Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions Course

Description

Under a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighter Grant, UL in collaboration with the Chicago Fire Department, Michigan State University, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs completed a fire research study to enhance understanding of hazards to firefighters posed by use of light-weight construction of wood trusses and engineered lumber in roof and floor designs that are increasingly replacing conventional solid joist construction in residential structures.

The project investigated and compared the fire performance of conventional solid joist lumber and light-weight lumber as used in floor and roof construction and correlated these to fully instrumented fire tests. The fire tests, in combination with fire performance data on lumber, allows fire professionals to better interpret fire hazards and assess risk for life safety of building occupants and firefighters. This two-hour online presentation summarizes the research and communicates learnings as they relate to fire service tactics and residential building codes.

Course Topics

• Module 1 – Background
• Module 2 – Modern Fire Challenges
• Module 3 – Fire Tests
• Module 4 – Fire Service Learnings
• Module 5 – Building Codes

Objectives

• Describe the elements of modern single family residences
• Identify the amount of time it takes a room filled with modern synthetic furnishings to reach flashover
• State the manner in which lightweight construction fails under weight and fire conditions.
• Describe the reliability of thermal imaging cameras
• Define the potential hazard associated with concealed void spaces created by open web truss systems
• Describe the advantages of compartmentalization
• List the fire conditions attributed to the elements found in modern homes

Target Audience

• All fire services and personnel in North America
• Fire safety organizations, building code officials, public health officials, fire protection engineers, architects, building owners, contractors, manufactures, and installers of fire protection equipment
• Insurance companies

Important information regarding this course:

Although this course is free of charge, you are still required to add the course to your cart. Once you have done so, you will be prompted to login or register.  Once you have done that, the course is then added to your learning plan and can be launched by clicking on the course name and selecting the "Take Course" option.  Note: Please make sure you allow pop-up's in your web browser.

Click here for the minimum system requirements to access this course.

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