the CFD in 1982 and also as a volunteer firefighter for 15 years until he began his career as a fire and technical rescue instructor. Mr. Smith has continued to serve as a volunteer firefighter for over 20 years and also served as a Post Advisor for the Charlotte Fire Dept. Fire Explorer Post #244 and as an Asst. Scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts of America.

Captain Smith also holds over 30+ IFSAC & Pro-Board accredited certifications in fire, specialized technical rescue, hazardous materials, and company & chief officer development programs including FEMA, & USFA/National Fire Academy coursework.

In addition to his certifications, since 1992, Mr. Smith has attained over 25+ fire and technical rescue IFSAC instructor qualifications in fire and specialized technical rescue from the State of North Carolina and Rescue 3 International.
Trey is the owner of Rescue North Carolina LLC. where he specializes in delivering Swiftwater and other technical rescue programs through the N.C. Office of the State Fire Marshall, Rescue 3 International, as well as, his customized courses through Rescue North Carolina.

Having worked as for the Charlotte Fire Department (NC) for almost 30 years, of which, 19 have been proudly serving as a Captain on on Ladder One in uptown Charlotte among the vastly growing population and high-rises in Center city. Responding to over 3500 incidents a year we are the busiest in the city these days. My experience working in the Center City have provided me with an abundance of opportunities to work alongside many great officers and firefighters who are passionate about this profession. My Battalion Chief is a seasoned veteran, as well of 35+ years on the job with extensive knowledge in every aspect of the job and has mentored me to become the officer I am today. So, in the summer of 2010, like most firefighters, I was aware of the NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratories (BFRL) from my coursework in B.S. Fire Science studies at the University of of Maryland; University College. One day, my Battalion Chief presented my firehouse with a video of the NIST testing on Governor’s Island concerning wind driven fire testing. After watching the video and hearing seasoned chief officers from the FDNY state that despite all of the resources of the FDNY they are losing firefighters to wind driven fires and the tactics once thought to be solid bread and butter operations were proving to be not only ineffective but the consequences are killing firefighters even while performing assaults of fire with large GPM handlines. To be quite honest, it rocked my world! I had never before thought the wind could overwhelm an interior structure fire. I was astonished at the power and influence wind had on our fireground tactics. I began to question why this information wasn’t being taught to our instructors? So, I embarked on a mission to begin educating firefighters across thee country about wind driven fires and their dangers but with a twist…

As a Fire & Technical Rescue Instructor for the past 20 years, I have come to the realization firefighters learn through practical hand’s n training or what I call 4th dimension training. Sure we can watch videos, listen to lectures, but where the learning takes place is experiencing the 4th dimension through sight, feel, touch. So, it became apparent to educate must incorporate live fire training.

Flow Path Studies by NIST, UL, ATF, & KTF:

After contacting Joe Starnes, I was reminded within just a few seconds of how much I really didn’t know about fire behavior. Using terms like, “under-pressure, over-pressure, neutral zone..” I found myself suddenly the instructor becoming the struggling student. I had no clue what Joe was talking about and all of this physics stuff. He invited me to participate in his Kill the Flashover project in Albemarle, NC in the Summer of 2012 where I was privileged to meet and learn from the pioneers of “Air Track firefighting. Great men like Chief Ed Hartin, John Taylor, Chief Shawn Oke, and Chief Jim Mastin, as well as Air Track instructors from the Martinsville and Prince William County Fire Departments. During my 5 days conducting the live fire training at Kill the Flashover, I had never before viewed fire behavior from the perspective of research and how the correlation between unburnt fire gases and oxygen concentrations can quickly trap firefighters.

I soon realized my mission had changed to not only learning about about wind-driven fires but these deadly air tracks that exist in every fire event that can lead to what my mentor Joe Starnes calls, an “Extreme Fire Event.” Whether vertically or horizontally air tracks are influenced by our actions on the fireground, as well as, a rapidly changing modern fueled environment.

In January 2011, Baltimore County Firefighter Mark Falkenhan, 43, was killed in the line of duty after becoming trapped on the 3rd floor of a 3-story garden apartment fire while performing search operations with a fire in the basement. Upon arrival, firefighters reported smoke showing and a civilian at a third floor window threatening to jump. Firefighters rescued the civilian over a ground ladder and stretched attack lines into the building. The incident commander requested a second alarm. Fire was found in multiple apartments and a second unconscious civilian victim was discovered and removed by firefighters. Firefighter/Paramedic Falkenhan, acting as the unit’s company officer, arrived on a heavy rescue truck approximately 11 minutes after the arrival of the first unit. Firefighter/Paramedic Falkenhan and another firefighter proceeded to the second floor of the fire occupancy. After searching the second floor and reporting high heat conditions, they proceeded to the third floor to continue searching the structure. The two firefighters completed the search of one third floor apartment and began to search a second apartment. Rapid fire progress occurred and trapped Firefighter/Paramedic Falkenhan and the other firefighter in the apartment. The incident commander observed the advancement of the fire and ordered an evacuation. Tones were sounded over the radio and air horns on fire apparatus were sounded. The firefighter with Firefighter/Paramedic Falkenhan was able to make it to a window and down a ladder. Firefighter/Paramedic Falkenhan declared a Mayday and advised the incident commander that he was trapped on the third floor. Firefighters accessed the apartment where Firefighter/Paramedic Falkenhan was trapped over ground ladders and an aerial ladder. He was located and removed from the structure. Despite efforts by firefighters and medical personnel, Firefighter/Paramedic Falkenhan died of injuries he received in the fire. His death was caused by burns. Investigation and research by the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms led researchers and investigators to determine the flow path created during this fire contributed to extreme fire conditions to rapidly travel upward through the structure overwhelming operating crews. In 2013 & 2014, the International Fire Service Instructors funded a project called “Spartanburg Burns” , a fire research project that NIST and UL collaborated together in Spartanburg, SC and New York City using several acquired structures to study the effects of “Flow Paths” on structure fires. The findings from researchers from NIST and UL were delivered to FDIC and several large scale conferences that is finally gaining the attention of today’s fire service. Flow path is not new to the fire service the understanding of the science and physics is what is new. We are discovering the tactics in our promotional books may not be as accurate as we once thought. What was once a general belief is now being disputed through technology.

Our Purpose:

The intention of Flow Path Management is simple….to save firefighter lives through education by recognizing and mitigating of flow path fire events!

We accomplish through presenting firefighter safety and survival training through mitigation and recognition of potentially extreme fire conditions such as flashovers to reduce the potential for being exposed to extreme fire events such as flashovers, backdrafts, wind driven fires, and more. This is accomplished through an extensive lecture and several aspects designed to progressively introduce extreme fire behavior through demonstrations and live fire training experiences.

Today’s technology uses thermo-data research and involves imagery, thermo-coupler data, computer and small-scale modeling, as well as, lab test that have never been available until now. We are now able to bring the lab and onto the fireground and experience real tabulated data under actual fireground conditions.
Research by organizations such as:

-National Institute of Standards & Technology; Building Fire Research Laboratory (NIST/BFRL)
-Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL)
-Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms Fire Research Laboratories (ATF-FRL)
-Project Kill The Flashover
-International Compartment Fire Behavior Instructors

are validating some fireground tactics practiced and taught for years in the U.S. fire service pose significant risks to today’s firefighters in a radically changing structural and fuel package environment. Changing structural characteristics, home furnishing flammability properties, and heat release rates are resulting in extreme fire behavior events sooner into the fire attack with twice the heat encountered by our predecessors. This trend will continue to jeopardize the safety of fire attack crews as fires continue to be engaged in a traditional fashion.

Starting the Research… Killing the Flashover

In researching the topic of wind-driven fires, I contacted a fellow rescue instructor in the Prince William Co., Va Fire Department about a recent LODD they experienced invovling a wind-driven fire event. Technician Kyle Wilson of the Prince William County, Va. Fire Department died in the line of duty on April 16, 2007 while performing search and rescue operations at a structure fire. On that day, the area was under a high-wind advisory as a nor’eastern storm moved along the East Coast of the U.S. The region experienced sustained winds of 25 mph with gusts up to 48 mph at the time of the fire.
Technician Wilson became trapped and was unable to locate an immediate exit out of the hostile environment and issued several mayday radio transmissions. Despite repeated rescue attempts, crews reported encountering “extreme fire behavior” and were forced from the structure as the house began to collapse around them. A departmental investigation team later concluded “extreme fire conditions” involving air-influenced fire behavior and development played a significant role in the rapid progression of fire travel throughout the structure that trapped Technician Wilson.

The Prince William Fire Department set out to learn more about air influenced fires following Kyles death and how these incidents threaten firefighter safety. Since 2007, the department enlisted the help of fire instructors and researchers from across the globe to research flow path and wind-driven structural fires. During their research, it was quickly discovered Technician Wilson’s tragedy wasn’t necessarily about the wind but about the influence of air flow inside of a structure contributes towards fire growth and progression. Their research led them to two gentleman named John Taylor and Joe Starnes. JohnTaylor is the author of “Smoke Burns” a book that would foever change my perspective on firefighting. Joe Starnes is a retired Fire Chief with an Engineering background who started a grass roots fire research project called “Kill the Flashover”.