- Author
-
Birky, M. M.
|
Clarke, F. B., III
- Title
- Inhalation of Toxic Products from Fires.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
-
Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine,
Vol. 57,
No. 10,
997-1013,
December 1981
- Keywords
-
fire fatalities
|
inhalation toxicity
|
combustion products
|
toxic products
|
injuries
|
smoke inhalation
- Identifiers
- fire injuries
- Abstract
- A detailed fire-fatality study determined the primary cause of death and the specific cause of fatality-producing fires. The study showed that: the predominant cause of death is carbon monoxide, a high precentage of the victims have elevated blood alcohol levels, a significant number of the fatalities had preexisting cardiovascular disease, and the predominant fatal fire scenario is cigarette ignition of upholstered furniture or bedding and has alcohol as a contributory factor.