Should Engineers Think More Like Firefighters?

Published on October 13, 2026

Most people think that fire protection engineers and firefighters have the same goals and motivations, but that isn't always the case. Those slight misalignments and misunderstandings can sometimes result in poor designs and unsafe conditions for responding crews during an emergency. Today on the podcast, we hear about what happened when a group of fire protection engineers visited a fire academy to run through drills, talk with firefighters, and look at fire protection through a different lens. What did they learn? How did it help them do their jobs? Is this something more engineers should do? This episode was recorded live at the 2026 NFPA Conference in Las Vegas.

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