Wall Experiments Completed

Twenty-eight wall fire experiments were conducted to examine differences in fire behavior associated with exterior wall construction.

The week of April 1, 2013, 28 wall fire experiments we conducted as part of the Study of Residential Attic Fire Mitigation Tactics and Exterior Fire Spread Hazards on Fire Fighter Safety to examine flame spread and fire penetration on 8 ft. by 8 ft. wall sections utilizing different construction materials. Several siding, sheathing and insulation systems were exposed to varied fire exposures to demonstrate how fire dynamics as a result of an exterior fire can vary dramatically which will dictate what firefighters are faced with upon their arrival. Measurements included temperature, heat release rate, heat flux, thermal imaging and video. The results are being analyzed and will be incorporated in the next series of experiments which will include a wall assembly with an attic section to examine the details of how a wall fire transitions to an attic fire.

Top Left: Exposed side of wall Top Right: Unexposed side of wall Middle Left: 100 kW fire exposure from 36 in. line burner Middle Right: Data acquisition and video systems Bottom Left: Line burner Bottom Right: Calorimetry hood