U.S. scientists watched carefully last month as firefighters battled a test fire in a seven-story abandoned building in New York.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology fire protection engineers set the fire to gain a better understanding of the fast-moving spread of wind-driven flames, smoke and toxic gases through corridors and stairways of burning buildings.
The experiments, conducted in partnership with the Fire Department of New York and New York's Polytechnic University, examined the effectiveness of such firefighting tactics such as the use of positive pressure ventilation fans, wind control devices and hose streams to control or suppress deadly heat and smoke from wind-driven fires.
NIST researchers placed cameras, temperature and pressure sensors throughout the building and monitored the progress of intentionally set fires in apartments and public corridors. The researchers said they recorded the effects of opening or closing doors and windows both near and far from the blaze.
A report on the high-rise experiments is expected to be completed by this fall.
