Benjamin Walker (firefighter)
Benjamin Walker (born 1980) is a British firefighter, author, and occupational safety professional. Walker specialises in teaching Fire Service Instructors and Commanders worldwide in tactical firefighting and first-response command with co-Author and business partner Shan Raffel. Walker's teachings on using science and engineering to enhance tactical firefighting have been frequently used and also cited in academic papers on Fire Dynamics as being one a small amount of textbooks geared to operational firefighters on scientific and engineering subjects[1] These books are recommended reading for all those undertaking the Institution of Fire Engineers' examinations[2]. These books have been reviewed critically positively by purchasers, currently holding 4.9 out of 5 star rating on Amazon.[3]
Firefighter and training
Walker served in the then known as Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade[4] as an operational Officer with command experience of combined firefighting and live rescue operations, epitomised by the command of a large fire and rescue of multiple persons at an incident in Gateshead in 2010[5].
He later worked as a Tactical Firefighting and Live Fire Instructor for the London Fire Brigade and Babcock International Training partnership In 2014 and 2015 he travelled through South America as a guest Instructor for the International Fire and Rescue Association on missions 51 and 56 which was documented in FIRE magazine[6] and also reported on on by Jim Dave in International Firefighter Magazine issue 52 [7]
Author, writer and commentator
Walker is a noted writer and commentator in the field of Fire and Rescue and Emergency Preparedness. Walker's books include Fire Dynamics for Firefighters[8], Reading Fire[9] and Fighting Fire[10]. He has also been a subject matter expert for Russia Today News.[11]
Walker presented at the annual Fire Department Instructors Conference from 2015[12] to 2018. FDIC's 2018’s “Fun Fire Science” delivered by Walker was reported as a crowd-pleasing event with audience participation noted[13] with his speeches and books noted in magazines such as Fire Engineering (USA) [14]
Controversy and Grenfell warnings
Controversy arose, when it transpired that contents of Walker's 2016 textbook "Fire Dynamics for Firefighters" contained details of external fire spread of high rise buildings and how to prepare and fight these.
London Fire Brigade Commissioner’s Dany Cotton’s statement to the official inquiry that the Grenfell fire disaster had no precedent[15] and could not be prepared were in direct contrast to information contained within Walker's "Fire Dynamics for Firefighters" on external fire spread, which as mentioned and cited within this article, was already recommended reading for Fire Officers studying for Institution of Fire Engineers Examinations. By extension this should have been read by London Fire Brigade personnel studying for these examinations. These two contrasting viewpoints, in textbook form from Walker's 2016 textbook and Cotton's verbally expressed statements in 2018 have not been debated, or explored further by the Grenfell Inquiry which covers the 2017 tragedy[16]
Walker had also previously gone on record in 2016 UK national broadsheet newspaper The Guardian warning of cuts to Firefighter training and consequential effects [17]An April 2017 journal article in "Fire Risk Management" [18] also stated concerns at the lack of knowledge of building and construction and it’s relation to frontline firefighting tactics with potential for disastrous and total building losses and severe losses of life. This journal article was reposted in January 2021 on Walker's LinkedIn page.
Business and corporate interests
Walker is currently serving his tenure as Managing Director of Ignis Global Ltd[19], a UK based Fire, Safety and Security Consultancy.
Books
Compartment Firefighting Series by Ben Walker with Shan Raffel
- Fire Dynamics for Firefighters (Pavilion Media, 2016), ISBN 9781911028321 Search this book on
. - Reading Fire (with Shan Raffel, Pavilion Media, 2017), ISBN 9781911028734 Search this book on .
- Fighting Fire (with Shan Raffel, Pavilion Media, 2017) ISBN 9781911028741 Search this book on .
References
External links
John T Ghillie (talk) 13:29, 30 January 2021 (UTC)
Benjamin Walker (Firefighter)
This article "Benjamin Walker (firefighter)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Benjamin Walker (firefighter). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ Johansson, Nils; Svensson, Stefan (2019). "Review of the Use of Fire Dynamics Theory in Fire Service Activities". Fire Technology. 55 (1): 81–103. doi:10.1007/s10694-018-0774-3. ISSN 0015-2684.
- ↑ Institution of Fire Engineers, Institution of Fire Engineers (30 January 2021). "Recommended Reading List" (PDF). Retrieved 30 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ [https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1911028324/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_sr?
ie=UTF8&filterByStar=all_stars&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar "Amazon.co.uk:Customer reviews: Fire Dynamics for Firefighters: Compartment Firefighting Series: Volume 1"] Check
|url=value (help). www.amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-30. line feed character in|url=at position 80 (help) - ↑ "Seven people flee Gateshead flats block blaze". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. Reach Plc. 22 February 2010. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Chronicle, Evening (2010-02-22). "Seven people flee Gateshead flats block blaze". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ↑ "Ballyclare donates to Argentina Fire Mission". Fire Magazine (Press release). Pavilion Media. 8 March 2016. Diary Entries by Convoy Commander Jim Dave and Instructor Ben Walker:Convoy 56 Argentina. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Dave, Jim (2016-12-05). "Ballyclare donates to Argentinian Fire and Rescue Services". International Fire Fighter. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ↑ Walker, Benjamin (2016). Fire Dynamics for Firefighters. Brighton, UK: Pavilion Media. ISBN 9781911028321. Search this book on
- ↑ Walker1, Raffel2, Benjamin1, Shan2 (2017). Reading Fire. Brighton, UK: Pavilion Media. ISBN 9781911028734. Search this book on
- ↑ Walker1, Raffel2, Benjamin1, Shan2 (2017). Fighting Fire. Brighton UK: Pavilion Media. ISBN 9781911028741. Search this book on
- ↑ Russia Today News (15 July 2017). ""Were there loopholes or shortcuts made?" #GrenfellTower". Russia Today News. Retrieved 30 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "FDIC 2015 Instructor Profile: Benjamin Walker". Fire Engineering. 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ↑ "On Target Preparedness - Always there when You need us! - Links". ontargetprep.com. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ↑ Gagliano, Anne (2017-05-04). ""Who IS This Guy?"". Fire Engineering. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ↑ "Fire chief: I would change nothing about Grenfell response". the Guardian. 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ↑ "Homepage | Grenfell Tower Inquiry". www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ↑ Walker, Benjamin (2016-01-26). "Cuts are hitting UK firefighters where it matters most: training to fight fires". the Guardian. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
- ↑ Walker, Benjamin (April 2017). "Critical Path: Are Firefighters prepared for Building Fires? Fire Risk Management Journal April 2017.pdf". Google Docs re-use of www.fpa.co.uk. Fire Protection Association. Retrieved 2021-01-30. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Ignis Global, Ignis Global (26 January 2021). "Ignis Global Ltd Website". Ignis Global Ltd. Wix. Retrieved 27 January 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)[permanent dead link]
