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Technical Note (National Research Council of Canada. Division of Building
Research), 1968-01-01
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Fire Research Expenditures in Canada
Shorter, G. W.
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DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH
No.
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA
514
NOTE
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PREPARED BY G. W. Shorter CHECKED BY APPROVED BY R. F. L. DATE January 1968
PREPARED FOR Inquiry and record purposes
SUBJECT FIRE RESEARCH EXPENDITURES IN CANADA
The greatest fire research expenditures at the Federal level are incurred at the National Research Council of Canada and the Department of Forestry. These expenditures will be illustrated by reference to figures for the 1966- 67
fiscal year.
In general, it would appear that the expenditures for fire research devoted to urban fire problems run somewhat higher than those concerned with forest fire problems. Rela-tively large expenditures are incurred by testing organizations such as those of the Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada and the Canadian Standards Association, in the course of testing products for safety. This type of assessment is of importance in the development and acceptance of new products from a fire hazard standpoint.
It is difficult to present an accurate statement con-cerning fire research expenditures in Canada. In the first instance, it is hard to determine whether certain areas of work should be classed as fire research. In addition it would be
rather a formidable task to ascertain what amounts of money are being spent by provincial and municipal governments and
2
-univer sities in this field. This statement, therefore, discusses only federal government and industrial expendi-tures.
FED.ERAL GOVERNMENT
National Research Council of Canada
The Council, through the Division of Building
Research, supports a fire research effort devoted essentially to studies related to building fire problems.
A building and equipment costing $1, 250, 000
devoted entirely to fire research studies was opened in 1958. This building, which forms part of the Building Research Centre, contains a number of special facilities for the pursuit of fire research studies. 'fhe annual operating cost for this facility, including salaries, operational expenses and travel funds, amounts to $260, 000. In addition the National Research Council awards $10, 000 in university grants for fire research studies.
Department of Forestry and R'ural Development
The forestry branch of this department supports efforts in two areas of fire research. One effort is devoted to studying problems related to forest fires, while the other is directed towards increasing the utilization of wood and cellulosic products, particularly as building materials.
The present forest fire research effort involves expenditures of approximately $296, 000 for salaries, travel funds and equipment. In addition, approximately $55, 000 has been expended in the form of grants to universities.
The forestry branch is proposing to erect a building costing $1, 400, 000 to be used exclusively for forest fire research studies.
The Forest Products laboratory spent approximately $85, 000 on laboratory operation and $10, 000 on univer sity
grants. Much of this effort is devoted to studying fire retardant treatments for wood and wood products.
."
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-Other. Federal Departments
Estimated expenditures by other federal govern-ment departgovern-ments for fire research total approximately $50, 000. These studies are concerned with rather special problems which might arise at a time of national emergency. INDUSTRY
It is difficult to estimate the expenditures incurred by industry which are directly related to fire research: however, it is estimated that industry is expending at least $120, 000
annually. This figure includes the cost of Industrial Fellowships and laboratory operation. In addition, approximately twice this amount is spent on government assistance research endeavours.
In general, those efforts supported solely by industry are directed towards problems as sociated with the behaviour of building materials during a fire. On the othe'r hand, some of the government-assisted industrial research is concerned with forest fire problems.
TESTING ORGANIZATIONS
The Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada and the Canadian Standards Association maintain laboratories devoted to the evaluation of products from a safety standpoint. Much of the work at the UnderwriterSf Laboratories of Canada is
con-cerned with the fire testing of building materials and as semblies of building materials. In the case of the Canadian Standards Association laboratories. they are responsible for the certifi-cation of all electrical equipment. The cost of operation for these laboratories is something in the order of $1,250, 000 annually.
The following table presents a summary of Annual
Fire Research Expenditures in Canada. excluding those for testing activities.
ANNUAL FIRE RESEARCH EXPENDITURES IN CANADA
.'
National Source of Funds Urban Forestry Emergency
