Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Following the publication of the Report on the Enquiry into the collapse of flats at Ronan Point, advice was sought from the Joint Fire Research Organization on the pressures which might occur in domestic structures during explosions involving fuel other than town gas. In particular information was sought on the conditions under which the maximum explosion pressure on external loadbearing walls may be reduced to specific values lower than 35 kN/m^2 (5 Ib/in2). The point was also made that it was difficult to design for the removal of more than one external loadbearing wall in a flat and the question was raised under what conditions more than one loadbearing wall might be removed in an explosion. This note is concerned with the provision of this information.