Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions

Under a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighter Grant, UL in collaboration with the Chicago Fire Department, Michigan State University, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs completed a fire research study to enhance understanding of hazards to firefighters posed by use of light-weight construction of wood trusses and engineered lumber in roof and floor designs that are increasingly replacing conventional solid joist construction in residential structures. The project investigated and compared the fire performance of conventional solid joist lumber and light-weight lumber as used in floor and roof construction and correlated these to fully instrumented fire tests. The fire tests in combination with fire performance data on lumber allows fire professionals to better interpret fire hazards and assess risk for life safety of building occupants and firefighters.

For more information about this project please see the grant report (NC9140-20090512-Report-Independent.pdf), report on additional fire tests (NC10412-20090130-Report-Independent.pdf), and the report on the modeling phase (DHS_Report_Modeling_Floors_1208_final.pdf).

Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions - Online Training

This online firefighter training course is the result of a research partnership among UL, the Chicago Fire Department, IAFC, and Michigan State University, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This self-guided course, which focuses on the structural stability of engineered lumber under fire conditions, is targeted toward the 1.1 million fire service personnel in the United States and Canada. The knowledge developed and shared in this course is critically important to firefighter and civilian safety.

Watch the presentation.

Publications

Battling the Hidden Danger - FireRescue Magazine: February 2010 - pp 72

Structural Collapse: The Hidden Dangers of Residential Fires - Fire Engineering University Continuing Education Course

Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions - The Fire & Security Authority: 2009 Issue 3 - pp 1

Working to Live: Making Fire Fighting Safer - International Fire Fighter: January/February 2009 - pp 20

Project Partners