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Fire detection systems are an essential element of fire protection for road tunnels. Fire detectors should provide early warning of a fire incident, identify its location and monitor fire development in tunnels. Their role is crucial in preventing smoke spread in the tunnel, in controlling and extinguishing fires, and in aiding in directing evacuation and firefighting operations., 3rd International Symposium of Tunnel Safety and Security, March 12-15, 2008, Goteberg, Sweden

This paper focuses on quantifying fire loads and heat release rates of typical residential contents, which are important in characterizing residential fires. Information on fire loads was obtained from a survey of combustible contents in over 500 multi-family dwellings such as semi-detached houses, townhouses, and low-rise apartments. Typical furnishings that constituted a significant portion of the movable fire load were documented and possible values of fire load densities were calculated for rooms such as: kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms and bedrooms. ..., 2009 Annual Meeting - SFPE Professional Development Conference and Exhibition, October 19-24, 2009, Scottsdale AZ, USA

The acceptable solutions provided in the 2010 National Building Code (NBC) Division B [1] limits the use of combustible (wood) construction based on building height. For example, for Group C (Residential), Group D (Business and Personal Services) and Group E (Mercantile) occupancies, combustible construction can be used up to 4 storeys, and up to 2 storeys for Group A – Division 2 (Assembly) occupancies. In addition to the building height limitation, there are also building area limitations in the 2010 NBC for the use of combustible construction for these occupancies. For buildings that exceed the height and area requirements for combustible construction, the prescriptive requirements in the 2010 NBC require that noncombustible construction be used for the primary structural elements.

The acceptable solutions provided in the 2010 National Building Code (NBC) Division B [1] limits the use of combustible (wood) construction based on building height. For example, for Group C (Residential), Group D (Business and Personal Services) and Group E (Mercantile) occupancies, combustible construction can be used up to 4 storeys, and up to 2 storeys for Group A – Division 2 (Assembly) occupancies. In addition to the building height limitation, there are also building area limitations in the 2010 NBC for the use of combustible construction for these occupancies. For buildings that exceed the height and area requirements for combustible construction, the prescriptive requirements in the 2010 NBC require that noncombustible construction be used for the primary structural elements.

The acceptable solutions provided in the 2010 National Building Code (NBC) Division B [1] limits the use of combustible (wood) construction based on building height. For example, for Group C (Residential), Group D (Business and Personal Services) and Group E (Mercantile) occupancies, combustible construction can be used up to 4 storeys, and up to 2 storeys for Group A – Division 2 (Assembly) occupancies. In addition to the building height limitation, there are also building area limitations in the 2010 NBC for the use of combustible construction for these occupancies. For buildings that exceed the height and area requirements for combustible construction, the prescriptive requirements in the 2010 NBC require that noncombustible construction be used for the primary structural elements.

This consortium research project produced a large amount of technical information and data in the areas of fire safety, acoustics and building envelope performance for use in mid-rise (and taller) wood buildings. The results of the acoustics and building envelope performance are summarized in separate reports [8, 9]. This report consolidates the results of fire research activities (thrusts 1-3) conducted under the project. These include investigation of the encapsulation approach to protect the combustible structural elements, development of wood-based generic exterior wall assemblies to limit exterior fire spread, and development of generic fire resistant light-weight wood-frame wall assemblies for applications in lower storeys of mid-rise wood buildings., Client report approved for posting

Results are presented from a number of fire experiments that were conducted in a room environment to study the fire characteristics of typical residential furnishings and assist in the design of a subsequent phase of a project involving fully furnished room fire experiments. The experiments were conducted in a 16-m2 test room (with dimensions 3.8m wide×4.2m long×2.4m high), which had a 1.5×1.5-m window opening. The furnishings tested included mattresses, bed clothes, bed assemblies, upholstered seating furniture, clothing arrangements, books, plastic audio/video media and storage cases, toys, shoes, and a computer workstation setup. The smoke (gaseous products of combustion) from the room was collected using a hood system in order to measure the heat release rate (HRR) and optical density of the smoke. The test room was instrumented with load cells, heat flux gauges, thermocouples and velocity probes in order to take the following measurements: mass loss, total heat flux on gauge-installed flush with the internal surfaces (floor, walls, and ceiling), temperatures at numerous locations, and gas velocities in the window opening. Twin-size mattresses produced peak HRRs of approximately 3800kW, and the maximum room temperature was approximately 980°C. The HRRs of bed assemblies of various sizes and configurations ranged from 1800kW for a twin-size bed to 6250kW for a bunk bed. The maximum temperature and heat flux recorded in the experiments were 1071°C and 221kW/m2, respectively. Upholstered chairs and sofas had HRRs ranging from 630kW for an ottoman to 3360kW for a two-seat sofa. In tests with clothing, toys, shoes, books, a computer workstation, and CD/DVD media, the peak HRRs ranged from 440kW for a bookcase to 2045kW for toys. Furnishings containing a large proportion of rigid thermoplastic plastics, such as shoes and media cases, produced very dense smoke even at low HRRs. The effect of parameters such as bed clothes, mattress type, foundation type, bed assembly and chair size, material composition, and fuel package arrangement was evident in the results. Because the room dimensions and wall lining materials remained constant, temperatures were linearly proportional to the peak HRR (and exposure time) until the ventilation limit (approximately 4100kW) was reached. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

After a previous study of unprotected floor/ceiling assemblies under basement fire scenarios, a further experimental program was undertaken to investigate the performance of protected floor/ceiling assemblies and the tenability conditions in a test facility representing a two-storey detached single-family house.A series of full-scale fire experiments were conducted using four types of floor systems (wood I joist, steel C-joist, metal web wood truss and solid wood joist assemblies), which were selected from the assemblies that had been tested in the previous study. The test floor assemblies were protected on the basement side (the fire exposure side) by a regular gypsum board ceiling, residential sprinklers or a suspended ceiling., Suppression, Detection and Signaling Research and Applications: A Technical Working Conference SUPDET 2011: 22 March 2011, Orlando, Florida, USA

This paper presents the results of a series of fire experiments that were conducted with residential bed assemblies in a room environment as part of Phase 1 of a project titled ?Characterization of Fires in Multi-Suite Residential Dwellings (CFMRD)?. The main objective of the CFMRD project is to characterize fires in residential dwellings and ultimately to develop design fires and methods for use in fire safety engineering analysis and design. Phase 1 of the project was intended to help design, for phase 2, fully-developed post-flashover fire experiments with fuel loads simulating various fully-furnished living areas. In addition, the results provided valuable insight into the combustion behavior of bed assemblies, which in residential fires originating in bedrooms, constitutes the primary first-ignited items of importance. As well, it provided data on combustion under realistic conditions in a room environment for such purposes as computer modeling or for evaluating the capabilities of existing correlations to predict flashover and room temperatures., 12th Fire and Materials Conference 2011: 31 January 2011, San Francisco, USA

The second fire scenario involved both the more challenging fire location (in the southeast corner of the fire room; at the edges of the sprinkler coverage) and a much more aggressive fire. To test the limit of the residential sprinkler system, a deep-seated test fire was used and two litres of methyl hydrate was used to ignite the stacked large wood cribs of 1.5-m high. This arrangement of the fuel package and ignition source produced a severe fire with an ultra fast growth rate. It is recognized that the ultra-fast fire is an extreme case, which is not a commonly-occurring fire in residential settings and may represent a limited number of fire scenarios including a possible arson scenario. Since the water spray from the pendent sprinkler could not reach the ceiling space where the fire was developing, the exposed CPVC sprinkler piping installed in that space failed due to heat. This led to the interruption of the water spray, the full involvement of the room in fire, and eventually the collapse of the wood I-joist test assembly.

The experiments conducted using the test assemblies with regular gypsum board protection exhibited the same chronological sequence of fire events - fire initiation, smoke alarm activation, onset of untenable conditions, and finally structural failure of the test assemblies. The sequence was the same between the experiments conducted in this series of the full-scale fire experiments and also the same as the experiments conducted in Phase 1 of the FPH research for the fire scenario with an open basement doorway. Smoke obscuration was the first hazard to arise. Untenable (incapacitation) conditions were reached shortly after smoke obscuration. Compared to the experiments conducted in Phase 1 using the same floor structures without gypsum board protection, the times during which tenable conditions were maintained were similar or improved slightly whilst the structural performance was improved significantly with the gypsum-board-protected ceiling/floor assemblies. The times taken to reach structural failure for the gypsum-board-protected assemblies were much longer than those Phase 1 experiments with no protection. Also, with regular gypsum board protection, all test assemblies provided similar durations of structural fire endurance under the test fire scenario.

This report describes a series of experiments conducted with various residential furnishings in a single-room test facility in the Characterization of Fires in Multi-Suite Residential Dwellings (CFMRD) project. The furnishings tested included mattresses, bed clothes, bed assemblies, upholstered seating furniture, clothing arrangements, books, plastic audio/video media and storage cases, toys and a computer workstation setup. Since the amount of data generated from the experiments is too extensive to be covered in a single comprehensive document, this report aims to: a) serve as the initial documentation of the complete test series and, b) present results that supported certain decisions concerning the course of the experimental program. It is intended that additional results and analyses not presented herein will be covered in subsequent publications.

This paper focuses on the analysis of tenability conditions in the test house in relation to the timing of loss of the structural integrity of the test floor assembly as the main egress route on the first storey., INTERFLAM 2010: 05 July 2010, Nottingham, U.K.

This paper presents the results of a full-scale experimental program undertaken to study the impact of basement fire scenarios on the structural integrity of unprotected floor assemblies. The experiments utilized fast-growing fires to challenge the structural integrity of the unprotected floor system above the basement, which may provide an egress route for occupants. A range of floor assemblies were used in the experiments. The results show that the type of joist used and the ventilation conditions have the most impact on the time to structural failure of the floor assemblies. The results also helped in establishing the sequence of fire events and their impact on the ability of occupants to escape during a fire., SIF'10, Michigan State University: 02 June 2010, East Lansing, MI, USA

Short Course - Smoke Control and Smoke Management Carleton University, 2010-05-26: 26 May 2010, Ottawa, ON

Short Course - Smoke Control and Smoke Management: 26 May 2010, Carleton University, Ottawa

Ottawa Fire 2010 Symposium, 17 May 2010, Ottawa, ON, Canada

This report presents the comparisons of numerical predictions with the measurements of the heat release rate and temperatures of a fire experiment in a medium-sized residential room. The objective of this study was to benchmark the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) version 5 by comparing its predictions with experimental data. Also, the report focuses on investigating the melting phenomenon due to burning polyurethane foams and its effect on the fire growth and spread.

Fire Investigation Professional Development Seminar: 18 November 2009, Regina, S.A.

La recherche nous a permis de répondre à certaines questions importantes, notamment à savoir si l'efficacité des détecteurs de fumée dans les gaines d'aération est susceptible d'être compromise ou non par les filtres à air ou par le positionnement., Also available in English: HVAC duct smoke detectors: are they effective?

Research has settled some important questions, such as whether smoke detectors in ducts might be compromised by air filters, or by the positioning, Aussi disponible en français: Les détecteurs de fumée gaines CVC sont-ils efficaces?

Electronic version of presentation available to internal clients, NFPA Conference & Expo: 08 June 2009, Chicago, IL. USA

In 2006, Phase 2 of the International Road Tunnel Fire Detection Research Project was initiated. As part of this project, a series of fire tests were conducted in a laboratory tunnel facility to evaluate the performance of detection systems under limited airflow conditions and longitudinal airflow conditions. In addition, fire tests were also conducted in the Viger tunnel in Montreal. In conjunction with the full-scale experiments, CFD simulations were conducted. The numerical predictions were initially validated against data from a demonstration test and subsequently using the results of selected laboratory and field experiments. Simulations were conducted to investigate the impact of various parameters including fire scenarios, ventilation mode, and tunnel length on fire behaviour and detection system performance. The results of the full-scale experiments conducted in the Viger tunnel roadway tunnel and the results of the numerical simulations are discussed in this paper., 13th International Symposium on Aerodynamics and Ventilation of Vehicle Tunnels: 13 May 2009, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Also available in English: Fire detection systems in road tunnels - lessons learnt from the International Research Project

Today's increase in road traffic, changes in vehicle mix, and new rolling stock have resulted in an increase in the incidence of fatal fires in tunnels. In Europe, recent catastrophic tunnel fires have resulted in loss of life and severe property damage. Reliable and early fire detection in tunnels insures an early warning of a fire incident, allowing for timely activation of emergency systems. As such, detection can make the difference between a manageable fire and one that gets out-of-control [1, 2]. The Fire Protection Research Foundation recently completed an international research project, with the support of private and public-sector organizations to evaluate the performance of various types of detection [3]. The project studied the detection performance of nine fire detection systems representing five types of currently available fire detection technologies (Table 1), including their response times to a fire and ability to locate and monitor a fire in a tunnel, with both laboratory and field fire tests combined with computer modeling studies. In addition, the project also studied the reliability of the detection systems in harsh tunnel environments, such as their nuisance alarm immunity and requirements for maintenance., Aussi disponible en français: Systèmes de détection incendie de tunnels routiers enseignements tirés d'un projet international de recherches

This report documents part of the research project involving a series of full-scale fire experiments in a test facility that simulated a two-storey single-family house with a severe, fast growing fire originating in an unfinished basement to study the fire performance of the floor/ceiling assembly constructed over the basement. The report presents the results and analysis of Tests UF-03 and UF-09 carried out in the test house with an unprotected wood I-joist floor/ceiling assembly above the basement. The two tests were identical except for the state of the door in the doorway leading from the first storey to the basement, which was absent in Test UF-03 (i.e., completely open basement doorway) and completely closed in Test UF-09 (i.e., closed basement doorway). A number of measurements were taken at various locations during the tests such as temperatures, smoke alarm activation times, smoke optical density, floor deflection and concentrations of CO, CO2 and O2. For these two tests, untenable conditions on the upper storeys were reached before structural failure of the test floor assembly. The results showed that closing the door to the basement delayed the structural failure of the unprotected floor assembly over the basement as well as the onset of untenable conditions on the upper storeys.

This report documents part of the research project involving a series of full-scale fire experiments in a test facility that simulated a two-storey single-family house with a severe, fast growing fire originating in an unfinished basement to study the fire performance of the floor/ceiling assembly constructed over the basement. The report presents the results and analysis of Test UF-01 and Test UF-02 carried out in the test house with an unprotected solid wood floor/ceiling assembly above the basement. The two tests were identical except for the state of the door in the doorway leading from the first storey to the basement, which was absent in Test UF-01 (i.e. completely open basement doorway) and completely closed in Test UF-02 (i.e. closed basement doorway). A number of measurements were taken at various locations during the tests such as temperatures, smoke alarm activation times, smoke optical density, floor deflection and concentrations of CO, CO2 and O2. For these two tests, untenable conditions on the upper storeys were reached before failure of the test floor assembly. The results showed that closing the door to the basement delayed the failure of the unprotected floor assembly over the basement as well as the onset of untenable conditions on the upper storeys.

This report documents part of the research project involving a series of full-scale fire experiments in a test facility that simulated a two-storey single-family house with a severe, fast growing fire originating in an unfinished basement to study the fire performance of the floor/ceiling assembly constructed over the basement. The report presents the results and analysis of Test UF-04 carried out in the test house with an unprotected steel C-joist floor/ceiling assembly above the basement with an open basement doorway (no door in the doorway leading from the first storey to the basement). A number of measurements were taken at various locations during the test such as temperatures, smoke alarm activation times, smoke optical density, floor deflection and concentrations of CO, CO2 and O2. For this test, untenable conditions on the upper storeys were reached before structural failure of the test floor assembly.

This report documents part of the research project involving a series of full-scale fire experiments in a test facility that simulated a two-storey single-family house with a severe, fast growing fire originating in an unfinished basement to study the fire performance of the floor/ceiling assembly constructed over the basement. The report presents the results and analysis of Test UF-07 and Test UF-08 carried out in the test house with an unprotected metal-web wood truss floor/ceiling assembly above the basement. The two tests were identical except for the state of the door in the doorway leading from the first storey to the basement, which was absent in Test UF-07 (i.e., completely open basement doorway) and completely closed in Test UF-08 (i.e., closed basement doorway). A number of measurements were taken at various locations during the tests such as temperatures, smoke alarm activation times, smoke optical density, floor deflection and concentrations of CO, CO2 and O2. For Test UF-07, untenable conditions on the upper storeys were reached before structural failure of the test floor assembly. While for Test UF-08, untenable conditions for occupants of average susceptibility on the upper storeys were reached after structural failure of the test floor assembly. The results showed that closing the door to the basement delayed the structural failure of the unprotected floor assembly as well as the onset of untenable conditions on the upper storeys.

This report documents part of the research project involving a series of full-scale fire experiments in a test facility that simulated a two-storey single-family house with a severe, fast growing fire originating in an unfinished basement to study the fire performance of the floor/ceiling assembly constructed over the basement. The report presents the results and analysis of Tests UF-06, UF-06R and UF-06RR carried out in the test house with unprotected wood I-joist B floor/ceiling assemblies above the basement with an open basement doorway (no door in the doorway leading from the first storey to the basement). A number of measurements were taken at various locations during the tests such as temperatures, smoke alarm activation times, smoke optical density, floor deflection and concentrations of CO, CO2 and O2. For these three tests, untenable conditions on the upper storeys were reached before structural failure of the test floor assemblies. The test results show good repeatability.

This report documents part of the research project involving a series of full-scale fire experiments in a test facility that simulated a two-storey single-family house with a severe, fast growing fire originating in an unfinished basement to study the fire performance of the floor/ceiling assembly constructed over the basement. The report presents the results and analysis of Test UF-05 carried out in the test house with an unprotected metal-plate wood truss floor/ceiling assembly above the basement with an open basement doorway (no door in the doorway leading from the first storey to the basement). A number of measurements were taken at various locations during the test such as temperatures, smoke alarm activation times, smoke optical density, floor deflection and concentrations of CO, CO2 and O2. For this test, untenable conditions on the upper storeys were reached before structural failure of the test floor assembly.

This report describes the design of a single-room test facility for measuring the full-scale heat release rate of residential combustible furnishings in the Characterization of Fires in Multi-Suite Residential Dwellings (CFMRD) project.

This paper discusses the detection times measured in the experiments, the results of tenability analysis using the experimental data and estimates of the evacuation times based on the literature review., Suppression and Detection Research and Applications: A Technical Working Conference (SUPDET 2009): 24 February 2009, Orlando, FL.

This paper summarizes the results of the room-scale tests in which time resolved FTIR spectroscopy was used to analyze the decomposition products leading up to fuel depletion or self-ignition. GC-MS measurements were also carried out to help in the identification of compounds in the FTIR spectra. A complex mixture of compounds were identified and quantified., The 12th International Conference on Fire and Materials 2009: 26 January 2009, San Francisco, U.S.A.

This paper presents the results of fire experiments that were conducted with five twin-size mattressesin a well-instrumented room calorimeter so as to evaluate their fire characteristics and select one mattresstype that can be used in further experiments involving fully-developed post-flashover fires in realisticallyfurnished residential room settings., Dans ce document, on présente les résultats d'incendies expérimentaux qui ont été réalisés avec cinq (5) matelas de lit à une place dans un calorimètre ambiant bien instrumenté, dans le but d'évaluer leurs caractéristiques de résistance au feu et de retenir un type de matelas à utiliser pour des expériences plus poussées faisant intervenir des feux à tirage actif postérieurs à l'embrasement général dans des aménagements de pièce résidentiels avec mobilier réaliste., Fire and Materials 2009: 12th International Conference: 26 January 2009, San Francisco, U.S.A., Fire and Materials 2009 [Proceedings], Pages 1-12

With the advent of new materials and innovative construction products and systems for use in construction of houses, there is a need to understand what impacts these materials and products will have on occupant life safety under fire conditions and a need to develop a technical basis for the evaluation of their fire performance. To address these needs, the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes (CCBFC) and the Canadian Commission on Construction Materials Evaluation (CCCME) requested the National Research Council of Canada Institute for Research in Construction (NRC-IRC) to undertake research into fires in single-family houses to determine factors that affect the life safety of occupants.

This Update presents the results of research on smoke movement through HVAC systems and the effectiveness of duct smoke detectors. It provides guidance to practitioners and regulatory authorities in the context of North American code requirements for such detectors.

Dans ce numéro, on expose les résultats de recherches menées sur les mouvements de la fumée dans les installations de chauffage, ventilation et conditionnement d'air (CVCA) et sur l'efficacité des détecteurs de fumée installés dans les gaines. On y trouve des lignes directrices destinées aux professionnels et aux organismes de réglementation dans le contexte des exigences des codes nord-américains relatives à de tels détecteurs.

This report presents the results of a survey of floor areas and combustible contents in multi-family dwellings such as semi-detached houses, town houses and low-rise apartments, conducted as part of the Characterization of Fires in Multi-Suite Residential Dwellings (CFMRD) project.

This report presents the results of numerical simulations of fire development in amedium-sized residential room. The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluatethe effect of various sizes and configurations of ventilation openings on fire developmentand thereby assist in the design of fire experiments for the Characterization of Fires inMulti-Suite Residential Dwellings (CFMRD) consortium project.

This paper provides an overview of the findings of the project. Fire detectors, fire scenarios and test protocols used in the test program are described. A summary of the research results of the series of full-scale fire tests conducted in a laboratory tunnel facility and in an operating road tunnel as well as of the computer modelling activities will be reported., International Congress Smoke Control in Buildings and Tunnels: 15 October 2008, Santander, Spain

NRC-IRC undertook a project in 2007, on behalf of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, to investigate smoke movement in a residential building with a secondary suite located in the basement. Seven full-scale experiments were conducted in a house provided by the City of Red Deer, Alberta. An area in the basement of the house was set up to represent a room in a secondary suite. The fire tests measured smoke movement to the main floor of the house as well as to a common entryway serving both the main and the secondary suite. A particular focus of the tests was the potential for smoke transport by an HVAC system that served both the primary and secondary suites.

This report presents the results of Task 3 'Computer Modelling' of the International Road Tunnel Fire Detection Research Project (Phase II). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical simulations were conducted, using the Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS), to help understand and optimize the technical specifications and installation requirements for application of fire detection technologies in road tunnels.