Throughout the human history of construction, the fire has been considered as one of the greatest enemies of buildings. Before the 20th century, fires were a significant hazard to urban areas and the cause of massive amounts of damage to cities, such as the Great Savannah Fire in 1820, destroyed almost 500 structures, with loss of about $ 4 million, and Hamburg Fire in 1842, resulted in destruction of nearly a quarter of the inner city, caused 51 deaths, and an estimated 20, 000 homeless.
After the 20th century, the building code developers improved the fire code for public welfare in America. However, there were still serval fires historically made an impact on changes in fire codes. Such as the Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago in 1903, caused the deaths of 602 people, thus resulting in federal and state codes included requirements for maximum seating capacity, exit doors and the inclusion of sprinklers. Several other cases, such as the Ohio State Penitentiary Fire in 1930, and the Rhythm Club Fire in 1940, brought fire codes for jails and night clubs. …show more content…
However, when a fire happened and burned the heat source inside the building, it would continue to consume the structural materials, such as timber, concrete, and steel, depending on what type of the structural system of the building.
Wood forms a self-insulating char layer provided protection for the unburned portion. This slow-burning characteristic is a significant advantage for timber to construct a fire-safe building. When wood members exposed to high level of temperature occurs in building fires, they tend not to expand visibly and remain a substantial amount of
After the 20th century, the building code developers improved the fire code for public welfare in America. However, there were still serval fires historically made an impact on changes in fire codes. Such as the Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago in 1903, caused the deaths of 602 people, thus resulting in federal and state codes included requirements for maximum seating capacity, exit doors and the inclusion of sprinklers. Several other cases, such as the Ohio State Penitentiary Fire in 1930, and the Rhythm Club Fire in 1940, brought fire codes for jails and night clubs. …show more content…
However, when a fire happened and burned the heat source inside the building, it would continue to consume the structural materials, such as timber, concrete, and steel, depending on what type of the structural system of the building.
Wood forms a self-insulating char layer provided protection for the unburned portion. This slow-burning characteristic is a significant advantage for timber to construct a fire-safe building. When wood members exposed to high level of temperature occurs in building fires, they tend not to expand visibly and remain a substantial amount of