Internationally renowned expert on wildfires Albert Simeoni, a professor and the interim director of WPI’s Fire Protection Engineering department, has been watching developments in Northern California where extreme fires have ravaged more than 200,000 acres, destroying nearly 6,000 structures and claiming more than 40 lives. It’s the type of tragedy Simeoni says faculty and students at WPI’s state-of-the-art fire lab have been studying to quantify the risks and find ways to help mitigate destruction.