Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Statistics of damage to industrial and storage buildings in Hertfordshire are analysed. It is found that the probability of structural damage is about 14 per cent, and the chance of failure of a structural element is about 0.5 per cent. About half the fires have damage less than 10 m^2, about three quarters less than 100 m^2 The extent of damage appears to be associated with the size of fire as represented by the probability of spread beyond the room of origin.