Haavard Boehmer’s research while affiliated with Combustion Science Engineering, Inc and other places

Vehicle fires in parking structures developing into large conflagrations are rare but can result in severe economic losses. It is important to understand the hazard posed by modern vehicle fires to determine whether current fire codes for parking garages are mandating adequate fire protection requirements. There has been an increase in the fire hazard from changes in vehicle design and increased use of plastics and other combustible materials in vehicle construction, along with denser parking of vehicles in parking structures. This manifests as faster flame spread within the vehicle, easier ignition and more rapid fire spread to neighboring vehicles. Based on the findings, test data from vehicles older than 2000–2005 model years should not be used as basis for development of codes and regulations. Open parking structures emerge as the main area of concern regarding fires in modern vehicles. The lack of any requirements for active protection systems in the fire codes, and trends in vehicle and garage design suggest that large, devastating fires in these structures could become increasingly common. The spread of fire between vehicles, especially from the initial to the second and third vehicles, is critical in determining the extent of the fire and the ability of the fire department to successfully control and extinguish. Future research should be conducted into earlier detection, sprinkler protection, and fire spread between vehicles to address the hazard.

There are currently efforts to inform the public of the fire safety benefits of keeping bedroom doors closed when occupants are sleeping. A closed door can provide a substantial advantage to sleeping occupants of a bedroom in the event of a fire by hindering the spread of heat and toxic gases. The overall benefit in this arrangement is clear when occupants have interconnected smoke alarms inside and outside the sleeping areas as detection and notification of the fire is not hindered by a closed door. Concerns have arisen for situations when such a detection and notification arrangement is not present in the residence and the door can act as an obstacle for rapid detection and notification of occupants. Calculations and data from the fire science literature were used to evaluate the effect of a closed bedroom door on the number of unsuccessful evacuation outcomes that may result from fires originating in the bedroom, as well as the effect of a closed bedroom door on the audibility of smoke alarms for fires originating elsewhere in the residence. This was combined with statistics on smoke alarm coverage, residential fires, and fatalities to quantify the unsuccessful evacuation outcomes. These results were compared with the number of fire fatalities where a closed bedroom door could offer a benefit. Overall, it was found that the number of unsuccessful evacuation outcomes from a closed bedroom door were relatively small and that the potential benefit of closing a bedroom door was far greater. The analysis concludes that on a purely technical basis, closing the bedroom door at night will save lives and provides a net benefit to the public.

https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/Building-and-Life-Safety/Modern-Vehicle-Hazards-in-Parking-Garages-Vehicle-Carriers

Smoke alarms are relied upon to notify building occupants of a fire, and the performance of these devices in the fire environment is critical for the safe evacuation of the building occupants. Development of smoke detection technology has focused primarily on the activation time of the smoke alarm and the amount of escape time they will provide. The growth rate of fires in industrial and residential settings has increased significantly in the past four decades, often attributed to the construction and materials of modern-day furnishings and contents compared to that in the 1970s. This changes the thermal environment smoke alarms are exposed to and raises the question whether they are able to alert the occupants before failing due to heat exposure. Research by Ashley et al. in 2005 showed that approximately 30 s of sounding time is necessary to reliably awaken a sleeping occupant and initiate egress. As research has primarily focused on the activation of smoke alarms, there is a gap in the industry knowledge of the thermally induced failure in these devices. Experiments using two different smoke alarm designs were performed in a heated tunnel with induced airflow. The alarms were heated until they reached a code-mandated audibility failure criterion of less than 5 dB above ambient levels, as well as complete cessation of the audible alarm sound during experimental testing. For these samples, reduction in sound signal started to occur at a component temperature of 56°C, and all alarms had stopped sounding when heated to 144°C. The results of a plunge heating test were used to compute a generalized two-stage Response Time Index for the thermal response of each type of smoke alarm. The output data from the NIST Home Smoke Alarm Tests performed in 2008 were used to calculate the estimated time when the smoke alarm would have thermally failed during those tests. The calculations showed that in the scenarios analyzed, both smoke alarm designs tested would provide more than the 30 s required, before reduced audibility or failure occurs. The failure of both alarm designs in just over 3 min shows that more research is needed applying this methodology to a wider range of alarm models and fire scenarios to ensure that smoke alarms are able to provide adequate protection in modern fires.