Fire Service Summary Report: Study of the Effectiveness of Fire Service Positive Pressure Ventilation During Fire Attack in Single Family Homes Incorporating Modern Construction Practices

Abstract

There is a continued tragic loss of firefighter and civilian lives, as shown by fire statistics. One significant contributing factor is the lack of understanding of fire behavior in residential structures resulting from the use of ventilation as a firefighter practice on the fire ground. The changing dynamics of residential fires as a result of the changes in home construction materials, contents, size and geometry over the past 30 years compounds our lack of understanding of the effects of ventilation on fire behavior. Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) fans were introduced as a technology to increase firefighter safety by controlling the ventilation. However, adequate scientific data is not available for PPV to be used without increasing the risk to firefighters. This fire research report details the experimental data from cold flow experiments, fuel load characterization experiments and full scale fire experiments. During the project it was identified that the positive pressure attack (PPA) and positive pressure ventilation (PPV) were often used interchangeably. For the purpose of this report they have been defined as PPA for when the fan is utilized prior to fire control and PPV for when the fan is used post fire control. The information from the full scale tests was reviewed with assistance from our technical panel of fire service experts to develop tactical considerations for the use of PPV fans in residential single family structures.