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In recent years, fires in tall buildings have become more frequent, which costs billions of dollars each year and the loss of many human lives. The facade fire in the Grenfell tower made the structure uninhabitable, and the collapse of the three World Trade Center (WTC) towers is the total structural failure caused by fire. Despite such events, no well-defined methodology exists to reconstruct both fire and structural behaviors and carrys out the forensic investigation of a building fire. This Part I paper collects the evidence of the Plasco Building fire and generates a coherent timeline to reconstruct the fire processes. The vertical and horizontal fire spread of the building is reconstructed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) fire modeling and calibrated against the evidence library. The spatio-temporal temperature history from the fire modeling provides realistic fire scenarios to simulate the structural response. The fire simulation results are used as boundary conditions to be transferred to a finite element analysis tool for a detailed structural analysis to determine the likely collapse mechanism of the Plasco Building in Part II. The methodology presented in this paper to reconstruct the fire can also guide the structural fire safety engineers to improve the building fire-safety and life-safety strategies.

Fire protection aspects must be prominently displayed during the design, construction, and use of buildings. Certain components of buildings can affect the spread of a fire in different ways. Within this topic, the nature and extent of fire propagation on building facades depends on a number of factors, not just the material of the facade surface. The article describes the types of modern windows and possibilities of their installation, as well as their effect on the fire spread of the facade. It gives concrete examples based on the experience of fires that have occurred.

A qualitative assessment of fire hazard posed by laminated glass balcony balustrades was carried out through an in-depth analysis of empirical evidence from six (6) past balcony fires with glass balustrades to deduce the type of glass used and understand the mechanism for fire spread in these fire scenarios. Post-fire conditions of these balconies were studied based on their post-breakage integrity and presence of decolourisation/delamination in order to determine the type of glass used in these balconies. A visual observation of the overall fire spread during the fire and extent of damage post-fire was then carried out to determine whether there was a correlation between the type of glass used and the extent of fire spread. It was found that fire spread was mainly driven by combustible materials around the balcony construction as the fire damage on the balustrades was limited to the area in the vicinity of the combustible materials and the balustrade glass did not contribute to the fire. Given the current regulatory framework in England that limits the use of laminated glass in balcony balustrades from a fire safety perspective despite its architectural benefits and structural safety, this study shows that there is no evidence that the use of laminated glass would constitute a fire hazard when used as glazed balcony balustrading.

In this study, the ISO 5660 and ISO 5659 combustion tests were conducted with synthetic resin conduits (CD, VE) and metal conduit (ST) used for wiring work in electrical facilities, which can be installed in ceiling concealed places. Then, fire spreading and evacuation risks were analyzed based on the measured data. In the ISO 5660 test, CD of 120.5 MJ/㎡, VE of 81.9 MJ/㎡, and ST of 4.9 MJ/㎡ were measured. In the ISO 5659 test, the CD 1320, VE 731, and ST 102 were measured, and then the maximum smoke densities were measured for CD 605 s, VE 740 s, and ST 1,200 s. In terms of fire spreading and evacuation risk, the CD conduit, VE conduit, and ST conduit were in order. In the fire spreading risk analysis, total heat emission was calculated as 4,820 MJ/㎡, 4,267 MJ/㎡, and 196 MJ/㎡ for CD, VE, and ST, respectively. Evacuation risk analysis shows at transmittance of 89%, CD is 127 s, VE is 35 s, and ST is 969 s. At transmittance of 79%, representing almost invisible concentration, CD is 157 s and VE is 50 s. The CD and VE conduits had a high fire spreading and evacuation risks, while the ST conduit had little effect on fire spreading and evacuation risk.

To analyze the extent of fire risk in historic Chinese wooden structure buildings, the fire load characteristics of a historic temple in Beijing were studied. In this paper, thermogravimetric and c...

This study investigates five fire stop variants used to limit the spread of fire on wooden façades. For this purpose, five fire tests using various types of wooden façade claddings and different fire stops were conducted as full-scale tests and compared to the existing findings. The influences and interactions between the material qualities of the external wall behind the façade cladding, the construction type of the wooden façade cladding, the design of the substructure, the depth of the ventilation gap, and the design of the fire stops were investigated. In evaluating the fire stops, the design of the interior corners, the joint design, and the influence of thermal expansion were examined. Finally, design proposals for the design of fire stops at wooden façades in order to limit the spread of fire were derived based on this evaluation. The outlook presents further needs that need to be investigated in the future in order to clarify undiscussed aspects or points that were ultimately not evaluated within the scope of this study. Graphical Abstract

Different from concrete and steel, window glass or glass facade breaks very easily when subjected to a compartment fire. The new vent created by the glass fallout may cause fire spread out and fresh air entrance which can markedly change the enclosure fire dynamics. Nowadays, different types of glazing, such as clear, coated, ground and multi-pane glazing, are increasingly employed in newly constructed buildings. However, very little is known about their fire risk, especially the comprehensive comparison between them is yet to be investigated. In this paper, the fire resistance comparison of different types of glazing is conducted based on the author’s very recent and ongoing experimental results. Literature works of other researchers are also presented for comparison. Additionally, fire safety design and recommendation of glass in buildings are discussed in detail. This research is proposed to provide valuable references for the fire safety performance-based design of glass facades in high-rise buildings.

High-rise buildings have special structure and function, once the fire occurs, the speed of fire spread will be very fast, which brings great loss to the society and people. In this paper, by analyzing the occurrence of high-rise building fire accidents and constructing the scene, SIR Model is used to simulate the fire accident, and corresponding solutions are proposed according to the obtained results to prevent the occurrence of disasters and reduce the loss caused by fire accident.

Casualties and severe damages of environmental resources resulted from wildfires are to some extent caused by belated evacuating personnel and fighting fires. It is considered that if the timely detection of the high temperature signal can be achieved in the early stage of fire disaster, the duly rescue actions brought by the early fire alarming can extensively avoid casualty accidents and the detrimental fire spread. Therefore, in this work, we fabricate a cross-linked polycaprolactone (PCL) network, and based on its shape memory property and subsequent electroless deposition process, we prepare a smart conductor with ability of switching between non-conductive and conductive at low and high temperatures respectively. Outdoor experiments present that this electrically “OFF-to-ON” conductor can effectively respond to a fire and play a crucial role in early fire alarming under simulated fire scene. The finite element analysis simulation results further prove the advantages of this material over the traditional thermocouple in detecting temperature changes.

In the past two decades, the interest in fire safety science of tunnels has significantly increased, mainly due to the rapidly increasing number of tunnels built and the catastrophic tunnel fire incidents occurred. This paper presents an overview of research on fire safety in underground road and railway tunnels from the perspectives of fire safety design. The main focuses are on design fires, structural protection, smoke control and use of water-based fire suppression systems. Besides, some key fire characteristics, including flame length, fire spread, heat flux and smoke stratification, are discussed.

Fire following earthquake possesses significant risk of damages to life and property in urban areas. Mitigation and planning can reduce the level of risk associated with post-earthquake fire spread...

The paper summarizes commonly available information on the fire of the Grenfell Tower, which took place in Central London on 14 June 2017. The fire was very similar in its nature to several other spectacular fires at tall buildings, which have happened around the world since 1999 but unlike the previous one, the London fire claimed an enormous number of victims – 71. The tragic outcome of the fire was blamed on a combination of several human and natural factors: faulty evacuation procedures, unsuitable fire extinguishing equipment, mistakes by the housing association managing the building, lacking fire safety provisions in the tower, weather, confusing building regulations, etc. However it was established that the main reason for so tragic an outcome of this fire was the speed of fire spread via decorative aluminum composite materials (ACM) containing polyethylene (PE), installed on the outer of a building as a part of a rain-screen cladding system. The other part of the system was polyisocyanurate (PIR) thermal insulation. The paper focuses on the role of PIR in this fire and a couple of practices in the PIR industry highlighted by the tragedy. It reflects on the origin of PIR and evolution of PIR technologies as well as PIR definition. Finally it reports on a bottom-up initiative started at the Polyurethanes 2017 Conference aiming at changing current attitude of the European thermal insulation industry to Open Access to reports on fire testing of thermal insulation products. This small but concerted effort of scientific and industrial thermal insulation communities has a good chance of helping to drive further improvement of fire resistance of thermal insulation and to restore public confidence in these important materials.

This paper focused on analyzing the Hsuehshan Tunnel Fire in Taiwan, which occurred from a bus fire in the afternoon of May 7, 2012 and caused two death and 34 injuries. Major object damages were reviewed and CCTV records were investigated toward understanding the fire temperature, smoke layers and situations of people in the tunnel refuge area ( Fire Scenarios Analysis & Egress/Rescue Strategies of the 2012 Hsuehshan Tunnel Fire in Taiwan, MOTC, Taiwan, Jan., 2016. ). Data collected from the fire scene were fed into fire scene reconstruction using CFD method (i.e., Fire Dynamics Simulators - FDS). It reveals that the fire temperature reached 800–900 °C and HRR was around 25–30 MW, which are consistent with the reviews of the incident and experiment data. Moreover, the fire temperature obtained from the CFD method when compared with experiment data is more reasonable. It is considered lift-threatening in terms of visibility, temperature and radiant heat flux for both road users and self-defense fire/rescue team when the fire heat reaches 10 MW. It was also reasoned that the fire spread through exit holes on the bus roof and heat was carried by the ventilation flow, leading to serious damage of lighting objects and cable traps above the bus. This study also suggests that the best option for people encounter tunnel fire is to leave their vehicles immediately and evacuate toward upstream direction of the fire. For those who are in the downstream of the fire, they should use the exit doors on the connection tunnel to escape the incident.

An experimental fire was conducted in 2016, in the Pinelands National Reserve of New Jersey, to assess the reliability of the fire pattern indicators used in wildland fire investigation. Objects were planted in the burn area to support the creation of the indicators. Fuel properties and environmental data were recorded. Video and infrared cameras were used to document the general fire behavior. This work represents the first step in the analysis by developing an experimental protocol suitable for field studies and describing how different fire indicators appeared in relation to fire behavior. Most of the micro- and macroscale indicators were assessed. The results show that some indicators are highly dependent on local fire conditions and may contradict the general fire spread. Overall, this study demonstrates that fire pattern indicators are a useful tool for fire investigators but that they must be interpreted through a general analysis of the fire behavior with a good understanding of fire dynamics.

This paper discusses fires in informal settlements (otherwise known as slums, ghettos, shantytowns, etc.), which are regularly ravaged by fire in South Africa. Initially an overview of the problem is presented, highlighting the factors that contribute to the frequent, large conflagrations that occur. Details have been based on research conducted in Cape Town, South Africa, although the research is applicable to settlements worldwide. Data from recent fires where up to 4500 people were left homeless is included, highlighting aspects regarding fire spread and fire dynamics. Thereafter, preliminary results from a pilot study are presented where full-scale burn tests have been carried out on informal settlement dwellings, or “shacks”. Results from (a) a smoldering fire test, (b) 25 kg/m2 wood fire load test and (c) a ‘representative’ shack fire test are presented. For flaming fires it is shown that flashover in these small dwellings can occur in as little as one minute (depending on the fuel source), which is consistent with observations from professional firefighters in the field. Photoelectric smoke detectors, ionization, and rate-of-rise heat detectors were included during fire tests, to evaluate their performance in such confined spaces, as these are currently being either used or being considered for use in settlements. Activation times are reported for the different tests conducted.

Purpose This paper aims to present a literature review on the problem of fire following earthquake (FFE) as a potential hazard to communities in seismically active regions. The paper is important to work toward resilient communities that are subject to extreme hazards. Design/methodology/approach The paper lists and reviews the historical FFE events (20 earthquakes from 7 countries), studies the available analytical tools to evaluate fire ignition and spread in communities after an earthquake, discusses the available studies on performance of individual buildings under post-earthquake fires and summarizes the current literature on mitigation techniques for post-earthquake fires. Findings FFE can be considered a potential hazard for urban communities that are especially not prepared for such conditions. The available analytical models are not yet fully up to the standards that can be used by city authorities for decision-making, and therefore, should be further validated. Limited structural analyses of individual buildings under FFE scenarios have been completed. Results show that the drift demand on the building frame increases during post-earthquake fires. Despite the mitigation actions, there are still urban cities that are not prepared for such an event, such as certain areas of California in the USA. Originality/value The paper is a complete and an exhaustive collection of literature on different aspects of FFE. Research in earthquake engineering is well advanced, while structural analyses under fire load and performance of communities under FFE can be further advanced.

The fire safety regulations in Romania require that in case of a fire occurring into a building, it should be prevented to spread to any adjacent structure or neighbouring façade. Apart from the minimum prescribed distances between the buildings, there is no other benchmark or guidance for an approved calculation method to prove compliance with this provision. The British regulations have specified that the heat fluxes on the surfaces exposed to radiation from a fire within the adjacent buildings should not exceed a heat flux of 12.6 kW/m2. The purpose of this article is to review some of the empirical calculation methods for the incident radion flux given in the international literature and to compare their results for a practical aplication.

Open kitchen design is becoming popular in small units in high-rise residential buildings. This design increases the possibility that fires originating in the cooking area would spread beyond its origin. Effect of cabinet properties and wind on the fire hazards of open kitchen is numerically studied. It is found that if there are combustible items adjacent to the cooking area it helps the fire to spread giving a big fire and the wind may cause the fire spread vertically along the building exterior wall

The present study reports the science-based fire scene reconstruction of a fatal fire that occurred in a high-rise residential building in Dhaka in 2010, taking the lives of 7 inhabitants. Numerical methods have been applied to analyze the deadly event in order to demonstrate different smoke propagation and to compare them with the official investigation report on the actual incident. In this investigation, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based fire dynamics simulator PyroSim is used for exploring the fire spread and smoke propagation. The results suggest that teak wood would not have been the only fuel source in this incident. It is proposed that burning of other fuel with higher CO yield such as turpentine oil or white spirit, in addition to the teak wood in the apartment where interior decoration and carpentry work was going on and where the fire was initiated, results in the required high level of CO to cause the asphyxiation of the trapped occupants. It is also to be mentioned that the victims of casualty were entrapped by the smoke within the main staircase due to a drop in the tenability which caused the fatality. By analyzing the effects of smoke temperature, visibility, CO concentration, the tenability limit for this residential building is measured. The use of engineering analysis and modelling of fire for fire forensic analysis is considered to be an important tool in fire investigation, this paper reports first such study in Bangladesh.

This article presents a procedure for how to relate fire performance of fibre-reinforced polymer composite structures to the fire safety regulations in Safety of Life at Sea II-2. It can be used as basis when performing a fire risk assessment to demonstrate that the degree of safety is at least equivalent to that provided by prescriptive requirements. A key issue is that requirements and test methods are based on the use of steel structures, which requires seeking the safety level implied by the regulations. This was demonstrated for the regulations and introduced hazards affecting the growth stage of a fire. The safety implied by regulations was related to fire performance of fibre-reinforced polymer composite by reference to fire tests involving typical materials and some relevant safety measures. Ignition was described as uncritical, while the fire growth on a fibre-reinforced polymer composite surface can be rapid. Flammability requirements are generally not achieved by an untreated panel but different means can be used for protection. A fire protective coating can be used to prevent ignition, and sprinkler is effective for both fire prevention and extinguishment on interior and external surfaces. For interior spaces, it can be relevant with a coating or thermal insulation also to hinder increased generation of smoke and toxic gases during fire evacuation. In all, it is shown that fire hazards during the fire growth stage are manageable, and a foundation is lain out for a well-structured fire risk assessment.

Various property-damage estimation models have been created on the basis of damage observation data obtained in the aftermath of large earthquakes. In this paper, these independent models are integrated to establish a city-damage simulation model. In addition, two new fire-spread indices are proposed from the viewpoint of firefighting and refuge.

Investigation and identification of fire caused by setting off fireworks for fire investigator is a great challenge. Combined with fire cases, this paper analyzed the characteristics of fire caused by setting off fireworks. Fire more happened during the festivals and other important events. Building burning loses more serious external than internal, upper than lower. Many witnesses exist in the fire. Fire scene may have many fireworks residue. Then the paper proposed content of fire inspection and interrogation, inspection on the fire building outside ground, monitoring video equipment, recognition the location of fire origin and combustible in fire origin, obtain evidence of fireworks flying objects arriving fire origin and carry out fire scene experiment, interrogation about festival or other important events, fireworks and its display, children around the fire scene, meteorological condition. At last, the paper summarized identification factors of fire caused by setting off fireworks. Fireworks are setting off before the fire. Firework flying object can reach fire origin. Fire origin has combustible; combustible can be ignited by flying object of fireworks. The mode of fire and fire caused by setting off fireworks is consistent. Fire origin has the condition of fire spread. The paper will help for fire investigator to investigation and identification of fire caused by setting off fireworks.

Spandrel panels are a common feature of many buildings around the world. Their presence is often cited as a measure to prevent vertical fire spread from storey-to-storey. With a focus on the UK's building regulatory system, this paper charts the introduction of the spandrel panel into local building regulations. It is shown how research activities in the mid twentieth century led to a suggestion that the spandrel panel was not an effective means by which to mitigate storey-to-storey fire spread. Combined with the work of Margaret Law on unprotected areas, this led the UK national building regulations to omit the spandrel panel and, in effect, admit defeat with regard to preventing storey-to-storey fire spread via openings in the external wall. The implications of this for modern UK buildings with phased evacuation or ‘stay put’ strategies are profound. If storey-to-storey fire spread is to be assumed, how should the fire safety strategy be reformulated to account for this? Or if the prevention of storey-to-storey fire spread is, in fact, an objective – what is the mechanism for doing this in the future?

Res_eng:The fire complex that began on 17/6/2017, in Central Portugal, will be for always remembered, not only because of the extensive burned area, but mainly because it caused 65 deaths, more than 200 injured and destroyed hundreds of structures, making it one of the most serious accidents in the country, and one of the worst in Europe. The Forest Fire Research Centre of ADAI (University of Coimbra, PT) performed a detailed analysis and report on this fire complex focused on aspects related to the fire spread and behaviour, the mortal accidents and the fire impact on local communities. The work presented here is related to the latter, i.e., the destruction of property. The greatest impact was observed in the municipalities of Pedrogao Grande, Castanheira de Pera and Figueiro dos Vinhos, where the deaths occurred and where most of the damaged structures were located. This component of structural damage was the subject of an intensive fieldwork, during which we inventoried several aspects related to fire behavior, the structures and their surroundings. During the field work, 1043 structures damaged by fire were identified. They are mostly support structures, such as barracks or storage (38.6%), but there is a considerable number of damaged dwellings, either permanent (13.3%) or temporary (11.9%). One of the most important aspects of the study relates to the type and location of structural ignition. More than 60% of the structures have been ignited due to the deposition of incandescent particles (firebrands) in different weak points. Likewise, more than 60% of these ignitions occurred on the roofs, mainly because of the vulnerability associated to the structures and materials supporting them. Another relevant factor is the observation of the advanced age of most buildings affected (over 30 years), which may indicate less resistance to the passage of a fire. Nevertheless, and for the Portuguese reality, we can say that buildings are generally safe during the passage of a fire, if themselves and their surroundings are kept in good conditions. The fact that there are people inside can be essential in their defense and resistance to the passage of fire. This paper presents the main results of the assessment of the fire impact on structures, part of a larger work on the Fire Complex of Pedrogao Grande and neighboring municipalities.

Cultural heritages and historical buildings are vulnerable against severe threats from fire. Since the 1970s, ten fire-spread events involving historic buildings have occurred in Taiwan, affecting a total of 132 nearby buildings. Developed under the influence of traditional Taiwanese culture, historic buildings in Taiwan are often built using non-fire resistant brick-wood structure and located in proximity to residential occupancies. Fire outbreak in these types of neighborhood will lead to severe damage of antiquities, leaving only unrecoverable historical imagery. This study is aimed to investigate the minimal safety distance required between a historical building and its surroundings in order to reduce the risk of external fire. This study is based on literature analysis and the fire spread model using a Fire Dynamics Simulator. The selected target is Jingmei Temple in Taipei City. This study explored local geography to identify patterns behind historical buildings distribution. In the past, risk reduction engineering for cultural heritages and historical buildings focused mainly on fire equipment and the available personnel with emergency response ability, and little attention was given to external fire risks and the affected damage. Through discussions on the required safety distance, this research provides guidelines for the following items: management of neighborhoods with historical buildings and consultation between the protection of cultural heritages and disaster prevention, reducing the frequency and extent of fire damages, and preserving cultural resource.

With the increasing use and complexity of urban natural gas pipelines, the occurrence of accidents owing to leakage, fire, explosion, etc. has increased. To analyze the scope of impacts of single-point fires associated with urban natural gas pipelines and the spread of urban fires caused thereby, this study analyzes single-point fires and the dynamic spread of fires by using a natural gas pipeline network fire model and a framework for an urban fire spread model by using GIS spatial analysis technology. Experiments show that by using the proposed method, we can easily determine key urban areas that are impacted by natural gas pipelines and where fire spread may occur. This study should be of great significance in preventing and controlling hazardous fires, deploying firefighting forces, planning urban construction, etc. We hope that the analysis results for hazardous areas from the viewpoint of urban pipelines using the proposed modules can be directly applied to urban safety planning.

This paper presents the study of the thermal degradation of a wood painting support from the "Saints Constantine and Helen” church. As a cultural heritage monument, the iconostasis of the church has an artistic and historic value. In time it suffered a great deal from earthquakes, floods, wars and fire. In the XXth century a large fire burned big parts of the iconostasis and the original painting needed to be replaced. Small pieces of the burned iconostasis are kept for study and restauration in specialised institutions. The aim of this study is to bring new information on thermal degradation and deterioration of old wood from panel paintings. In this regard non-invasive modern techniques were used for analysis, as Optical Microscopy (OM), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential thermal analysis (DTA). The analysis were made on a small wood chip that was taken from the panel in the conservation process. The analysis concluded that the wood support was already degraded and deteriorated by biological attacks, which made the fire spread easier. The TGA and DTA concluded that there is a good correlation to the aging of lime wood with the complexity of thermogravimetric processes.

Five large-scale fire tests, including one pool fire test and four HGV mock-up fire tests, were carried out in the Runehamar tunnel in Norway in year 2003. Detailed information about these tests is ...

The fire in Laerdalsoyri, Norway, on 18–19 January 2014, developed faster than the fire fighters could handle, and strong winds quickly spread the fire to neighbor houses and 150 m downwind to distant houses. 36 modern buildings and 4 historic buildings of cultural heritage were lost. The cold low relative humidity air in the deep valley dried the structures and resulted in rapid growth of fire and fire spread. This has triggered studies to understand as to how early the flashover is reached when fuel moisture content (FMC) in wood goes to low levels especially in winter when heating inhabited structures is a necessity. A study of flashover as a function of the FMC in the wood has been carried out by conducting experiments on approximate equivalent of ¼ ISO rooms in the laboratory. The relative humidity and temperature in the ambient air are also noted. It is observed that low FMC is the main factor that leads to early flashover. The temperatures rise very rapidly once flashover is reached with higher heat release and increased radiated heat. Hence, it can be said that lower humidity levels that tend to be the fact in winter can lead to fast development of fire. This has to be borne in mind, and necessary precautions are to be taken to control the development and spread of fire and reduce the risk of major fire accidents.

In recent years, a large number of incidents of external fire spread up high rise buildings happened in the world. One of main reasons is that combustible organic materials, EPS, Polyurethane, etc, are used in external thermal insulation system (ETIS) for energy conservation purpose. In some incidents, fire spread in combustible organic materials couple with that from window to window make it impossible for fire fighters to prevent the external vertical fire spread up high rise buildings and caused severe damage to structures and loss of life and property. In this paper, some typical external wall fire hazards in China are described briefly, and then relative research progresses are presented. Furthermore, some research needs and possible directions of future research are proposed.

A fire took place in an indoor shooting range in Pusan, Korea, causing 15 deaths and 1 injury. To determine the cause of the fire, field investigation and laboratory analysis were conducted, and the point of ignition was determined through closed-circuit television (CCTV) imagery. Residues of ball powder, balloon, and stray bullet were found at the point of ignition. Moreover, the polyurethane slabs installed for sound absorption on the walls and ceiling surrounding the point of origin were found to lack any flame resistance. In tests of gunpowder ignition on the surface of the sound absorbers, the material ignited readily and the fire spread rapidly. Through analysis of CCTV at the time of ignition, any source of ignition related to human intervention could be ruled out. Considering the fact that ignition started immediately after shooting and the rubber plate for stray bullet protection had fallen off, we conclude that the most probable scenario is that a stray bullet landed on the sound absorber at the point of origin and ignited ball powder accumulated there, thus starting the fire. As a result of shooting 50 rounds of bullets, most bullet fragments dropped within 2 m of the bullet trap whereas two stray bullets reached 4.6 m and 1.3 m from the point of ignition. It was revealed that people at the indoor shooting range did not have sufficient time to evacuate. Although the fire lasted for a short time, victims were exposed to high temperatures, making visual identification difficult.

The Great Valparaiso Fire started as a wildfire on the outskirts of the city. The fire spread through the wildland–urban interface towards the city. In 5 days, it claimed the lives of 15 people, injured more than 500 people, destroyed over 2,900 homes, burned over 1,000 ha, and displaced approximately 12,500 people. In this Letter to the Editor, several issues that facilitated the tragic events are discussed.

Fire accident in buildings is a threatening one now a day. The numbers of accidents are increasing in day by day. It creates heavy lives and property losses to the individuals and the nations. To find out the reasons, frequency and giving protection to all type of buildings became challenges to the professionals. A detailed study with analysis required to seek the solution. In this paper the segregation of fire load, the fire load is the main source fire threat and its calculation, the method of fire spread in the buildings are discussed .The last twelve years number of fire accidents, property loss and lives losses are taken as survey. These statistical data are analyzed. The results are discussed. The results demand the proper fire load management to reduce the fire threat and avoid the possibilities of the fire occurrence in the buildings. This paper is concluded with few possible practical solutions to safe guard the building from fire in future.

Since 1980, it has been possible to estimate the size of the fire problem associated with many types of burnable products when those products are the first items ignited. However, many burnable products also have a major role as the largest fuel package in the room and may be the most important fuel package even if not the first item ignited. Only in the last few years have we had enough years of fire data with coding sufficient to support sound estimates of fires where a defined product is the primary fuel but not the first fuel. This article describes a proposed methodology for making those estimates and describes the results of application of the new methodology to upholstered furniture. The application to upholstered furniture demonstrated that one-quarter of upholstered furniture fires, civilian injuries, and direct damages, and one-fifth (21 %) of associated civilian deaths are associated with fires in which upholstered furniture is the primary item contributing to fire or flame spread but not the item first ignited. The traditional focus on cigarette resistance leaves roughly half of the fire deaths from upholstered furniture fires untouched.

Structures of low energy buildings and passive houses are different from traditional buildings: thick thermal insulations often made of combustible materials -, lightweight skeleton frame loadbearing structures, timber frame constructions are common. Based on laboratory tests of lightweight building products, building structure design principles and the first fire events in passive houses, this article summarizes the main fire protection problems of passive house structures and gives recommendations for appropriate construction of these houses in fire protection aspects.

`Heaundae Woosin Building` fire was the case that a fire breaking out on the floor spread out the floor which is a top story and the penthouse was destroyed by fire. After this fire, the fire safety for high rise buildings has been on the rise and several new laws and regulations related in the buildings were created. The study is to analyze Heaundae officetel building case using FDS which is one of the CFD programs for fire. The methodology of this study is to analyze the case comparing with fire spread and route from a virtual fire simulation and related articles and a video clip of actual scene fire. This study shows that a fire spreading on top of levels spent approximately 30 minutes and, which is similar to the actual fire case. Also the pattern of spread has similarity with the case. However, even if the actual fire case shows the fire pattern was "V shape", the smoke-view presents the fire dose not spread horizontally as much as the real fire case. The result shows uncertainty of the modeling based on many grids and a limitation of putting interior finish input sources and the direction of the wind might cause the difference. Also, to analyze factors influencing on a vertical fire, another fire modeling is performed by in condition of modeling environment considering concrete interior finish between buildings and no wind. The result presents the fire spread in smoke-view does not spread vertically as much as the actual case.

Relative to other cities in Japan, Kyoto contains an outstanding agglomeration of historic buildings. These historic buildings are crucial for maintaining Kyoto’s irregular ranking as a historical city. However, several active faults occur near Kyoto that could cause severe seismic damage to the city. Thus, post-earthquake fire is one of the most threatening potential disasters that could destroy Kyoto’s invaluable historic buildings. Here, the post-earthquake fire safety of 2,131 historic buildings in the city of Kyoto was analyzed. This analysis was conducted by Monte Carlo simulation with a physics-based urban fire spread model that was formerly developed by the author. This scenario assumes the three following exclusive events that lead to the burn-down of historic buildings: (I) the ignition in the vicinity of the target historic building; (II) inadequate firefighting activity during the initial stage of the fire; and (III) the occurrence of widespread fire in urban areas following ignition. In general, the post-earthquake fire safety of designated and registered historic buildings was greater than that of undesignated and unregistered historic buildings. In addition, in the worst case scenario, 30% of the national treasures and important cultural properties would be damaged in the center of Kyoto city.

In recent years, several major fires occurred in high-rise buildings involving rapid fire spread upon the exterior walls and facades, and caused severe damage and loss. The extensive use of combustible insulation materials without proper fire protections and barriers were believed to contribute to the uncontrollable fire spread in the high-rise buildings. This paper reviews the current code and standard environment regulating the fire safety of exterior wall claddings in China. Three high-rise building fire cases involving rapid exterior wall fire spread are also discussed by analyzing the fire causes, propagation mechanisms and problems. The recent research progress and regulation development on the fire protection of exterior wall claddings are also presented. It was suggested that limiting the combustibility of insulation materials used in the exterior wall cladding associated with building heights, as well as proper fire protections and barriers would provide acceptable fire safety performance of exterior wall claddings in high-rise buildings. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Asia-Oceania Association for Fire Science and Technology.

The tsunami after the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011produced a huge impact under which various oil tanks at ports and industrial complex and gas cylinders at homes, automobiles, etc. were damaged and caused hazardous materials such as gas and gasoline in those oil tanks, gas cylinders and fuel tanks to leak. In these situations, sparks from metals which collided each other by tsunami and through other scenarios may have ignited leaked combustible gases and gasoline to become fires. These fires spread to combustible materials in and from broken houses, automobiles etc. near around. Ignited broken houses, automobiles, fishing boats and other combustible materials floating with tsunami waves spread fires to accumulated combustible materials swept away by tsunami from broken houses and landed floating housesat stagnated points near banks and hillsides. There were also some cases that leaked gases from gas-cylinders and leaked gasoline from fuel tanks of automobiles under the accumulated materials have caused fires according to witnesses of residents. Leaked oil from tanks may have contributed to the combustion in these circumstances. In these ways, fires broke out at various places throughout the tsunami affected region and some escalated to large-scale urban fires especially in wooden urban areas. Many of the people that had been evacuated from the tsunami-affected zone to tsunami refuge buildings had once again to be evacuated to avoid the spreading, escalating fires. The fire spread area was wide, and it is commonly recognized among researchers of universities and research institutes that cooperation is necessary to share information of earthquake fires and tsunami fires. This paper is mainly based on an interim report of this kind of cooperation organized by the Japan Association for Fire Science and Engineering (2011).