FFTG Staff

Randy Lawson

General Physical Scientist
james.lawson@nist.gov
(301) 975-6877

Mr. Lawson is a trained structural fire fighter, HAZMAT trained and trained by the U. S. military in CBRN safety. Mr. Lawson served in the Security Police as a reserve of the United State Air Force where he managed personnel and carried out security operations. Following his early college studies he became a safety supervisor where he led an industrial fire brigade at a large manufacturing complex. As an employee of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS, the predecessor of NIST), he worked with the U. S. Navy on studies of fire growth on combat ships. Over the years as a Physical Scientist with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Mr. Lawson has worked with and provided assistance to numerous fire departments in North America and around the world. He has assisted in the investigation of high profile life loss fires, such as the Las Vegas Hilton fire, and has contributed too the investigation of many other accidental and arson fires.

He is currently a member of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, Fire Fighting Technology Group. His work includes: studies and investigation of high temperature arson, fire endurance of large structures, structural fires and flashover, fire toxicity, furnishings and contents fires, gas and oil well blowout fires, burning of oil spills, development of fire test methods, fire fighter injury and fatality studies and investigations, and studies on burn injuries and the thermal performance of fire fighters’ protective clothing and equipment. In addition, he led the four year investigation on the emergency response to the World Trade Center, as part of the Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster.

He is currently working on Department of Homeland Security projects related to the performance of emergency responder electronic devices exposed to elevated thermal conditions. He is a member of the United States National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee for standards on Structural and Proximity Fire Fighting Protective Clothing and Equipment, was a member of the NFPA Committee on Special Operations Protective Clothing and Equipment, and is a member of NFPA Fire Test Committee. Mr. Lawson is also a member of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Committee E-5 on Fire Standards where he is the Chairman of the Fire Standards Subcommittee on Furnishings and Contents, and is a member of the ASTM Committee F-23 on Protective Clothing. Mr. Lawson has spent more than 28 years working with fire safety issues and has published more than 30 journal articles and research reports.

Photo of Randy Lawson