A careful search of the attic indicated that no extension of the fire had gone into the attic space.
Attic space fire.
A march 2009 change to the massachusetts building code requires the use of nfpa 13 systems in group r occupancies with a total floor area exceeding 12 000 square feet based mainly on a 2008 fire in an apartment complex that burned up the exterior of a building to reach an unprotected attic space.
In most codes this means an opening not fixed window to the outside.
Second position a 2 inch handline in the hall to darken any advancing fire in the attic void space area.
The application of water on the underside of the roof area will slow or stop the fire.
Fires in attics therefore typically and quickly become ventilation limited even more so than lower levels of a structure that have more windows and doors.
This is a drywalled wall that goes from the slab to the.
The size of the.
The fire did not make it through the firewall between the house and the garage attic spaces.
This is largely because nfpa 13 does not declare attics to be concealed spaces since not all attics are created equally from a fire development and fire spread perspective.
The garage portion of the house was destroyed.
Therefore the standard allows the hazards present for an attic space to determine whether it can be considered concealed and whether or not sprinkler protection should be provided.
An attic can be a concealed space if it is constructed and used as a concealed space as outlined in 8 15 1 2 1 of nfpa 13.
The openings provided for natural ventilation are not enough to maintain steady state burning and fuel limited fire behavior.
It s still undetermined at this point but it s looking like a dryer malfunction that caused the fire to spread to the attic space and then it moved across the attic said robin mcgill with the.
Now here s the good news.
Attic fires are commonly ventilation limited fires.
Since the staircase to the attic can act as a chimney for the fire to quickly spread it s necessary to have a secondary point of egress or exit.
Attics are the worst place to be in a fire because heat and fire rise rapidly.