- Author
- Klein, D. P.
- Title
- Characteristics of Incidental Fires in the Living Room of a Mobile Home. Interim Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC
- Report
- NBSIR 78-1522, September 1978, 68 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- chairs | compartment fires | crib fires | fire tests | ignition source | mobile homes | upholstered furniture
- Abstract
- A series of fire test was conducted in the corner of a mobile home living room. The corner was lined with interior finish materials which did not contribute to the fires. The test series was designed to examine the fire characteristics of tyical incidental (low intensity) fires which may be used as the ignition sources for tests to evaluate the effects of interior finish materials. This test series involved three types of source fires: standardized wood cribs ranging in weight from 2.3 kg to 13.6 kg (5 lb to 30 lb), identically constructed upholstered chairs and polyethylene waste containers filled with crumpled newsprint. Experimental measurements were made of burn rate, temperature, heat flux, flame height, smoke density, and concentrations of oxygen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. Under the test conditions employed, it was found that the fire severities for the several sizes of standardized wood cribs fell between those for the polyethylene waste containers filled with crumpled newsprint and the more severe incidental fires produced by the 16 kg (35 lb) upholstered chairs in terms of characteristics such as maximum temperature and heat flux levels, flame height, and changes in oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide concentrations. Of the fires with wood cribs, it was found that the fires with 13.6 kg (30 lb) standardized wood cribs were most similar to the fires with 16 kg (35 lb) upholstered chairs, although the peak burning rate was generally higher for fires with upholstered chairs than for fires with wood cribs. It was also found that the time to reach the period of active burning was more reproducible for fires with wood cribs than fires with upholstered chairs.