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Five fire scenarios tested on full-scale mass timber building

Codes and Standards

Five fire scenarios tested on full-scale mass timber building

Results will help inform code changes.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | July 27, 2017

Pixabay Public Domain

Five full-scale mass timber fire tests in a multi-story apartment building with promising results will be used to inform code changes.

The International Code Council Ad-hoc Committee on Tall Wood Buildings conducted the fire scenarios tested in two one-bedroom apartments constructed using mass timber. The test scenarios included various arrangements of exposed and unexposed cross-laminated timber (CLT) with open doors between living and sleeping areas.

In addition, the tests evaluated automatic sprinkler systems effectiveness. A General Technical Report FPL-GTR-247 on the fire tests will be available from the Forest Products Laboratory in the near future.

One finding after one test was that exposed CLT essentially self-extinguished due to the formation of char that protected the underlying wood. In two tests, sprinklers were able to effectively control the fire.

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