Model of fire spread out on outer building surface

Abstract

The spread of fire through the façades is one of the quickest routes of spreading flames in buildings. There are three situations that can lead to the spread of fire though the façades: a) Fire from outside through hot coals, initialized/set either by a fire in a nearby building or a wooden area in flames, b) Fire started/set by an element that burns in the front of the façade (garbage container, furniture, etc.), c) Fire originated in a compartment of the building, which spreads outwards through the windows. In this paper, I focus only at the last case, which is considered to be the most dangerous and statistically the most frequently occurring. Fire spread of some type of façades were discussed: • Glazed façade, • Double-skin façade, • Façade with structural barriers, • Façade with side walls at the opening, • Façades covered by ETICS (External Thermal Insulation Composite System). Also information of influence of radiation from compartment fires to adjacent buildings was added.