Exposure of modern compartment fires to facades
Fire spread through façades is a key feature of many high-consequence fire incidents with exceptionally difficult suppression challenges, often involving unproportionate damages and high fatality risk. Unlike many other aspects of fire safety, the framework for assessing the façade performance is far from harmonized. Most countries have their own methods and little is known regarding how relevant these are for the limitation of real fire spread. The impact of realistic fires to facades or how it correlates to different assessment methods is not known. As steps are taken to European harmonization a scientifically based knowledge on relevant façade exposures is more important than ever before.