88
3220.047
Colville, James; Daniel Walsh; Donald W. Vanney
A Study of Fire Losses in Low-Rise Multi-Family Residential Buildings
Paper
University of Maryland, Department of Civil Engineering
1979
January
1-78
Y
The purpose of the study described in this report is to evaluate relationships between construction type and fire losses, and to review the performance of detection devices and fire suppression systems in low-rise multi-family residential buildings. The basic findings of the study are summarized as follows:(1) The extent of flame damage is a function of construction type. The influence of construction type on flame damage is evident for all states considered, and indicates that as the fire resistance of the construction decreases the extent of flame damage increases.
(2) Property losses due to fire damage generally tend to increase as the fire resistance of the construction decreases.
(3) Possible relationships between fire casualties and construction type cannot be definitely stated at present.
(4) Although the data available for evaluating the performance of smoke detectors and sprinkler systems is very limited, the data analyzed suggests that failure rates of both detectors and sprinklers may be significant. As such it is recommended that further work is required to clarify the reliability of these devices.
For those interested, 8.2 on page 72 of the report, presents a number of more specific conclusions and observations resulting from the study.