Full Scale Room Burn Pattern Study.
Full Scale Room Burn Pattern Study.
(33033 K)
Putorti, A. D., Jr.
NIJ Report 601-97; Project No. 96-002IA; 59 p.
December 1997.
Sponsor:
National Institute of Justice, Washington, DC
Keywords:
accelerants; arson; building fires; burn patterns;
carbon dioxide; carbon monoxide; char; charring; fire
investigations; fire measurements; oxygen concentration;
residential buildings; room fires
Abstract:
One method fire investigators use to determine the cause
and origin of a fire is the study of patterns or
"indicators" left on building components or building
contents by the fire. Previous studies have shown that
some traditionally used indicators have little or no
technically defensible basis. In order to study the
patterns or "indicators" produced by fires, full scale
experiments were conducted using test rooms furnished as
residential bedrooms. Temperatures and heat fluxes at
various locations in the rooms were measured. In some
cases, the concentrations of oxygen, carbon monoxide and
carbon dioxide were measured. This report describes the
experimental setup, measurement results, and the post
fire inspection of the rooms.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899