Fire Service Summary Report Released: Study of the Effectiveness of Fire Service Vertical Ventilation and Suppression Tactics in Single Family Homes

FSRI is proud to release the fire service summary report for the 2010 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighter Grant Program – Fire Prevention and Safety Grants project titled “Study of the Effectiveness of Fire Service Vertical Ventilation and Suppression Tactics in Single Family Homes.”

UL conducted a series of 17 full-scale residential structure fires to examine fire dynamics and the impact of firefighter ventilation and suppression tactics. This fire research project generated the experimental data needed to quantify the fire behavior associated with these scenarios. Analysis of the data resulted in the immediate development of the necessary firefighting ventilation and suppression practices to reduce firefighter death and injury.

“Two years of teamwork went into the creation of this report. I would like to thank everyone that contributed, especially our fire service technical panel that made this study pertinent. The results of this study provide the fire service with data that shows the impact of vertical ventilation and suppression tactics. It does not say whether or not to conduct vertical ventilation, but what may happen when you make that tactical decision. In addition to this report, an interactive online training program is being developed and will be released by the end of July.”

— Steve Kerber, Vice President, Research and Director, FSRI

This report provides all the detail that went into the execution of the experiments. The results from the experiments led to the identification of 12 tactical considerations for the fire service to integrate into their education and fire ground tactics where applicable. 

Abstract

There is a continued tragic loss of firefighter and civilian lives, as shown by fire statistics. One significant contributing factor is the lack of understanding of fire behavior in residential structures resulting from the use of ventilation as a firefighter practice on the fire ground. The changing dynamics of residential fires as a result of the changes in home construction materials, contents, size and geometry over the past 30 years compounds our lack of understanding of the effects of ventilation on fire behavior (Kerber S. , 2012). If used properly, ventilation improves visibility and reduces the chance of flashover or back draft. If a fire is not properly ventilated, it could result in an anticipated flashover, greatly reducing firefighter safety (Kerber S. , 2012).

This fire research project developed empirical data from full-scale house fire experiments to examine vertical ventilation, suppression techniques and the resulting fire behavior. The purpose of this study was to improve firefighter knowledge of the effects of vertical ventilation and the impact of different suppression techniques. The experimental results may be used to develop tactical considerations outlining firefighting ventilation and suppression practices to reduce firefighter death and injury. This fire research project will further work from previous DHS AFG sponsored research (EMW-2008-FP-01774), which studied the impact of horizontal ventilation through doors and windows (Kerber S. , 2010).

Research Project: Effectiveness Of Fire Service Vertical Ventilation And Suppression Tactics
Report Title: Fire Service Summary Report: Study of the Effectiveness of Fire Service Vertical Ventilation and Suppression Tactics in Single Family Homes
Report Author: Steve Kerber
Download the Report: https://dx.doi.org/10.54206/102376/ROUA2913
Release Date: June 15, 2013