In 1956, a National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) building was constructed in St Louis to hold military personnel records. The upper floor of this building caught fire on July 12th 1973. After a 22 hour fire the roof of the structure (made of prestressed concrete) suffered a 30% collapse. Ultimately the upper floor was removed post-fire. Today the…
Category: Case study fire
Flare night club fire
I took a stroll the other day through Kingston upon returning from NIST in Washington. Often we hear fires in the news, but we fail at times to see the resulting economic consequences which occur the days following (closed businesses from smoke damage etc.). The above are several photos taken a few days after a fire…
The Fire of Beccles, November 1586
Part the History of fire sciences and technology project that I have been working on the last two years involves digitizing/archiving old documents related to fire sciences and technology. When I say old, I mean anything from 1920 all the way back to roman times. While some of these older documents speak of new ways to scientifically understand fire…
Fire damaged crane
Just before the new year there was a large structural fire in Kingston, Ontario of a timber frame structure (under construction). The fire received national attention. This was highlighted by the rescue of a crane operator during the fire. As far as I was aware there were no deaths, but much hardship to those affected.…
YorkU Fire Research Team 