FLASHOVER: THE BIG FIRE KILLER I

FLASHOVER is a fire energy phenomenon that most people are unaware of. It is a "critical
energy" transition point where a small fire suddenly flashes into a full room size fire. Here's how
it happens.
Let's assume a piece of furniture, perhaps an overstuffed chair, in one corner of a room becomes
ignited (could be a dropped cigarette). The chair will burn quietly, sometimes almost smoke free,
within the room. The heat will rise to the ceiling and be trapped there. (A small amount may
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escape if the door is open). Shortly, the ceiling temperature will reach the 500 — 8000F
range. At this stage invisable heat energy being radiated down from the ceiling will be increasing
the surface temperature of all exposed combustible material in the room. Suddenly (when the
critical heat flux level is reached) the entire room will flash into one giant fireball. Every
combustible in the room will then be burning simultaneously.
After FLASHOVER occurs there is insufficient oxygen in the totally involved room to sustain
full combustion, so unburned and very toxic gases pour out the top of the doorway. These
superheated combustion gases will mix with fresh air in the hallway, ignite at the ceiling level, and
a flame front will then roll down the corridor. Those who do not instantaneously flee for their
lives can become engulfed by the flames or the onslaught of the smoke. Moments later they
will be dead.
Just moments before FLASHOVER occurs, the seemingly small fire will appear to be "minor"
and readily controllable. People may not realize the seriousness of the conditions. For example,
they may be reading instructions on the fire extinguisher and getting ready to give the fire a
"shot". They may not have yet summoned the fire department because they expect to put the
"little" fire out promptly. After FLASHOVER they realize the magnitude of the problem — but
it's too late then. Suddenly and abruptly the wide ranging holocaust is born and it literally drops
them in their tracks.
The giant post-FLASHOVER fire will produce tremendous quantities of toxic gases. These
gases will be forced through air ducts, into stairways, and to upper floors by the pressure
generated by the rapidly expanding fire. It is the post FLASHOVER fire that produces the
great amount of toxic gases responsible for the vast majority of the fire deaths. FLASHOVER
is the big killer.
FLASHOVER is the transition point where a minor fire (producing only a little bit of smoke)
will suddenly explode into a giant holocaust. This can occur with only a very modest level of
combustible material in the building.
For a great many years only the fire protection specialists and laboratory researchers had a
good understanding of the FLASHOVER phenomenon, and the existence and seriousness of this
phenomenon was actually played down — possibly because it represented a failure of the old tra-
dition theories of fire safety based on compartments, fireproofing and exit planning. FLASHOVER
is the proof that the traditionalists of fire safety were wrong.

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 THE NEW FIRE TECHNOLOGY
One of the most serious mistakes a building owner can make is to be unaware of the very
dramatic changes that are taking place in fire safety. Some of the most important changes are
briefly discussed below.
FIRE IS NO LONGER AN "ACT OF GOD"
Just a few years back a fire was termed an "Act of God." People considered fire to be an un-
forseen and non preventable catastrophe (such as an earthquake, a hurricane or a flood). The con-
notation was that nobody was responsible for the event. Humans were just innocent victims.
That attitude is rapidly changing. Today, fire is more often considered to be a fault of manage-
ment, something that could have been prevented — but wasn't. The owner, the manager, the
architect, and the engineer are all likely to share the blame. A major fire can lead to litigation,
major financial awards to those who were injured, and even charges of criminal negligence against
the owners and designers.
THE FIREPROOF BUILDING IS NO LONGER "FIREPROOF"
The second major shift in fire safety thinking is in regard to the FIREPROOF BUILDING. How
often have you heard a hotel, an office building, or even a warehouse referred to as FIREPROOF?
"This building is constructed of concrete and steel", the owner used to exclaim, "What can burn?"
Actually, most of the major loss of life fires that have occurred in this century have occurred
within a fireproof building. All of the high rise fires have occurred in fireproof buildings. Most of
the hospital, nursing home and hotel fires were in fireproof buildings. Even the famous Coconut
Grove fire where nearly 500 died occurred in a fireproof building.
Why has the fireproof building been the scene of the BIG FIRE? From an engineering viewpoint
the fireproof building actually is designed to withstand a long duration internal fire. A Class A
Fireproof Building is designed to withstand a four hour fire within, and still remain standing.
(What do you suppose happens to the people who are inside the building when the expected four
hour interior fire occurs?)
THE PRIMARY CONCERN IS LIFE—NOT PROPERTY
The fire insurers paid off on property losses. Therefore, they pioneered fire solutions oriented
toward preserving the building, and subdividing the contents with fire walls so that any property
loss would be limited to only one portion of the total amount at risk.
Now, however, state, local and federal authorities are more concerned with systems that pro-
tect life. Further, when deaths occur, the liability awards of the courts can be many times the
dollar value of the property loss. The effect of adverse publicity is incalculable. Smart building
owners today should place life safety on the top of the priority list.
COMPARTMENTATION: NO LONGER AN ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION
The insurance industry, many years ago, promoted the compartmented fireproof building so
designed that only one section (one fire compartment) would burn at a time. This limited the size
of one loss to an "acceptable" level that would fit the mathematics of the acturial tables. The early
fire protection engineers then promoted this compartmentation (fire size limitation) as a solution
to the life problem. If we can hold fire to a reasonable size, they reasoned, why then the people
can escape to the outdoors. However, this "contain the fire and run for your life" solution never
produced a reduction in human life loss. The loss of life from fire in the U.S. actually has increased.
We now know why. Compartmentation does not prevent FLASHOVER. In fact, compartmen-
tation actually increases the potential for FLASHOVER. Once FLASHOVER occurs, fire and the
production of toxic combustion gases expand almost explosively. The fire dynamics increase so
suddenly and unexpectedly that people are caught unawares and killed before they have a chance
to escape. FLASHOVER too often means a fast wipeout of the occupants, even in the so called
fireproof building.