§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been undertaken by his Department's scientific research and development branch on flashover and backdraught. [20053]
§ Mr. Nicholas BakerIn 1992, the Home Office fire research and development group commissioned the fire research station to undertake a study into what was known about flashovers and backdraughts. This was completed in 1994 and issued as FRDG publication No. 5/94. Following this research, a supplement to the manual of firemanship entitled "The Behaviour of Fire—Compartment Fires' was published in February 1995. Further research is being undertaken by the fire experimental unit of the FRDG into the feasibility of producing a small-scale compartment fire simulator for use as a training tool for firefighters.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been undertaken by the fire research station into flashover and backdraught. [20048]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordI have been asked to reply.
The fire research station, part of the Building Research Establishment of DOE, has studied, over many years, the transition of small fires, through flashover, to fully developed conditions. The work has included experimental fires in compartments, the development of mathematical models to describe smoke and fire spread and studies of real fires. Results of the work have been used in the development of regulations and supporting codes and standards.
FRS has recently completed a review for the Home Office to define the technical conditions of "backdraught" where the rapid ignition of partially burnt combustion products may place the lives of firefighters at risk when a compartment is ventilated.