Since 1999/2000, when our company first built a bespoke fire investigation training and research facility on a remote area of the former RAF airfield at MDP HQ Wethersfield and from 2010, when we relocated to an adjacent part of the land, over 2/3 consecutive days each Spring and late Summer, we have set an average of six controlled compartment fires for essential training & research purposes.

The GATR fire investigation training & research facilities have been inspected by representatives of the Environment Agency and our activities have been exempted by the local Authority from Section 2 the Clean Air Act 1993, under schedule 1 (3) regulations, as the burning activities is in connection with (a) Research into the cause and control of fire (b) Training in fire fighting.

Our six bespoke fire compartments, which are about the average size of a domestic room, are contained within a remote, electrically energised, single storey structure, constructed of building materials in common use.

Prior to each of our Burns Days events, our teams of subject matter experts freshly furnish the rooms as lounges, dining rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, bed sits or small shops or other retail units etc. Our technical experts then install time/temperature equipment to monitor fire growth and suppression, whilst filming each event for training and further research purposes.

NB. Our fires, are extinguished using extremely effective water mist installations which reduce any water run-off from the compartments to a minimum.

In the name of science, the GATR teams have set and recorded many fires which are based on their unrivaled collective experience as practitioners who undertook complex Tier Two fire scene investigations.

Towards the end of the 2023 summer vacation period, two more groups of professional guests, who collectively represent: Fire & Rescue Services; Fire Research Communities; Global Insurance Industry; and innovators in the field of fire suppression have been invited to attend our next Burns events.

In addition to observing the growth of two furnished compartment fires, guests will observe demonstrations which offer potential solutions to ongoing fire related problems such as: Deliberate Origin; Wildfires; Boundary Fires and Electric Charging Units.

For over 20years, our company has maintained a harmonious professional relationship with the occupants of the former RAF base and bolstered the local economy, by training hundreds of public and private private-sector fire scene examiners, who are able to feed lessons learnt into fire safety and arson reduction strategies. ‘Live, Learn and Pass It On’!