Experiments on the interaction between individual products involved in the artane fire

✍ Scribed by P.L. Hinkley; P.G. Smith

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 823 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0379-7112
• DOI: 10.1016/0379-7112(84)90023-7

✦ Synopsis

The crucial aspect of the fire was the transition from one which did not pose an immediate threat to life to one which spread very rapidly. It was considered that the most likely mechanism for fire spread was the presence of long flames beneath the ceiling radiating heat downwards on to the seats beneath at an intensity sufficient to cause spontaneous ignition.

Preliminary estimates of the minimum size of fire necessary for this were made and some preliminary experiments carried out to determine the conditions under which a relatively small fire might have attained such a size. The most likely mechanism appeared to involve an interaction between fire on the seats and the carpet tiles on the walls.