- Author
-
Budnick, E. K.
|
Klein, D. P.
- Title
- Evaluation of the Fire Hazard in a Mobile Home Resulting from an Ignition on the Kitchen Range. Interim Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NBSIR 75-788,
February 1976,
27 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
fire tests
|
flame spread
|
kitchen fires
|
mobile homes
- Abstract
- A series of fire tests was conducted in a typical mobile home to evaluate the potential fire hazard resulting from an accidental ignition from cooking on the kitchen range. Specific attention was directed to (a) ease of ignition of the kitchen cabinets as a function of the clearance between the range and the underside of the cabinets with and without the presence of a metal hood and (b) flame spread following the ignition. The tests, which used a preheated pan of cooking oil as an ignition source, were conducted in a mobile home kitchen area. The materials tested were printed lauan plywood, printed particle board, and molded polystyrene, representative of materials used in kitchen cabinet construction in mobile homes. Under the test conditions employed, it was found that ignition of the kitchen cabinets occurred in all cases in which a metal hood was not used. The time to ignition of the materials was only slightly affected by the clearance between the specimen (cabinet bottom) and the range. A significant time delay or no ignition resulted from the installation of a metal range hood. An additional problem area revealed by the tests was the ignition and burn-through of the partition directly behind the range. Specific design recommendations based on test results are presented along with suggestions for further investigation.