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Investigation of the Cook County Administration Building Fire Daniel Madrzykowski, P.E., FSFPE...
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Transcript of Investigation of the Cook County Administration Building Fire Daniel Madrzykowski, P.E., FSFPE...
Investigation of the Cook County Investigation of the Cook County Administration Building FireAdministration Building Fire
Daniel Madrzykowski, P.E., FSFPE
William D. Walton, P.E., FSFPE
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD
Cook County Administration Cook County Administration Building FireBuilding Fire
October 17, 2003October 17, 2003
Fire in a storage room, 12th floor
Approx. 5 PM, Friday Security calls for complete
evacuation FD can not make successful
interior attack Tower ladders used to make
fire attack 6 people die in the SE
Stairway, 13 more rescued at approx 6:30 PM
View of north side of the Cook County Administration
Building:2 “half windows” were
broken out.
View of east side of the Cook County
Administration Building
Investigations/ReviewsInvestigations/Reviews
Chicago Fire DepartmentOffice of Fire InvestigationOperations
Chicago Police DepartmentBomb and Arson
• http://www.cityofchicago.org
Cook CountyMikva Commission
• http://www.co.cook.il.us/Fire_Commission/Master%20Reports/07.07.04%20County%20Report%20Final.pdf
Investigations/Reviews -continuedInvestigations/Reviews -continued
State of IllinoisJames Lee Witt and Associates - Full Report
• http://www.wittassociates.com/3934.xmlNIST – Fire Study
• http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/NIST_SP-1021.pdfNational Research Council Canada – Human Behavior
Study• http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/fulltext/rr181/
Building ConstructionBuilding Construction
37 stories tall with one level below grade Reinforced cast-in-place concrete with concrete and
glass panel exterior walls Core contains elevators and two stairs Southeast stairs were designed as a “smoke-proof
tower” Partition walls were 1.59 cm (5/8 in) thick type X gypsum
board on steel studs. Partitions extended from floor to a drop ceiling in all areas except the core.
Space above ceiling is return air plenum
NIST InvestigationNIST Investigation
No origin and cause – Used witness testimony to determine initial fire location
Document Scene Fuel, ventilation, damage
Heat Release Rate Experiments FDS Modeling
Examine different vent conditions in the SE stair Examine potential impact of sprinklers
Cone Calorimeter –ASTM 1354Cone Calorimeter –ASTM 1354Measures
Heat Release Rate (HRR)
Mass Loss Rate
Smoke production
Combustion gases
Item Exposure Heat Flux
35 kW/m2 70 kW/m2
Avg. Peak HRR
(kW/m2)
Avg. Peak HRR
(kW/m2)
Carpeting 260 380
Ceiling Tile 10 40
Monitor Case 410 490
Letter Tray 1020 1170
Chair 210 350
Paper w/cb 320 460
Wastebskt 1560 2970
Wk Stn WS 340 590
Cone Calorimeter ResultsCone Calorimeter Results
Sled Base Chair HRRSled Base Chair HRR
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0 500 1000 1500
Hea
t R
elea
se R
ate
(kW
)
Time (s)
Office Chair HRROffice Chair HRR
0
100
200
300
400
500
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Hea
t Rel
ease
Rat
e (k
W)
TIme (s)
Work Station HRRWork Station HRR
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
0 400 800 1200 1600
Hea
t Re
lea
se R
ate
(kW
)
Time (s)
Multiple Work Station HRRMultiple Work Station HRR
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
0 100 200 300 400 500
Hea
t Re
lea
se R
ate
(kW
)
Time (s)
Fire ModelsFire Models
Field Models -•Computational Fluid Dynamics•Divide room into large number of
small boxes or volumes
• Computer based fire model• Computational fluid dynamics model based
on conservation of :– Mass– Energy– Momentum
• Predicts gas temperature, gas velocity• Accounts for convective and radiation heat
transfer• Tracks combustion chemistry
NIST Fire Dynamics SimulatorNIST Fire Dynamics Simulator(FDS)(FDS)
• Scientific visualization tool– Forms color graphics based on FDS
calculated values.
SmokeviewSmokeview
FDS InputFDS Input
Only the 12th floor simulated Southeast stairs 12th to 27th floors A small flaming fire with a prescribed burning rate was
used to initiate the fire in the storage room based on witness testimony
Burning paper assumed to fall from piles outside storage room
FDS InputFDS Input
Drop ceiling and exterior windows removed during simulation (times based on investigation)
Simulation terminated at 990 s (16 min 30 s) when fire department is believed to have applied water.
Impact of Smoke Shaft in Impact of Smoke Shaft in Southeast StairsSoutheast Stairs
Door from corridor to vestibule and door from vestibule to stairway opened at 930 s (15 min 30 s) into the simulation. (fire department advances hose line to floor)
Simulations with and without functioning vent
Sprinklers Used in SimulationSprinklers Used in Simulation
Typical standard response, K-5, pendent sprinklers K factor of 81 L/min/(bar)½
Activation temperature of 74° C (165° F) Response time index of 150 (m·s)½ Each sprinkler was centered in one half of the storage room
SummarySummary
Documented HRRs from “typical” office furnishings Simulated fire spread for first 16 min 30 s Smoke in stairs comparable with or without smoke vent
operation Automatic fire sprinklers would have limited fire to room
of origin
More information:
Reference:
NIST SP-1021, Cook County Administration Building Fire, 69 W. Washington, Chicago, IL, October 17, 2003, Heat Release Rate Experiments and FDS Simulations, July 2004.