Paul Grimwood, an internationally recognized pioneer in fire safety and Fire Engineering author, has passed away.
Considered by his colleagues, friends, and peers to be a global innovator and pioneer in fire safety, Paul Grimwood, PhD, FIFireE, served as principal fire safety engineer at Kent Fire & Rescue (UK).
Grimwood joined the London Fire Brigade in 1971 at the age of 18. Even with all of his years in the fire service, Grimwood chose to remain an officer throughout his career. He has been quoted as saying, “I wanted to stay on a fire truck. Because I love firefighting (the real thing). I still strive for improvement every day in all areas of the fire department, even though I am no longer in active service. I see every incident and every exercise as an opportunity to get better. I encourage my colleagues to approach their profession in this way. I try to inspire them to become fitter, faster and smarter in their work. But also to enjoy what you do together, because that is the most important thing.”1 Grimwood subsequently joined Kent Fire & Rescue as principal fire engineer in 2009.
Throughout his career, Grimwood authored/coauthored several influential articles and books focusing on topics including smoke gas cooling, tactical ventilation, and tactical/critical flow rate. He earned a master’s degree in fire engineering and progressed to also earn a PhD.
Grimwood wrote “’New Wave’ 3-D Water Fog Tactics: A Response to Direct Attack Advocates,” which appeared in Fire Engineering in October 2000. He was also mentioned in the Fire Engineering articles “Water Fog in Western Europe” (September 1995) and “Little Drops of Water: 50 Years Later, Part 2,” by Andrew A. Fredericks (March 2000).
His books included Euro Firefighter 2: 6,701 Building Fires (2017), Euro Firefighter: Global Firefighting Strategy and Tactic, Command and Control and Firefighter Safety (2008), included 3D Fire Fighting: Training, Techniques, and Tactics, 2005 (John McDonough, Ed Hartin, Paul Grimwood, et al, 2005), and Fog Attack: Firefighting Strategy and Tactics—An International View (1992).
Said friend and Fire Engineering technical board member Jack J. Murphy: “Paul Grimwood was a global firefighting icon, on both sides of the pond. He was way ahead of his time in the fire service.
Paul was one of the individuals that Jerry Tracy and I asked to review our book, High-Rise Buildings: Understanding the Vertical Challenges. He called it the ‘bible’ and coming from a man like that, that was an honor.”
“He was also really just such a nice individual. I met him in New York around Christmas one year, and had never met him before, but the conversation was like I was his long-lost friend.”
Said Billy Goldfeder, FDIC instructor and Fire Engineering author: “When I think of the decades of work and research Paul did, one thing always comes to mind. Open your mind. Paul was among the first fire service leaders who started questioning ‘what we think we know‘ and applied fact based research by digging deep to determine if what we ‘thought’ was valid. Sometimes it was not. I remember reading some of his work in the early ’80s and it felt like a mix of fresh air (validating what I thought I knew) to some very uncomfortable feelings of ‘what I thought I knew’ was completely wrong. Paul forced us (sometimes aggressively) to understand the proven facts in fire tactics vs myth. Because of Paul’s lifelong work, more lives of civilians (and firefighters) have been saved. Paul will be sorely missed but his work changed our profession in a better, more effective direction impacting those who count on us the most—the public.”
Said Glenn Corbett, technical editor, Fire Engineering: “Paul Grimwood was a lifelong student of the fire service, focused on improving firefighting techniques. Despite the fact that he was an ocean away, his virtual presence in the United States was profound and will continue into the future. He will certainly be missed by many in the fire service.”
Corrections (9/26/2024): A previous version of this article stated the Grimwood had retired, when in fact he was still active. It also had the incorrect date for Grimwood joining the London Fire Brigade.
