- Author
- Shanley, J. H., Jr. | Alletto, W. C. | Corry, R. | Herndon, J. | Kennedy, P. M. | Ward, J. | Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Title
- USFA Fire Burn Pattern Tests. Report of the United States Fire Administration Program for the Study of Fire Patterns.
- Coporate
- John A. Kennedy and Associates, Inc., Chicago, IL Chicago Fire Dept., IL State Police, MA Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Washington, DC National Association of Fire Investigators, Chicago, IL Ward and Whitemore Universal Fire Specialists, Inc., TX U.S. Fire Administration, Washington, DC
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- FA 178, July 1997, 221 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), 16825 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727. Telephone: 301-447-1000. Website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov
- Contract
- EME-4-E5075
- Keywords
- burn patterns | fire tests | fire investigations | arson | flashover | accelerants
- Identifiers
- fire patterns; fire origin
- Abstract
- Fire patterns are the visible or measurable physical effects that remain after a fire. These include thermal effects on materials, such as charring, ozidation, consumption of combustibles, smoke and soot deposits, distortion, melting, color changes, changes in character of materials, structural collapse, and other effects. The first scientifically controlled and recorded research into the formation, growth, nature, and investigative analysis ofpost-fire patterns was conducted in 1994-1995, by the United States Fire Administration under the direction of a specially appointed research committee of fire investigation experts. The results indicated that generally, fire patterns provide definitive data useful for the determination of the origin of fires. It was found that fire patterns are influenced by a number of variables. Results and conclusions were also reached in the areas of: floor patterns, truncated cone patterns, floor jets, trailers, burning under furniture items, low level burning, depth of gypsum wallboard dehydration, water spray patterns, color of smoke, and the detection of ignitable liquids.