An analysis is made of freeburn and sprinklered Plastic Storage Tests conducted at Factory Mutual Research Corporation (FMRC) from 1970 to 1979. The analysis includes: 1) the freeburn fire growth rates dependent on plastic commodity and storage arrangement; 2) the temperature histories in the freeburn fires; 3) the response time of the first sprinkler operation in the sprinklers operation in the sprinklered tests; and 4) the number of sprinklers (and, therefore, indirectly the fire severity) activated as a function of the growth rate and the maximum burning rate measured in freeburn tests. Fire growth rates depend on the overall geometry of the array, on the arrangement and the volume occupied by the plastic commodities inside the carboard boxes. Temperature histories near the ceiling are correlated using relations applicable for unsteady fires. The sprinkler response time can be predicted by a simple expression of the heating history of a sprinkler fusing element in a growing fire. Based on the experimental results, it is suggested that the number of sprinklers activated in the sprinklered tests depends on a characteristic growth time of the freeburn fire growth and on the heat release rate at the moment of first sprinkler activation. Freeburn tests are not sufficient in general to classify the hazard which a commodity and storage arrangement will present to a specific sprinkler protection. An additional parameter required for classification is the time characteristic for fire extinction or control, which depends on the sprinklers and the geometry and contents of the stored plastic configuration.

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This paper presents a refined version of a mathematical model for predicting the hot gas flow induced by fires in multiroom structures. Two layer zone modeling approach is used in the mathematical formulation of the model. Some of the results of smaple calculations of the model are also given for a couple of model structures.

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Behaviors of thermal stress in fire are analysed about 29 multistory steel stractures in Japan. These analyses suggest that the yielding of structural elements occure firstly at the top of exterior column between 94°C and 720°C and almost under 350°C. These yielding temperatures are approximate to ones drawn from the model analysis and statistical approach.

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A hotel fire occured in Tokyo on Februay 8, 1982 and it caused the deaths of 33 persons. An examination and analysis were made on the behavior of the hotel's guests who had been registered at that time. The items examined and analyzed in this paper were the guests' recognition of emergency exits, the guests' means of awakening, the first three actions of the guests following their awakening, the guests' means of becoming aware of the fire and the first five actions of the guests following their recognition of the fire incident.

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