Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Wind Driven Fire Research: Hazard and Tactics

Published

Author(s)

Daniel M. Madrzykowski, Stephen Kerber

Abstract

Fires in high-rise buildings create unique safety challenges for buillding occupants and fire fighters. Smoke and heat spreading through the corridors and the stairs of a building during a fire can limit building occupants' ability to escape and can limit fire fighters' ability to rescue them. In 2002, there were 7300 reported fires in high rise structures (structures 7 stories or more). The majority of these high rise fires occurred in residential occupancies, such as apartment buildings. In fires that originated in appartments, 92 % of the civiliam fatalities occurred in incidents where the fire spreads beyond the room of origin [1].
Citation
Fire Engineering
Volume
163
Issue
3

Keywords

apartments, doors, fatalities, fire fighting, flashover, heat release rate, high rise buildings, wind effects

Citation

Madrzykowski, D. and Kerber, S. (2010), Wind Driven Fire Research: Hazard and Tactics, Fire Engineering, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=904209 (Accessed April 24, 2024)
Created March 2, 2010, Updated February 17, 2017