IFIW stands for International Fire Instructor’s Workshop. It is a gathering of firefighters, instructors and scientists that happens every year. they share knowledge and experiences. the goal of IFIW is learning from eachother and share knowledge worldwide amongst the fire servce.
IFIW was founded in 2008 by Stefan Svensson from Sweden. He was working for MSB at the time. It is an organisation which is responsible for firefighter training in Sweden. They are developing knowledge as well. Currently he is an associate professor at Lund University. His responsabilities include experiments into fire and firefighting.
The workshop took place every year since 2008. The following countries were visited:
2008: Sweden
2009: Australia
2010: Canada
2011: US
2012: Germany
2013: Croatia
2014: Poland
2015: Belgium
2016: Canada
2017: Hong Kong
2018: Sweden
2019: The Netherlands
In 2020, The United States will be the host country.
IFIW 2008 - Sweden
The first IFIW meeting was held in 2008 in Revinge. A limited number of people met to share ideas. John McDonough wrote a short report about the meeting. It can be found here.
IFIW 2011 - US
In 2011, IFIW was organized in conjunction with FDIC (Fire Department Instructors Conference, a huge conference which is attended yearly by 30.000 firefighters). FDIC takes place in Indianapolis. The two-day IFIW event was accessible for paying viewers.
The abstracts of all presentations can be found here.
Karel Lambert delivered a presentation about the double LODD at the Dieweg Fire in Brussels.
IFIW 2013 - Croatia
Croatia was host for IFIW 2013. In Sapjane, there is a small fire academy where a select group of experts gathered to exchange ideas during a couple of days. This was followed by a two-day conference for the Croatian fire service.
Karel Lambert delivered a presentation about possible solutions for rapid fire progress.
Nicolas Tramontana gave the presentation "Fire gases - Risk of long term exposure on firefighter's health".
IFIW 2014 - Poland
Poland was the guest country in 2014. Szymon Kokot-Góra organised the workshop in conjunction with an open conference.
The presentation of Dario Gauss during IFIW: high-rise firefighting
The presentation of Michael Reick during IFIW: Smoke flow control and related tactical issues
The agenda of the conference can be found here.
The presentation by Stefan Svensson: Fire Ventilation: not any panacea
The presentation by Ed Hartin: live fire training as a simulation: the role of fidelity
The presentation by Peter McBride: Industrial health & hygiene
A number of lectures was filmed:
The presentation by John McDonouh and Karel Lambert: Training with intent.
A written form of this presentation was published in Przeglad pozarniczy, a Polish magazine for firefighters. The article is available in 5 languages in the articles section of this website.
Michael Reick was also present at IFIW 2014. He wrote a text on smoke flow control.
IFIW 2015 - Belgium
In 2015 IFIW took place at PIVO, the fire academie of Vlaams-Brabant.
Besides the workshop, which took three days, there was an open conference.
You can find the program of the conference here.
The presentation of Juan Carlos Campaña: Survival of victims in structural fires: the firefighter misconception
The presentation of Steve Kerber: Why the fire service needs research
The presentation of Stefan Svensson: Fight fires, not progress!
The presentation of Stéphane Morizot: From fire behaviour to teaching fire fighting
The presentation of Paul Grimwood: Adequate firefighting water
The presentation of Ed Hartin: First due questions: expectations and decision making
The presentation of Art Arnalich: Tools, Techniques and Tactics (3T) in Combination for Firefighting
The presentation of Dogan Gurer: Fireground Tactics: a firefighter's experience in Istanbul
The presentation of Christian Gryspeert: CFD - a firefighting perspective
The presentation of Shan Raffel: Fire Fighting Operations in Modern Road Tunnels
IFIW 2016 - Canada
The presentation of Peter Ehler: Leadership and Management
The presentation of Jerry Tracy: Science vs Experience: part 1 part 2
The presentation of Christoph Gruber: Three eyes - a multi-view case study: presentation video
The presentation of Karel Lambert: The use of water within the fire service
The presentation of Jason Caughey: Honoring Tradition - leading change
IFIW 2017 - Hong Kong
The meeting in Hong Kong was organized by Dr. Raymond Yu, the officer commanding the CFBT-Unit of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department, and his team. A countless number of interesting lectures was on the program.
The presentation of Christoph Gruber: Debrief in training
The presentation of Stefan Svensson: Construction fires
The presentation of Hans Nieling: A view into the near future of firefighting
The presentation of Katherine Lamb: Decision making & operational discretion
The presentation of Peter McBride: Tactical Rehabilitation
The presentation of Jerry Tracy: High Rise: Taking command - part 1 Part 2
The presentation of Dario Gaus: 10 years of CFBT- what have we learned?
The presentation of Karel Lambert: Insulation fire in Evere
The presentation of Jason Caughey: The power of reps
The presentation of Ed Hartin: Effective exterior streams
The presentation of Stuart Helmore: Structural firefighting training in the MFS - Learning from Beverly
IFIW 2018 - Sweden
You can find the program of the open conference of IFIW 2018 here.
During IFIW, professor Kalev Kuklane gave a presentation about heat stress and protective clothing. You can find the video here.
The night before the open IFIW conference, Ed Hartin gave an "ED Talk". It was a very inspiring lecture.
The presentation of Peter McBride: Fire literacy & applied fire dynamics
The presentation of Szymon Kokot-Góra: Interior fires: in the buildings and in the hearts, a polish example - part 1 Part 2 Video
The presentation of Jens Stiegel: From blockbusters and mass evacuation Video
The presentation of Art Arnalich: Performance Based Design for Firefighter Safety
The presentation of Ricardo Weewer: A refreshed view on firefighting Video
The presentation (video) of Steve Kerber: What we have learned in burning buildings over the past 10 years
The presentation of Raymond Yu: Introduction of high-rise building firefighting in Hong Kong Video
The presentation of Stefan Särdqvist: The history of Swedish firefighting Video
The presentation of Ed Hartin: Learning from the experience of others Video
The presentation of Karel Lambert: Changing the Belgian fire service: what I've learnt Video
The presentation of John McDonough: The non-negotiables: from training to operations
IFIW 2019 - The Netherlands
In 2019, IFIW was organized by CFBT-NL and the fire academy in Arnhem.
You can find the program of the open conference here.
The presentation of Stefan Särdqvist: Three different modes of firefighting
The presentation of Ricardo Weewer
The presentation of Shan Raffel: Smarter Firefighting
The presentation (video) of Lars Axelsson: Straight and fog streams for interior attack
The presentation of Steve Brisebois: The effects of live fire burn training on instinctive reaction: Part 1 Part 2