Fire

Nearly six years into the making I (Steve) have finally created fire! 

In engineering we always say not to re-invent the wheel, but with my client I have been forced to do just that – and at least 100 times over.  After putting in more effort than I would ever care to describe I finally proved that not only did my design work, but I could choose to burn your eyebrows or extinguish a 100 foot flame with a flick of a switch. 

For those who don’t know I have spent the better part of my time here in Doha designing and managing the design, construction, and associated works for the worlds soon to be largest fire and emergency response training facility. 

It is basically a hybrid between a college campus, an industrial plant, and a fire training school. 

I created life size fire trainers for everything from a 747 Aircraft, a Marine Tanker, industrial plants, to an entire city including high rises, shopping malls, office buildings, and houses. 

The whole site is a giant theme park for emergency responders.

The Facility is finally starting to near completion.  The buildings are all constructed, painted, and getting ready to commission.  The underground utilities are nearly complete (all 800+ kilometers of them).  And the Training Props are so close to done I can cook a steak on them.  If only I could finish the job without my client I would be done in 2012.  With their “help” it will likely take me until late 2013, but who is counting?  At least it works!