- Author
-
Scawthorn, C.
|
Cowell, A. D.
|
Borden, F.
- Title
- Fire-Related Aspects of the Northridge Earthquake.
- Coporate
- EQE International, Inc., San Francisco, CA
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
NIST GCR 98-743
March 1998
164 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161. Telephone: 1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000; Fax: 703-605-6900; Rush Service (Telephone Orders Only) 800-553-6847; Website: http://www.ntis.gov
- Contract
- NIST-GRANT-60NANB5D0147
- Keywords
-
earthquakes
|
fire data
|
fire departments
|
fire investigations
|
ignition source
|
water supply
- Identifiers
- Northridge earthquake, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, Monday, January 17, 1994
- Abstract
- Data collection and analyses relevant to fires following the Mw 6.7 Northridge Earthquake on January 17, 1994 were performed with the support of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In the period 4:31 AM (i.e., time of main shock) to midnight, there were approximately 110 earthquake related fires. Incident data is compiled in a database termed FFNRE (Fires Following the NorthRidge Earthquake), which is provided in hardcopy form and magnetic media (diskette), as well as being available on the Internet (at www.eqe.com). Fire department operations are detailed at five selected fire incidents. Analyses, and comparison with the 1971 San Fernando and 1995 Hanshin (Kobe) earthquakes, identified a number of ignition factors and provides important observations, lessons and avenues for future research (regarding ignition sources, fire service operations, and utility performance) towards mitigation of this problem.