Simulation of the Dynamics of the Fire at 3146 Cherry Road NE, Washington, DC, May 30, 1999.
Simulation of the Dynamics of the Fire at 3146 Cherry
Road NE, Washington, DC, May 30, 1999.
(590 K)
Madrzykowski, D.; Vettori, R. L.
NISTIR 6510; April 2000.
Available from:
For more information contact: Daniel Madrzykowski, NIST,
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8641, Building 224/Room A345,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8641.
Telephone: 301-975-6899.
Email: daniel.madrzykowski@nist.gov.
Website:
http://fire.nist.gov
Order number: PB2000-104947
Keywords:
computer graphics; predictive models; fire fatalities;
fire fighters; fire investigations; fire models; fire
simulation; ventilation; computational fluid dynamics
Abstract:
This report describes the results of calculations using
the NIST Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) that were
performed to provide insight on the thermal conditions
that occurred during the fire at 3146 Cherry Road NE,
Washington D.C. on May 30, 1999. Input to the computer
model was developed from 3 sources; the District of
Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department
Reconstruction Committee, photographs and measurements
taken by NIST staff during a June 3, 1999 site visit,
and from material properties taken from the FDS
database. An FDS model scenario was developed that best
represented the actual building geometry, material
thermal properties, and fire behavior based on
information from the Reconstruction Committee and
Physical Evidence. The results from this model scenario
are provided with this report. Results from an
additional model scenario, which included the opening of
the sliding glass door on the first floor prior to
opening of the sliding glass door in the basement, are
also presented. The FDS calculations that best represent
the actual fire conditions indicated that the opening of
the basement sliding glass doors provided outside air
(oxygen) to a pre-heated, under ventilated fire
compartment, which then developed into a post-flashover
fire within 60 s. Some of the resulting fire gases
flowed up the basement stairwell with high velocity and
collected in a pre-heated, oxygen depleted first floor
living room with limited ventilation.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899