Evaluation of expected damage costs from fire in concrete building structures

Abstract

This paper proposes a framework for estimating annual economic losses due to fire in concrete building structures, considering the uncertainties in the occurrence and growth of a fire and the response of the building. The loss assessment follows four steps for each possible fire location, including fire hazard analysis, response analysis, damage analysis, and loss analysis. The expected loss for the building is the weighted summation of the expected losses under fires in different locations. Two sets of fire-specific engineering demand parameters (EDPs) are proposed for structural components to address the damage related to both the temperature penetration in the section and the deformation of the component. Components are characterized in damage states depending on threshold values of the EDPs, based on which the fragility and consequence functions are defined. As a case study, the expected fire loss was estimated for a five-story RC frame building. Direct losses from single-compartment fire scenarios were evaluated at about 188 k$, conditional to the occurrence of a severe fire. However, losses from structural components amounted to only 14% of this total, highlighting the need for more studies on nonstructural components and content. The method discussed herein could be generalized for other types of buildings and expanded to cover indirect fire losses. This framework can serve to support cost-benefit analyses of fire safety measures and hazard vulnerability assessments of communities.