Modeling a Backdraft: The Fire at 62 Watts Street.
Modeling a Backdraft: The Fire at 62 Watts Street.
(6692 K)
Bukowski, R. W.
NFPA Journal, Vol. 89, No. 6, 85-89, November/December
1995.
Keywords:
backdraft; fire fatalities; fire fighters; fire models;
apartments; smoke; heat release rate; oxygen
concentration; temperature; computer models; casualties;
safety; ventilation; building fires
Abstract:
On March 28, 1994, the New York City Fire Department
responded to a report of smoke and sparks issuing from a
chimney of a three-story apartment building in
Manhattan. The officer in charge ordered three-person
hose teams to enter the first- and second-floor
apartments while the truck company ventilated the
stairway from the roof. When the door to the
first-floor apartment was forced open, a large flame
shot out of the apartment and up the stairway, engulfing
three fire fighters on the second-floor landing. The
flame lasted for at least 6 1/2 minutes, killing the
three men. In the hope of understanding the factors
that produced a backdraft of such duration, the fire
department asked the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) to model the incident.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899