{"id":84604,"date":"2026-09-17T09:24:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T07:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazin.tu-braunschweig.de\/?post_type=kb_magazin&p=84604"},"modified":"2026-09-18T07:53:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T05:53:59","slug":"the-fire-disaster-at-duesseldorf-airport-was-a-turning-point","status":"publish","type":"kb_magazin","link":"https:\/\/magazin.tu-braunschweig.de\/en\/m-post\/the-fire-disaster-at-duesseldorf-airport-was-a-turning-point\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe fire disaster at D\u00fcsseldorf Airport was a turning point\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

For 40 years, the Braunschweig Fire Safety Days have been bringing together science and practice. To mark this anniversary, we look back over the past four decades with Professor Jochen Zehfu\u00df, scientific conference chair and head of the field of study on fire safety at the Institute for Building Materials, Solid Construction and Fire Safety (iBMB) at Technische Universit\u00e4t Braunschweig. We also want to ask him what topics are currently driving fire research and what fascinates him personally about the subject of fire safety.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Professor Jochen Zehfu\u00df. Photo credits: Institute for Building Materials, Solid Construction and Fire Protection\/TU Braunschweig<\/p><\/div>\n

Professor Zehfu\u00df, looking back, which developments in fire protection have been the most significant?<\/h3>\n

One of the defining events was the D\u00fcsseldorf airport fire in 1996, which was caused by welding work in a terminal. Seventeen people died. The damage to property amounted to around half a billion marks. Two terminals were severely damaged by the fire; one had to be demolished and rebuilt. The disaster led to a fundamental overhaul of the regulations and the establishment of fire safety as a distinct planning discipline. Fire safety certificates now had to be issued. New regulations were introduced concerning smoke detectors, sprinkler systems, escape routes and the control of lifts in the event of a fire. This disaster marked a turning point that brought about lasting changes to fire safety.<\/p>\n

One development we have consistently followed at the Fire Safety Days is that of fire safety engineering methods \u2013 in other words, the use of simulations to provide evidence. Much of the underlying work in this area is based on research carried out at TU Braunschweig, particularly regarding high-temperature material properties and experimental testing. Ultimately, these simulation methods must be verified and validated.<\/p>\n

What role do the Fire Safety Days play in the transfer of knowledge between universities, local authorities and industry?<\/h3>\n

I don\u2019t think we need to be modest about this at all. The Fire Safety Days play a very significant role in the transfer of knowledge. From the very beginning, the idea was to translate new scientific results into practical applications. The composition of the participants reflects this: many practitioners \u2013 including representatives from local authorities, fire services, engineering firms, industry and insurance companies \u2013 meet with people conducting research into fire safety.<\/p>\n

The Fire Safety Days address highly topical issues. New findings from research are communicated to the practical sector, thereby laying the foundations for new regulations and standards. One example of this is the Timber Construction Directive, as well as the fire safety design rules \u2013 the so-called Eurocodes \u2013 which are regularly discussed at the conference. A very recent example is the fire service\u2019s recommendations for fighting fires involving high-voltage storage systems, i.e. large batteries.<\/p>\n

Which topics are currently the main focus of fire safety research? Where do you currently see the greatest challenges?<\/h3>\n

The trend towards more sustainable and resource-efficient construction naturally also concerns us in fire safety research \u2013 for example, the question of which specific aspects of fire safety need to be taken into account in timber buildings. Or how a fire develops in a timber structure with insulation made from seaweed or hemp. Our aim is to find fire-safe solutions. This applies equally to eco-concretes. If, for example, recycled aggregates or novel cements are used, it must of course still be ensured that the structural elements formed from them are just as safe in the event of a fire as conventional ones.<\/p>\n

In recent large-scale experiments at the Centre for Fire Research (ZeBra) here at the TU, the focus was also on firefighting for high-voltage vehicle batteries and alternative escape route concepts<\/a>. These are necessary when a second escape route cannot be guaranteed, because the fire service cannot access the building via a ladder in the case of multi-storey extensions, and access areas are either lacking or blocked.<\/p>\n

Another major topic is simulation models, which are only as good as their input data. In this area, we at ZeBra are ideally placed to develop innovative test concepts and derive relevant data from them.<\/p>\n

Looking even further into the future: which research topics will become particularly important?<\/h3>\n

Clearly, these include wildfires and their impact on towns and villages. We have seen this all too clearly this year, particularly in southern Europe. But wildfires have also occurred frequently in Lower Saxony and Brandenburg. We will be conducting more research into this in the coming years.<\/p>\n

ZeBra is also concerned with the development of prediction models to reliably forecast the spread of fire, as well as fire suppression models. Development in this area is still in its infancy. As already mentioned, the investigation of the fire behaviour of sustainable and resource-efficient materials is another topic on which we will be conducting even more intensive research in future.<\/p>\n

What originally motivated you to pursue fire safety as a field of scientific research?<\/h3>\n

As a civil engineer, I have always been interested in the question of how a building or a structural element \u2013 such as a column or a floor \u2013 can be built to be fire-resistant. How does a fire progress, what exactly happens, how does the temperature develop, and what gases are released? I also found it fascinating that, compared to other scientific disciplines within Civil Engineering, fire safety is a relatively young discipline and much of it is still in its infancy. However, this also means that knowledge is growing rapidly and that, with the excellent research infrastructure we have here at TU Braunschweig, we can make an important contribution.<\/p>\n

What can members of the public do themselves to make their homes safer?<\/h3>\n

Generally speaking, homes are relatively safe. Nevertheless, most people \u2013 around 85 per cent \u2013 die in fires within their own four walls. On the one hand, this is because people feel safest there and may be careless; on the other hand, of course, they also spend a large part of their lives at home. The main causes of fires are faulty and overheated electrical appliances, as well as open flames.<\/p>\n

Smoke alarms should, hopefully, now be installed in every home. However, I would also recommend keeping a fire-extinguishing spray at home so that you can react quickly in an emergency. Vigilance and awareness of the dangers are key. It\u2019s actually quite straightforward: you have to make sure, for example, that you don\u2019t simply leave a pan of milk on a switched-on hob and that electrical appliances don\u2019t overheat. Even though this is all common knowledge, these are still the most common causes of fire.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much for the interview.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 40 years, the Braunschweig Fire Safety Days have been … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":84494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","class_list":["post-84604","kb_magazin","type-kb_magazin","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","kb_cat_magazin-research","kb_tags-civil-engineering","kb_tags-future-city","kb_tags-materials","kb_tags-sustainability","kb_tags-transfer-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cThe fire disaster at D\u00fcsseldorf Airport was a turning point\u201d - TU Braunschweig | Blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For 40 years, the Braunschweig Fire Safety Days have been bringing together science and practice. 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