Science in action

Abstract

The First Interstate Bank Building fire was of particular interest to the National Institute of Standards and Technology because it provided a spectacular example of floor-to-floor extension of fire in a high-rise building. The fire was also of interest because it involved an open office arrangement, and analyzing the way the fire behaved in such an arrangement would give the NIST researchers an opportunity to compare their engineering methods to the changing office environment. The NIST used several equations developed by noted fire engineers and two computer models: the Available Safe Egress Time model, also known as ASET, and DETACT-QS, a computational model. The approach they used to estimate flame extension where there was an adequate supply of air in the building to support combustion was based on flame length equations for flame height. Researchers also calculated the relationship of the response of smoke detectors to the growth of the fire to help determine if and when certain smoke detectors had detected the smoke development and sounded an alarm.