Report on a Model Test to Study a Fire at Scarborough, Ontario

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Report on a Model Test to Study a Fire at Scarborough, Ontario

Burnett, C. G.

NATIONAL ｆｭｾＺ［ｲＺｊａｒｃｉＭｉ C;OUNCIL C1UTADA

REPORT ON A MODEL TEST

TO STUDY A FIRE AT SCAHDOHOUGH, ONTARIO

by

c.

G. Burnett

ANAl YZED

Not for Publication

Report No.

38

of the

Division of Building Research

Ottawa

December

1954

I

I

IHTHOLUCTIOlJ

During actual firefighting, members of fire departments seldom have the opportunity of

s e ei ng the rapid spread of a fire wheri it is

in its first stages. Information about flame

spread can be of 3reat assistance to the

fire services and buildinc officials in their vJOrk of pr-o t.e c t.Lng life and property.

This report outlines the model test made to

study a fire in whi ch hIO childron 10 st their

lives. As such tests reveal much helpful

information, it is hoped that it may aid in averting trusedies in the future.

'r'. -. -n--, ",[11 '1 "';\I

ｬｬＮｩＮＺｊｴｾｉｾｌＮｌ l:J.'J fj"lT:"-'_--1' ..ｃｉｾＭｩ1 ... nn.l.v

, f i

iLL

by C. G. Burnett

On Wednesday, March

3, 1954,

at

E

a.m., a fire occurred

in a one-room IO-foot square dwelling at Highland Creek, north

of .lo , 2 Ei;hway in the 'I'own ahLp of Ｒ｣｡ｲｴｯｬｾｯｵＲ［ｨ rie ar- 'I'or-orrt.o ,

The dwe Lling was occupied by a lirs. 'diLdns with her three

chl Ldr-en aGed ｾ｟Ｌ 2, and 1 year, and a Ers. Hampson ,:Jith one child

3

years old. The fire was responsible for the death by suffocation

of the t wo children aged

3

and Ｑｾ year s and caused severe burns

to three other occupants of the dwelling.

On the day following the fire, an investigation was

conch: cted at the scene by C. G. Burnett and P. Huot from the Fire

Research ｾ･｣ｴｩｯｮ of the Division of Buildins Research in order

to ascertain the cause for the rapid spread of fire within the ｢ｵＺｩｌｬｩＺＺＱ｛ｪｾ

'This dHslliw;ms 3. one-storey buLl.d Lnr; of' frame

construction, supported 0;" co n-: "ate bLoe ks , Combu st LbLe board

was used for both interior ana exterior sheeting. Insulatlon

was placed over the ceiling between the roof joists, but

there was no insulation in the walls. The combustible board

ｦｯｲｾｩｮｧ the interior surface of the walls and ceiling was

painted.

2.2 Services

Heating and cooking facilities were provided by a stove, located at the north end of the building, built to use wood or coal but converted into an oil-burner type with

a blower placed at the rear of the stove. A two-gallon

galvanized tank was attached to the north wall at the west side of the stove with a copper pipe leading from the tank

to the carburetor and into the combu st Lon chamber of the

stove. 'I'h e building was wired for electricity. There was

no water service to the dwelling.

2.3

Living Accommodation

Sleeping accowJodation was provided by a double bed, t1rJO cribs and a folding bed; the latter was removed in the

daytime to provide more space in the room. The kitchen

section was on the east side of the building where a

refri3erator and table were located. A wooden counter with

shelves to the floor, vrhich were used to hold the sink and

store various other articles, had been constrllcted on the

south wall near the entrance. A wire clothesline ran from

2

-2.11 Detection

The fire was discovered at

S

as m, by HI's. Wilkins who

stated that she was facine south in the room, dressing, and

on turning around noticed fire in the vicinity of the oil

tank and spreading rapidly up the ｾＢＡｩｮ､ｯｈ curtains and vraLl,

to the ceilinG.

2.5

Action of Occupants

On di scovering the fire, r':rs. \'Jilkins pLc ke d up the

two younger children who were in their cribs, telling the older children playing in the room to follow her outside. The rapid spread of the fire across the room to the entrance of the dwelling prevented Mrs. Wilkins from re-entering the

bul Ld Lng , (lIrs. Hampson had left for work at

7.30

｡ＮｾｮＮＬ

leavin::; llrs , l-Jilkins alone with t he children).

2.6

ExtLn-rud\r,( shmerrt

The fire was vext.Ingui sbed Lmncdl at ely after the ar-r-I"val

of the fire department. The bodies of the two older children

were found suffocated underneath the ､ｏｾｊｬ･ bedo

2.7

Oripin and Cause of Fire

Exanlination of the buiLdLrig by members of the lJivision

revealed that there was a cardboard box containing a can,

placed near the base of the oil tank, trhLc h contained some oil

that had dripped from a leaky oil line. It is difficult to

ascertain the actual cause of the fire but the following

ass1L'nption is made: a ciGarette or match was thrown on to

the oil-soaked floor or into the cardboard box. The fire

could have smoullered and bur st into flame whi Le

r-rr

s , 1,'ilkins

was turned away from the stove. Doth HI'S. ｾｊｩｬｫｩｮｳ and HI'S.

Hampson admitted lighting ci arettes in the dwelling.

The fire spread very rapidy, igniting the curtains

and the combustible board. Articles of clothing and other

combustible material in the room aided the fire in its rapid

spread towards the only exit from the building. The fire

involved the entire room and contents before being extinGuished.

3.

MODEL BUBN

In order to study with Hhat rapidity this fire spread in this type of construction, it was decided to construct a model

and carry out a model burn. It was not possible to scale all

dimensions accurately but approximately

4

scale was used. A

3

-3.1

Description of Model and Contents

(a) nodel

The model and its cant ent s were constrncted in the

shop of the Fire Research Section, Division of Building

Research, National Research Council (Figs. 2 and

3).

The

dimensions of the model were

4

by

4

by 2 feet with walls

and ceilina _{constructed of 1-inch wood fibreboard and}

fLoo r Lng

of

i-inch Do'.:glas fir p Lywoo d ,

'I'wo TTindows were nlaced in the bu l Ld l ng , one h by

12

inches was located in the west wall and the other,

6

inches square in the north wall. Both windows were fitted

with s Lng I.e diamond slass fixed with scotch tape to the

exterior of the wall. Entl.ance to the building was from

the east side with a door made of !-inch combustible board hung to open Lnwar-d ,

(b) Furniture

Four metal beds were constructed and suitably located.

Samples t aken from the orir;inal mattress were placed on the

beds and covered with cloth to simulate sheets. A refrigerator

and table made with t-inch plywood were placed along the east

wall. A counter and shelf constructed of ':i-inch plywood were

located at the entrance to the dwelling along the south wall. A metal model of a stove was placed at the north end of the

building. In addition a 3-inch liameter ｾｨ｡ｬｬｯｷ cup filled

vJith 1 ounce of oil was placed on a newspaper on the floor

beside the stove to simulate c ond Ltions exd st Lng at the time

of the fire.

Cloth curtains were hung from both windows and a wire clothesline was attached to the interior walls leading from

the stove. Pieces of cloth were attached to the line in order

to determine if possible whether the spread of fire was influenced by the articles hung on the line as well as the window curtains.

3.2

Weather conditions on March

31,

1954.

Wind Air Relative

Time Velocity Tempera- Humidity

m.p.h. ture (OF)

(;;

)

3.15

p.m. vJNW

2-6

₄₃

₄₃

It

-The relative humidity ana air temperature were recorded

on a Bendix-Priez hygrothermograph. The wind velocity

was obtained by using a Biram type anemometer.

3.3.

Procedure

(a) Ignition

The oil in the porcelain cup was ignited by using a steel rod with a lighted piece of cotton attached to the end and extending it through the door entrance.

(b) Gas sampling

During the course of the burn, samples of the

combustion gases were taken at specific times and locations in order to obtain some picture of the rapidity at which the atmosphere deteriorated inside the model.

The apparatus used for this purpose is illustrated

in Fig.

I!.

It consisted of eight pre-evacuated sampling

tubes connected to a distributor line which, in turn, was fed from three different locations in the model by means

of rubber tubing and steel piping. A system of valves

installed between the distributor and the feed lines

permitted the ｳ｡ｾｰｬｩｮｧ of gases from one location at a time.

The other end of the distributor was connected to a suction system, provided by a syphon, which allowed the continuous removal of the gases in the line at a rate, measured by a

flowmeter, of

15.5

litres per minute. The time lag between

the withdrawal of the gases from the model and their collect-ion in the s arnpLd ng tubes was calculated from the flow rate and was found to be approximately 10 seconds. Each sample could, therefore, be taken as representing the mean con-centration of the gases over a period of approximately ten

seconds prior to the actual time of sampling. It is thus

assumed that, even though the stopcock to each evacuated

tube was left open for a period of 10 seconds, the gases would rush in as soon as the stopcock was opened.

The actual setup of the apparatus during the burn is

shown in Fig.

5.

The exact locations at which samples were

taken are noted on the general drawing (Fig.

6),

and were

as follows:

Location A: Under the double bed at a point one inch

above the floor,

8

inches from the rear wall and 10

inches from the left-hand side ｾ｡ｬｬ［

Location B: Above the double bed, at a point directly

above Location A at a ｨ･ｩｾｨｴ of

15

inches from the floor;

Location

c:

Near the door, at a point

15

inches above

the floor,

8

inehe s inside the door and 10 inches f-'o!ll

Gas s ampLes 1rIers dr-awn l'ss;ulal'ly f'r-orn location A at ons-md.nut.e inter-vaLs , 1'hi::; procedure \-JElS adopted in the

expectation that G. minimum of five samp Les could be obtained

beI'ore the I'Lashe o ver- occur-r-ed, 7his as sumpt Lon Has based

on the results of tests conluc.ted in Great Britain

(1)

which

showed that, with rooms lined with wood fibreboard, the

flasl'J-over h ad t al.er, pLac e approximately

S

minutes after

ienition. However , in the pr-cscrrt case, t.h l s phenomenon

occurred at about 21 r,lircutes bec acs e ignition lIIaS started

wi til oil in order t o siy:mlate as closely as possible the

conditioYlswhich existed at the actual fire. Only three

s ampLes ｾＧｊ･ｲ･ obtained f'r-orn location A at orie-emlnut e intervals,

starting f'r-orc the time of iGnition. THO other samples were

collected, one each from locations Band C in order to determine the approxi"':.ate distribution of the ccrr:.bustion

pr-odu ct s in the model. In each case, the sample Li ne Has first

connected to the suction system for a minimLlin period of 20

seconds to clear the 0istributor of the gases previollsly

wi t.hdr-awn, At the non.Lna.l time of s amp Ld ng , the stopcock

to one of the sampling tubes was opened for a period of 10

seconds arid then closed. The s arnpLes thus obtained Here

subsequently analysed.

( c ) 'I'emnez-a_* t ur-e ｩﾷｾ･｡ｳｮｲＸｭＮ･ｮｴ _{- .__. _ - - - -}s

of the carbon type.

Terrperatures were measured and recorded using

22-ganee chr-omoLe-aLurne L t.her-mccoupLes connected to a multiple

point (16-point) recorder (See Fi;.

5).

Thermocouples were

located at

IS

dLf'fer-errt points as 811.01,vn in FiG.

6.

The

thermocouple s installed near the fLoo r and near the ceiling

'Here enclosed in fiberGlas s l.e evLng and those at rnid·uheight

were enclosed in 2-hole porcelain insulators. The recorder

was started as soon as the oil in the container near the stove ignited.

4.

RESULTS

ｾ .• l Analysis of the combustion ｧ｡ｦ＿ｾｾ

The five smnples of gases collected durinG the conduct

burn Here analysed for carbon dioxide, oxygen, and

monoxide with a portable gas analyser of the Orsat The results of the analysis are given in Table I.

- 6

-TABLE I

Nominal Time

°2(%)

CO

2

of Sampling (min.)

Location

(%)

CO

0&)

1.05 A 20.8 0.0 0.0 2.00

A

20.8 0.0 0.0 2.30 B _{4.9 12.7 5.5}

3.00

A

19.6 0.8 0.6 3030

C

20.6 0.0 0.0

4.2

Temperature in model during the burn

The temperatures obtained during the model burn up

to the point of exting1"lsbmem. are

ｳｨｯｾｭ

in Table II.

TABLE II

Thermo-couple

Time

_Tern)"

Time

_{Tem) "}

Time

_Tern).

Time

Temp.

No.

(

sece

,

J

(OF

(sees)

(OF

(sees)

(OF

(sees)

(OF)

-'. ｾ

---I 32

Nil

96

Nil

160

Nil

2

t

6 60 100 228

ＱＶｾ

935

ｾ

ｾｯ 85

ＱＰｾ

205 16 ₉₅₅

ｴｾ

82 10 250 172 920

5 81 112 230 176 1065 6 52

Nil

116

Nil

180

Nil

ｾ

56 275 120 _{575 18k} 1080 60 260

_ＱＲｾ

₅₉₅ 18 ₁₃₄₀

9

ｾｾ

355 12 1110 192 1190 10

ｾ

55

4

30 132 720 196 1150 11 ₅₅ 72 90

_ＱｾＶ

915 200 1070 12 12 55 76

r

5

1+0 845

ＲＰｾ

_10f5

ｩｾ

16 70 80 '20

Ｑｾｾ

1130 20 13,0 20 95

ｾｾＢ

20 14 1100 212 1310 15 24 98 555 152 1065 216 1280

NOTE:

a)

Point No.

16

was not used.

b)

No readings obtained for points

1

and

6.

5.

DISCUSSION

5.1

Combustion Gases

The results of the gas analysis tend to show that the

composition of the atmosphere inside the model varied a great

deal not only from one level to another, but also from one

7

-location to another at the same level. Visual observations

as well as temperature measurements clearly indicate that the

most severe burning took place at ceiling level. This and

the effect of convection on the combustion gases Hould explain the high concentration of CO and C02 detected at

location

B

o On the other hand, at point

C,

situated at the

same level as point B, no evidence of' combustion can be

obtained from the gas analysis althouGh it was quite evident

from visual observation that some severe ｢ｵｲｮｩｮｾ occurred

at that location. The incompatibility of these findincs

could be explained by the two following facts:

(i) Point C was situated right above the door opening

so that a continuous draft of fresh air could have

affocted the compo si tion of the atmo sphere expected

at that point;

(ii)

The sample of gas collected from point

C

was drawn

Hhile the extinguishment of the fire, throuGh the

door openinG' was actually in progress.

The analysis of the samples collected at floor level under the bed indicates that very little conillustion occurred at that point, which is further corroborated by the temperature readings and also by the fact that, after the fire had been

put out at about the ＳｾＭｭｩｮｵｴ･ marks the floor at point

A

showed hardly any visible sign of burning. A similar

observat-ion had also been made at that locatobservat-ion at the actual scene

of the fire. The first two gas samples proved to be of the

same composition as that of the atmosphere, that is, about

21 per cent l'xygen by volume. The sample taken at the ｴｨｲ･･ｾ

minute mark (after the f Laah-vover ) shows, however, a low

concentration of combustion products in the same area, VJhich could result either from some actual but very slow combustion

or from the diffusion of CO and ｃｏｾ from other

parts

of the

of the model.

From the ｡｢ｯｶ･ｾ it can thus be concluded that:

(i)

(ii)

Up to the three-minute mark, and possibly for some

time after, had the fire been left burning the oxygen concentration at location A (under the bed) Has quite

sufficient to support life

(2);

At the ｴｨｲ･･ｾｭｩｮｵｴ･ mark, the concentration in carbon

monoxide was in the range at which "most animals would

die in a very short time"

(3).

It is believed that

this concentration increased as the burning progressed.

5.2

Room ｔ･ｭｰ･ｲ｡ｴｵｲ･ｾ

In summarizing the temperature conditions during the model burn, reference is made to Fig. 16 which shoHs the

8

-heights above the model floor throughout the test. Some

of these relationships are set out in Table III. TABLE III

Time Average Temperature in Nodel in

VF

(sees) Ib above floor 12 above floor H3 above floor

60 100 365

90 210 ＡｾＹＰ ₅₈₅

120 ｌｾｬｏ ₇₀₅ 830

150 740 925 1030

It can be seen from Table III that conditions inside the model would have been quite intolerable shortly after

one minute from ignition due to the excessive heat. In

addition, the room was fully involved (flash-over point)

at around Ｒｾ minutes. This rapid spread could be accounted

for by the use of fuel oil and light combustible material in

the test. During other model burns carried out by the

Division of Building Research with the same type of wall

lining, the model room has become fully involved in Ｔｾ to

5 minutes. In these tests no additional fuel was added in

the form of furniture, textiles, or fuel oil.

1rJhile no definite conclusions may be reached based on this test, i t does serve to show that the mother had very little time to carry out any rescue operations and points out the foolishness of using a leaky heating device utilizing a liquid fuel in a room lined with combustible

material. This factor, coupled with crowded living conditions,

was undoubtedly responsible, in part for the tragedy. HEFERENCES

FoE.T. ｋｩｮｾｭ｡ｮＬ EoH. Coleman, and D.J. Rasbash.

Chem., 3, 463-68 (1953).

J. Applo

2. Y. Henderson and H.W. Haggard. Noxious gases and the

principles of respiration influencing their action. The

Chemical Catalog Co., N.Y., p.37 (1927).

N.F.P.A. Handbook of Fire Protection,llth Edition, Boston, 1954, p. 346.

II

48

DOUBLE BED CRIB CRIB

D D

D

FOLDING COT

D

CUPBOARD OIL P'Ci

AND SINK _OIL

ｓｔｏｖｾ

7

I

.:

ICE KITCHEN

ｂｾ

(

TABLE

FLOOR

PLAN

OF

MODEL

FIGURE

Fig. 2

Interior view of model

Fig.

3

Interior view of model

RUBBER TUBING

Y4"

1-0-STEEL PIPING '1 3/1'6 1-0-SUCTION LINE 01 STR IBUTOR I •• Y'Z ' I- O· SAMPLING BOTTLES VALVES

FIGURE

4

GAS

SAMPLING

APPARATUS

Fig.

5

Test apparatus and model

AB

13 2 8 0 o 1 3 12 0

ｾ

51015 C 4914 0 0 1611

PLAN

II ₁₄ 0 II 120 120

CB

015 13 14 0 01& 13

.C

-B

60 010 9 0 _{' 0} 010 10 1 8 9 8 10 0& 4 0 10 0& 20 2 _A 3 4 3

.A

E.LE.,vATION

E..LE..V.

A

Fig.

6

Location of thermocouples and gas sampling tubes

Fig.

7

Thirty-eight seconds after ,i gn i t i on .

(The oil in the evaporating cup on the floor at '

the north wall has ignited and the fire h8s

exten-ded to the window curtains)

Fig.

8

One minute,

16

seconds after ignition.

Ｈｾｨ･

fire is advancing rapidly up the north wall to the

ceiling.

Heat broke the glass held in place with

scotch tape.

The tape was removed when the glass cracked)

Fig.

9

One minute, 31 seoonds after ignition.

(The fire has advanoed up the north wall, extending

aoross the room to the door entranoe by way of the

oeiling and floor)

Fig. 10

One minute,

50

seoonds after ignition.

(Heat and gases are being generated within the

dwell-ing.

Flames are attaoking the outside of the bUilding

through the window)

Fig. 11

Two minutes, 15 seconds after isnition.

(The fire has extended involving the entire room)

Fig. 12

Two minutes,

50

seconds after ignition.

(Flames now engulfing the interior of the building)

0 c

.

E CD CD tit

•

ｾ ::J 0 0

,..

Co) 0 E

..

N

•

t-ｾ t- O N

o

o

N

o

o

o

o

o

II)

o

i

o

o

,..

s

N

o

.:I0 ＳｬｴｮｬｙｾＳ､ｎＳＱ

Thermocouple. '2" from floor T8 200 1 1 ...4 I I I I I I I I 1 1000 I I T f0 1200

I I

T7

I

I

I

I

=t 1 74=

pt-1

1400i i i i i i , i i LL. 0 8001 1 T9

...

ar: :J

.-

600

«

ar:

...

Q. ｾ

...

.-

₄₀₀ 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Imin 2 min 3 min

TIME IN SECONDS

FI GURE

14

2001 I / " ｾ ...ｾ I I I I I I I I

FIGURE

15

o

20 40 60 1min. 80 100 120 140 2 min. TIME IN SECONDS 160 180 3 min. 200 220 De.P, RE.pog,T 38

180 200 3min 160 140 100 120 2mln TI ME IN SECONDS 80 60 Imln 40 20 I

I

I

AVERAGE TEMP. 18" ABOVE FLOOR

jFLASHOVER 0

- - - -

AVERAGE TEMP. 12" ABOVE FLOOR

j

- - -

AVERAGE TEMP. 6" ABOVE FLOOR

»>

-o

V

...

---V

V./

,....

./

/

u

V/

/ /

,

V

/

/

ｾ "'./

o

/

/ '

/ '

"

-:

. /

/

, / / I V _{, /} , , /

V

[,/'

. /

-:

)

, /

1-0---ｾＭＬＮＮＮＮ

. -80

o

20 400 60 100 120 1400 1&.1 a: ::) l-e:( a: 1&1 Q. 2 1&.1 I- I&-o

FIGURE

16

OBl=l, l=l,E:POQT .ee