How is power measured in the context of fire processes?

In the context of fire processes, power is measured in joules per second, which is commonly referred to as watts. This is because power quantifies the rate at which energy is transferred, converted, or utilized. In fire investigations, understanding the power associated with heat release and energy transfer is crucial for analyzing fire behavior, including combustion and the thermal effects that influence fire spread, intensity, and duration.

The concept of joules per second effectively captures the energy output involved in exothermic reactions such as combustion, providing a useful metric for investigators assessing the dynamics of a fire incident. Therefore, this measure aligns directly with the principles laid out in NFPA 921 for evaluating fire and explosion scenarios.