Cigarette and Match Igition Experiments on Materials From Seton Hall Fire, January 19, 2000

Published

January 23, 2002

Author(s)

Daniel M. Madrzykowski

Abstract

This letter describes a series of ignition experiments, which were designed to characterize the ignition propensity of materials involved in the investigation of the fire at Seton Hall university, January 19, 2000.This series was limited to two ignition sources: 1) paper match and 2) smoldering cigarette. The ignition tests were restricted to three types of materials: 1) red craft paper, 2) black craft paper, and 3) seat cushion from a sofa. These materials were provided to NIST by the Essex County (NJ) Prosecutor's Office. The experiments included a limited number of ignition scenarios for each material/ignition source combination.In three out of four burning match ignition scenarios, (paper without substrate, sofa cushion, and sofa foam), the burning match ignited the material it was placed on. Ignition occurred between 4 s and 45 s. In the case of paper on a substrate, the burning match did not ignite the paper. In the three different ignition scenarios conducted with a smoldering cigarette, no ignitions occurred. The cigarette smolder times ranged from 940 s up to 2500 s.The qualitative results from this limited series of experiments, for the given set of limited conditions, indicate that a small open flame, such as a burnign match, is more likely to ignite the given samples, than a burning cigarette. These results appear consistent with previous research findings on the ignition of upholstered furniture.

Citation

Cigarette and Match Igition Experiments on Materials From Seton Hall Fire, January 19, 2000

Pub Type

Others

Keywords

cigarettes, ignition testing, matches, paper, upholstered furniture

Citation

Madrzykowski, D. (2002), Cigarette and Match Igition Experiments on Materials From Seton Hall Fire, January 19, 2000, Cigarette and Match Igition Experiments on Materials From Seton Hall Fire, January 19, 2000 (Accessed April 23, 2024)