- Author
- Salzberg, F.
- Title
- Feasibility and Representativeness of Large-Scale Boxcar Burns. Final Technical Report.
- Coporate
- IIT Research Inst., Chicago, IL
- Sponsor
- Office of Civil Defense, Washington, DC
- Report
- Final Technical Report; Work Unit OCD 2534D; Task Order No. 2530(67); Project J6126, October 1968, 44 p.
- Contract
- N0022867C2716
- Keywords
- urban fires | burning rate | fire spread | mass fires | fire behavior | cost benefit analysis
- Abstract
- The study deals with the feasibility of using retired boxcars for simulating urban area fires. Considerations are given to the representativeness of boxcars fires, development of an experimental plan, and a cost analysis. It is shown that with some additional fuel, two wood-lined boxcars are adequate for simulating structural fires involving one story. Depending on the experimental site, the total related costs range from $700 to $1850 per boxcar. An outline is given of experimental series designed to study various aspects of urban area fires by means of boxcar fires. Included are studies of fire spread, development of group fires, and behavior of mass fires.