Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

There are about 8,000 U.S.A. type temporary bungalows in the United Kingdom, and there have been several fires in them, most of which have been characterised by the rapid growth and spread of fire. The City of Birmingham Housing Management Department are responsible for about 500 of these dwellings and they have been investigating methods of ensuring the escape of occupants in the event of fire. Two proprietery flame retardant treatments were tried but maintenance difficulties and costs led to the consideration of the installation of a fire alarm system. The main life risk is likely to occur during a fire at night. To find how long the bedrooms would be tenable if a fire occurred, and how much warning would be given by a proprietary fire alarm installation, a replica of the U. S. A. bungalow was built in Birmingham and destroyed by fire. The Joint Fire Research Organization were invited to cooperate in this experimental fire, and they undertook the temperature and visibility measurements and an analysis of the atmosphere in one of the bedrooms during the fire.