Enhanced Fire Severity in Modern Indian Dwellings

The present study focuses on assessment and probabilistic characterization of fire load, a key input to performance-based fire design, in office and dormitory buildings in India. A survey using combined inventory- weighing method was conducted and the results analysed with respect to several parameters such as room use, type of combustibles, etc. Probabilistic models based on the generalized extreme value and gamma probability density functions have been proposed for fire load energy density. It has been found that, on an average, the fire load present in modern buildings is about three times greater than what is reported by earlier studies and prescribed by building codes. Thus, the severity of potential fires that can occur in a compartment has increased considerably. Parametric fire curves have been developed and compared with standard fire curves to assess the increase in severity. The developed fire curves possess a greater growth rate and predict a greater temperature within the first one hour, when compared to the standard curves, showing that there is a greater fire risk.