FSRI Hosts PPA-PPV Testing Visitor Day in Northbrook, IL

As part of the 2012 DHS Grant looking at positive pressure ventilation in residential structures UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) conducted full-scale fire tests during the month of January. A total of 24 experiments were constructed in the large scale fire test lab in Northbrook, IL. Test setups configured as a single story ranch home (1200 Sq Ft) and two story colonial (3200 Sq Ft) were utilized to fully understand the science between positive pressure ventilation and attack. Each structure was outfitted with over 150 sensors to collect data on temperature, heat flux, gas concentration and velocity through openings. As designed by our fire service technical panel the experiment's results will answer questions about when positive pressure attack is effective.

At FSRI, we strive to open up the research process and invite the fire service to be part of it all. To continue this tradition, we invited members of the fire service to attend a Visitor Day to witness two of our experiments first-hand. Visitors were given an opportunity to tour the test houses before the experiments began including an explanation of all instrumentation. Through the observation room on the second floor of UL’s fire lab in Northbrook, IL, visitors were able to see the full experiment in-action from a safe location. Once the smoke cleared and it was safe to do so, visitors were welcomed back into the lab to discuss what they just saw. In addition to seeing the research in-person, visitors were able to network with the project technical panel and FSRI advisory board members and share best practices from around the world.