FIRE LITIGATION SUPPORT The Chilworth Pacific Fire Laboratory, Inc. has developed a highly efficient methodology for the use of modern fire test methods in fire litigation. Although the modern fire engineering techniques are highly advanced, very often it is still the fire testing that is needed in the fire litigation setting to prove the opinions and conclusions of a fire investigator, scientist or expert. TESTING Full Scale Simulation Tests These tests are conducted on scenarios involving building fires, vehicle fires, furniture fires, fires in industrial and storage setting, and any other products that might be involved in a fire. Full scale simulation tests of various fire scenarios are conducted to reproduce or demonstrate the development of various phases or the entire process of a fire, from ignition until the fire is fully developed and extinguished. Data collected during these tests can be used as input in fire models. Such tests are usually fully documented. Small and Intermediate Scale Fire Tests on Materials and Products Highly instrumented small and intermediate scale fire simulation and standardized condition tests are used to obtain quantative data needed for evaluation of a product involved in a fire. Ignition parameters, flame spread parameters, heat release rate, fluxes from the flames, and others are obtained. Mannequin Clothing Fire Simulation Tests and Small Scale Textile Tests A combination of standard small scale ignition tests (CFR 16 Parts 1610, 1615, and 1616) used to determine compliance of fabrics with requirements and a full-scale burn test on a fully instrumented mannequin to evaluate the burn behavior of clothing is typically used to support clothing fire litigation. Investigation of Ignition Mechanisms Mechanisms that can lead to ignition of electrical devices and other products and materials are studied and experimentally reproduced. These studies usually combine the theory of ignition with practical circumstances that can lead to ignition of various products due to electrical or other sources of heat. The approach has been succesfully used in various cases. Some of the ignition scenarios that were studied in our laboratory had not been explained and/or experimentally reproduced before. Engineering and Modeling Modern fire engineering and science tools and methods including computer fire models are used to interpret the results of various fire tests and study fire simulation in buildings and other enclosed spaces. These may involve behavior of specific products in a specific fire scenario, or other fire cases. Emergency egress analysis can be conducted including behavioral and crowd movement modeling. Wildland fire behavior can be studied and simulated using recently developed fire behavior models. Building, Vehicle, Furniture and Industrial Fires Fire modeling can be combined with testing when high quality predictions of fires are required. The modeling tools available to us include most of the available fire growth models (fire growth on room linings, furniture, etc.), zone room fire models (such as FAST, HAZARD), Evacuation models, Fire resistance models, and CFD models (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Animations of fires can be provided for modeled fires. Fire code and standard compliance can be analyzed as well. Emergency Evacuation Emergency evacuation and crowd movement in buildings can be modeled. This can be combined by the effects of fire. Wildland fires Wildland fires can be modeled using simple models such as BEHAVE or more sophisticated models such as FARSITE (Fire Area Simulator) that utilize spatial information on topography and fuels along with weather and wind information. FARSITE requires the support of GIL (Geographical Information System) software to input and manage the landscape data. Animation of fires can be produced based on the output of FARSITE. Consulting and Expert Witnessing Consulting services based on our expertise and expert witnessing are services available to our clients.
Chilworth Pacific Fire Laboratories, Inc. 2401 B Talley Way, Kelso, WA 98626, USA. Tel: 360-423-1220 · Fax: 360-578-7662 · Email: fire@chilworthpacific.com Privacy Policy Site designed by Vis-Com, Inc.