Northbrook, IL – To help fire service members explore the hazards of residential attic and exterior fires, the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute has released a free online training program.
The program summarizes results from a study funded by the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. Experiments for the study included 28 wall tests, three wall and eave tests, four full-scale attic tests and three field experiments at 1.5- and 2.5-story residential houses in Milwaukee.
The training program shares videos and interactive features. Among the tactical considerations explored:
- More common use of plastics in outer walls can alter a fire situation before firefighters arrive.
- Begin fighting a fire from the outside of a building if the fire started on the outside.
- Anticipate where and how an exterior fire will move to the structure’s interior.
- Attic fires often are ventilation-limited fires. Monitor or limit vertical ventilation until water is in the attic.
- Attic construction affects hose-stream penetration. Consider a master stream that flows up rather than down.
