Fire Patterns, as defined by NFPA-921 are the visible or measurable physical effects that remain after a fire. Fire Pattern analysis has been a key factor in the determination of the origin and cause of fires for the past 50 years. During the International Conference on Fire Research for Fire Investigation, sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in November 1997 a number of fire pattern research issues were identified. Those research items included; “Means to validate identification of electrical faults as an ignition source, Impact of flashover on fire patterns and other indicators, Effects of ventilation on fire growth and origin determination, and Validation of fire models” among others. In addition, the National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Protection Research Foundation in a White Paper “Recommendations of The Research Advisory Council on Post-fire Analysis2” issued February 2002, also identified a number of fire pattern research needs. The White Paper in Section III Recommendations, Origin and Cause Investigation Methods made the following recommendations: “Since knowledge of the origin of a fire is, in nearly all cases, essential to determining cause, a high priority should be placed on new or improved methods for identifying the point or area of origin including burn pattern analysis”. And, “Methods for analyzing burn patterns concerning their meaning in the early growth history of the fire are also important. In particular, how does one determine when in the course of the fire event a particular pattern was made and how it might relate to a given potential ignition scenario”? Many years prior to these two initiatives, the Advanced Fire Patterns Project (1985) had been formed as a partnership between the National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI) and the Fire and Safety Engineering Technology Program, Eastern Kentucky University to complete research into the development of fire patterns on exposed surfaces and transfer that information to those that attended seminars and other educational programs sponsored by the two entities. The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of the full scale test burns that were conducted at Eastern Kentucky University and sponsored by the Advanced Fire Pattern Project. A series of ten full scale tests over a three year span were conducted in identically constructed, finished and furnished compartments. In each of the tests with one exception all fires progressed to full room involvement. Additionally, a full scale test was completed on a specially constructed and furnished room to assist in studying fire growth and spread and the resulting pattern formation in comparison to the fire patterns that were witnessed in a compartment of an actual compartment fire in which there had been a fatality. These full scale test burns provided a considerable amount of data concerning fire pattern development and evolution during fire growth and spread. Specifically, these test burns demonstrated fire pattern persistence and predictability during pre and post full room involvement fires. The full scale tests demonstrated that the fire patterns described in current literature are correct and when used properly can assist in the determination of the origin of a fire. The last and one of the most significant items was that if properly conducted, a post fire testing utilizing full scale burns and computer fire modeling may assist in the understanding of fire pattern development and fire growth.
展开▼
