CBC RADIO · ALL IN A DAY
How do you build a community that’s resilient to forest fires?
Dr. Beshir discusses EMBER’s research into wildfire and community resilience.
Listen to the CBC interview ↗ CARLETON UNIVERSITY / FIRE SAFETY ENGINEERING
Small sparks.
Big questions.
The science of fire.
The foundations of a safer world.
We investigate how materials burn, how fire spreads,
and how people reach safety.
EMBER IN THE MEDIA
All media Fire science in the public conversation.
CBC NEWS · VIDEO
Wildfire risk and the Churchill Falls fire
EMBER researcher Mohamed Tawfik discusses wildfire behaviour and ember risk in a live CBC News interview.
Watch the interview ↗01 / OUR PURPOSEFundamental science.
Fundamental science.
Lasting impact.
Fire connects scales. So do we.
Led by Dr. Mohamed Beshir, EMBER Fire Group brings together experiments, physics-based models, and immersive environments to understand fire and its consequences.
Meet EMBER ↗02 / RESEARCH FRONTIERS
All research areas ↗Follow the question.
01 / MATERIALS
CHARRED TIMBER / MATERIAL RESPONSEHow do
CALGARY FIRE TRAINING CENTRE / 2025Where will
INCLUSIVE EVACUATION / ILLUSTRATIONHow can everyone
CHARRED TIMBER / MATERIAL RESPONSEHow do
materials burn?
Pyrolysis, combustion, and the physics of timber in fire.
Timber & solid fuels ↗02 / FIRE SPREADCALGARY FIRE TRAINING CENTRE / 2025Where will
the next ember land?
Our 2025 Calgary Fire Training Centre experiments track firebrand generation, transport, and ignition.
Wildfire & communities ↗03 / PEOPLEINCLUSIVE EVACUATION / ILLUSTRATIONHow can everyone
reach safety?
Human behaviour, accessibility, and evacuation in immersive environments.
Inclusive evacuation ↗Charred timber: Shadowmeld Photography / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped). The wheelchair scene is an illustrative scenario.
ONE CONNECTED APPROACHFrom molecules to materials, buildings, and communities.
Explore the full research programme ↗We connect fundamental mechanisms with experiments, predictive models, and human safety.
OBSERVE. QUESTION. TEST. REPEAT.03 / HOW WE WORKIdeas need
Ideas need
evidence.
We move between physical experiments and numerical models, using each to challenge and strengthen the other.
01
Measure the physics
Material response, heat release, ignition, and flame spread.
02
Build the model
Connect fundamental mechanisms with fire behaviour across scales.
03
Explore our facilities ↗Understand the consequences
Investigate exposure, evacuation, and engineering decisions.
INSIDE EMBERReal questions.
Real questions.
Immersive experiments.
Our VR hub brings headsets, dedicated workstations, Vizard, and SightLab VR Pro together for research on evacuation, accessibility, and human behaviour.
Explore the VR laboratory Discover our wind tunnel ↗
MEET THE GROUP LEADFire science for
Fire science for
safer communities.
Dr. Mohamed Beshir leads EMBER Fire Group at Carleton University, connecting fire dynamics, experiments, and engineering practice.
Meet Dr. Beshir04 / THE PEOPLEGood science starts
Meet the group ↗Good science starts
with curious people.
05 / IN FOCUS
News & milestones ↗Inside EMBER.
01
2026 / PUBLICATIONS
↗02Connecting molecular mechanisms with timber fire models
Two Fire Safety Journal papers examine the limits of existing timber pyrolysis models and investigate cellulose decomposition using reactive molecular dynamics.
2026 / INCLUSIVE EVACUATION
↗03“Nothing about us without us”
Jane Gachuche and Mohamed Beshir examine how people with functional limitations participate in research on building fire evacuation.
2026 / FIRE DYNAMICS
↗What changes when a dwelling wall collapses?
A Fire Technology study with Rodolfo Prediger Helfenstein and Felipe Roman Centeno investigates ventilation and fire spread after idealized front-wall collapse.
LEARN WITH EMBER
Ask for access ↗Fire science, in practice.
Interactive exercises in heat transfer, fire dynamics, and fire safety engineering are available by request.
RESEARCH IS A SHARED EFFORTConnected by
Connected by
the questions that matter.
Government. Industry. International research teams.
From timber pyrolysis with LMDG and fire safety modelling with NRC, to inclusive evacuation with Lund and firebrand research with Edinburgh, we bring complementary expertise to shared scientific challenges.
Explore our collaborationsNational Research Council CanadaNSERCLMDG
THE NEXT QUESTION COULD BE YOURS.Stay curious.
Stay curious.
Work with us.
Graduate research. Scientific collaboration.
Shared fire safety challenges.