It is well understood that COVID-19 has changed almost every aspect of life, and the nature of Burn Design Lab’s work has been no exception. In the face of the pandemic, much of BDL’s work came to a halt. The lab sat empty, and our staff stayed home. But when Washington State entered phase 2 of the pandemic response, a new project brought forward from the University of Washington gave BDL the opportunity to apply our engineering expertise not just to cookstoves projects around the world, but to our community members and first responders much, much closer to home. Together with the University of Washington School of Mechanical Engineering, UW’s Engineering Innovation in Health program led by Dr. Jonathan Posner, King County Public Health, and regional first responders, BDL has helped design and manufacture decontamination systems for PPE and other gear used by EMTs and firefighters in Washington.

BDL summer intern Dan Casey was responsible for a large part of the box design, which implements ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) with UV lightbulbs installed inside. Then amid Burn Design Lab’s regular cookstove related work, every 100-pound decontamination box was also assembled and manufactured inside the Burn Design Lab shop by our dedicated staff on Vashon. We’ve built over 50 so far. The boxes have been distributed to a number of fire stations across the state, even going to the first responder teams that experienced the initial major COVID-19 outbreak in the US just north of Seattle. With the decontamination boxes at their disposal, first responders are able to protect themselves against infection by sanitizing their gear while also preserving the precious supplies of PPE by safely reusing masks. “I felt a great sense of accomplishment after every box’s completion,” said Dan Bruce, a BDL staff member hired to help wit the box assembly process. “It felt wonderful being a part of a solution for our heroes who are exposed daily to the dangers of covid-19.”