Dr. Marcelo Hirschler

Marcelo Hirschler serves as president and technical director for GBH. He has extensive experience in the field of fire safety, including:

Codes and standards:
He serves (or has served) on multiple committees dealing with US codes (International Building Code, NFPA 101, NFPA 5000, etc.) and fire tests (NFPA Fire Tests, ASTM E05, ASTM D20, ASTM D09, etc.). He chairs (or has chaired) many relevant committees at ASTM and NFPA. He has made numerous proposals and comments related to development and revisions to codes and standards. He has been the person primarily responsible for the development of several test methods and guidance documents as well as upgrading the sections on interior finish in codes.

Product liability litigation:
Dr. Hirschler has served as an expert in many cases involving the fire performance of combustible materials and the products into which they are made.  Experience in that area has focused on fire safety of consumer products (cars, mattresses, upholstered furniture, and textiles), fire testing, results interpretation and analysis of fire consequences by comparison with known information and with the scenario in question. Cases in which he has served as an expert include:

• Fire damages Maryland town houses, allegedly spreading via vinyl siding (1991)
• Fire in Tennessee paper manufacturing plant allegedly starts at wall linings (1994)
• Car fire in Michigan causes multiple fatalities (1998)
• Self heating of plastics ignites warehouse in Texas (1998)
• Fire ignites van headliner (1998)
• Christmas tree lights cause fire fatality in California (1999)
• Mattress fire in Texas causes fatality to baby (2000)
• Medical mattress fire in Washington causes fatality to 2 elderly victims (2001)
• Car fire in Tennessee causes multiple fatalities (2002)
• Mattress fire in Alabama causes two fatalities (2002)
• Inappropriate protective clothing causes injuries in Ohio foundry (2002)
• Code non compliance with warehouse insulation causes fire losses in Texas (2003)
• Incorrect foam insulation alleged involvement in night club fire in Rhode Island (2003)
• Poor fire performance of sofa causes 4 fatalities in Kentucky (2004)
• Inappropriate protective clothing causes injuries in Massachusetts (2004)
• Burns resulting from alleged use of skirt in California (2005)
• Damages from poor fire performance of cotton loose fill insulation in Michigan (2005)
• Listed insulation allegedly causes fire in Missouri (2006)
• Alleged health effects of combustion product exposure in California (2007)
• Clothing ignited by inadequate use of candles causes burns in California (2007)
• Inadequate fire code compliance in hotel causes fire injuries in California (2007)
• Faulty fire shelter causes deaths of 4 wildland firefighters in Washington (2007)
• Inadequate fire testing of bathtubs in mobile homes countrywide (2007)
• Poor fire performance of sofa causes 2 fatalities in Tennessee (2008)
• Children’s sleepwear not complying with fire safety injures child in Minnesota (2008)
• Poor fire performance of lift chair causes elderly fatality in Alabama (2009)
• Poor fire performance of sofa injures young child in Texas (2010)
• Poor fire performance of sofa causes elderly fatality in Kentucky (2011)
• Poor fire performance of medical mattress causes elderly fatality in Texas (2011)

Managed research programs associated with various products including:

• Heat release tests of plastic materials in the cone calorimeter
• Comparisons of test methods for heat release (cone, OSU) with other fire test methods
• Multiple year program with various projects on PVC emissions and HCl decay
• Flammability of PVC materials and products
• Effectiveness of flame retardants and smoke suppressants
• Large scale fire tests of upholstered furniture and mattresses
• Large scale fire tests on electrical generators
• Large scale fire tests on electric cables
• Large scale fire tests on sprinkler pipes
• Large scale fire and smoke tests on interior finish materials
• Smoke toxicity testing protocols
• Smoke corrosivity testing protocols

Tim Earl

Tim Earl serves as Director of Fire Test Engineering for GBH. After several years as an engineering manager, he joined GBH in 2008.

• E05 (Fire Tests)
• D09 (Electrical and Electronic Insulating Materials)
• D20 (Plastics)

• E05.21.40 (Task Group on E 906 Ohio State University Calorimeter)
• E05.22.05 (Task Group on E 648 Flooring Radiant Panel)

• Member of the FAA HRR2 Task Group responsible for updating the heat release test in FAR 25.853

• Maintenance Manager for a major packaging manufacturer
• Service Manager for a major pure water service company in Silicon Valley
• Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, with assignments including Chief Engineer and Engineering Assessor