- Author
- Gann, R. G.
- Title
- Fire Effluent, People and Standards: Standardization Philosophy for the Effects of Fire Effluent on Human Tenability.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Book or Conf
- Hazards of Combustion Products: Toxicity, Opacity, Corrosivity and Heat Release. Proceedings. November 10-11, 2008, Interscience Communications, London, England, London, England, Babruaskas, V.; Gann, R. G.; Grayson, S., Editors, 1-9 p., 2008
- Keywords
- combustion products | fire hazards | toxicity | corrosivity | heat release | standards | human beings | fire safety | safety standards | life safety | toxic gases | smoke | survival | risks | fire suppression | escape means | human behavior | human response | human performance | fire protection engineering
- Identifiers
- people (in general) who have died in fires fit into three categories; approaches to life preservation in fires; standards needed to enable safety requirements
- Abstract
- It has been known for decades that people die from inhaling fire gases and that visible smoke presents challenges to people trying to escape from fires in homes, transportation vehicles, and commercial buildings. Within the current decade, there has been an invigorated effort, especially in ISO TC92 SC3, Fire Threat to People and the Environment, to develop a oherent and comprehensive set of fire safety standards and guidance documents for life safety. This paper provides an overview of the broad role, of fire effluent (toxic gases, visible smoke, and heat) in affecting life safety. It examines what aspects of fires constitute a risk to survival and what elements should comprise a set of fire safety standards to contain that risk to a level that a jurisdiction decides is desirable. This paper serves as a philosophical preamble to the 2008 Conference on Hazards of Combustion Products.