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This paper is aimed at illustrating the capabilities of contemporary large eddy simulation (LES) solvers for compartment fire applications. Compartment fires refer to fires occurring indoors and feature a variety of complex phenomena associated with smoke accumulation and restricted air ventilation. The article provides a brief presentation of the main features of compartment fire dynamics followed by a review of the modelling challenges found in a LES treatment of these dominant features. The discussion shows that in addition to a suitable model for the turbulent flow dynamics, simulations of compartment fires require a collection of physical sub-models in order to describe a large range of multi-physics phenomena, including pyrolysis processes, buoyancy-driven flow, combustion, soot formation and thermal radiation. Some examples of LES simulations of compartment fires are also presented, using two different solvers that represent the current state-of-the-art of compartment fire modelling: FDS developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA, and FireFOAM developed by FM Global, USA. Both solvers are available as free open-source software and are representative of ongoing efforts within the fire research and engineering community to self-organise and to promote the general area of LES-based fire modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]