Full Scale Investigations of Fast Spreading Room Fires

Fires in homes develop very fast nowadays, because the amount of combustible materials in furniture and electrical devices has increased significantly in recent years. Especially fires in children's rooms can be very hazardous as several recent fires in Germany showed. To investigate the fire and smoke development in such a fire the test room was furnished like a typical children's room and equipped with 36 thermocouples and a pressure measurement device. Also smoke detectors were installed. The fire was ignited by a small candle which was in contact with a mattress only for one second. Flashover occurred only after 4 minutes. The fire load and the fire and smoke development were investigated. The fire safety regulations for the furnishings, electrical devices and toys were discussed. Additionally the temperature rise in the compartment was predicted according to the method of McCaffrey.