Experimental demonstration test of damages in houses caused by wildland-urban interface fires

Abstract

In Portugal, forest fuel management (FFM) around buildings is mandatory and regulated by Decree-Law. However, regarding the Portuguese Building Fire Safety Regulation, there are no specific provisions for applying safety measures to mitigate forest fire effects on buildings in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Therefore, for evaluating the influence of not doing the mandatory FFM around houses in the WUI and, consequently, studying the forest fire exposure behaviour on typical housing construction systems, an experimental demonstration test (DT) was carried out in a small house in a WUI environment without FFM. The DT also aimed to understand if houses in the WUI using these construction systems could be a refuge during a forest fire. The construction systems and elements assembled were representative of materials used in Portugal and South Europe in recent years. In this DT, a land plot with forest fuels was burnt in Portugal. Firefront intensity, radiant heat flux on the house, temperatures, displacements of several construction elements, and damage sustained by construction systems during the test were recorded. The DT found that these construction systems could be vulnerable to forest fires, and the building may no longer be able to constitute a refuge during forest fire exposure.