Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

This report clarifies special characteristics of fires in wooden buildings constructed by traditional methods and problems in fire protection management. Data of past investigations a reanalyzed on fire protection management and fires in Japanese shrines and temples designated as cultural properties. The results of analysis show that the most common case of fires is arson carried out at night, and in many cases there was no one in the building when the fire occurred. Arsonists can enter shrine areas more easily than temple areas. On the other hand, in case of fire, neighbors' cooperation is obtained more often for shrines than for temples. Furthermore, it is clear that the percentage of temples that have a fire protection manager, a watch service, and an in-house emergency organization tends to be higher than that of shrines.