CH-89-12-3 -- Computer Analysis of Smoke Transport during a Hotel Fire PDF

It is an accepted fact that approximately 80% of fire deaths result from smoke inhalation. Nearly two-thirds of the deaths occur away from the room in which the fire originated. Victims may become incapacitated by heat, visible smoke and/or toxic species within fire generated, high-temperature gases long before death from the effects of one or more known lethal combinations of combustion byproducts occurs.

In a fire, smoke is considered to be the major killer. According to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) smoke is defined as a complex mixture of airborne liquid, solid particulates and gas evolved under pyrolysis or combustion. Smoke is highly dependent on combustion conditions,and its toxicity often cannot be attributed directly to inhalation of one or more specific chemicals from known or suspected toxic fuels. Considerable information,however has been developed for key constituent materials containing carbon.