interFIRE CD`S

[TJHELMS]

Has anybody been using interFIRE the virtual reality fire investigation CD? I just received it and had a couple of problems loading the program, but after a couple of tries it seems to be running great. These disks have an unbelievable amount of resource files to help with any fire investigation. And you can`t beat the price,FREE. Each fire dept gets a free copy from USFA.

[Capez]

HUH!I'll have to have that one looked into! Sounds cool. Is it anything like FAST or FASTLite?

[TJHELMS]

You can order your free copy for your dept by going to www.interfire.org. (http://www.interfire.org.)
At the bottom of that page you can click on "I want my copy of interFIRE VR." You can order additional copies of the double cd`s for around $9.00 if individuals want their own copy.What is FAST or FASTlite?

[George Wendt, CFI]

INTERFIRE VR is a virtual reality training program for fire investigators. Ittakes you to the fire scene and allows you to view it from all angles and to make decisions about how the investigation will proceed. It also offers you the opportunity to conduct interviews, assign personnel to security or canvassing functions, etc. It is an outstanding tool for training new investigators. I recently used it to conduct a practical exercise in a college class I was teaching on fire investigation. It is well worth the effort to get it.

One caution. You need a very fast computer with a lot of memory to run it. They recommend I think 200mhz processor and at least 64 mb RAM. I ran it on a laptop with a 400 mhz processor with 128 memory and had a few glitches.

FAST and FASTlite are mathematical fire modelling programs. They take a fire that is user-defined, in a compartment that is user defined and makes a mathematical prediction of how the fire will develop. To use it properly, it takes an intimate knowledge of fire dynamics and fire science. The more complicated fire modelling programs can handle multi-compartment fires and provide multiple areas of measurement.

George