Fire NIST Will Lead Study on Danger of Fire Smoke N IST and the Fire Protection Research Foundation are announcing a research initiative to study how smoke and heat impede escape and survival in fires. The research will help policy makers determine whether, when and how to incorporate sublethal effects of hot fire smoke in safety decisions. Sublethal effects are those that do not kill quickly.
Fire smoke consists of fine particles and hundreds of gases, some of which are toxic.
Most fire deaths are due to smoke inhalation rather than burns from flames. Much is already known about how smoke inhalation can kill fire fighters and building occupants, but little information exists about more subtle effects of smoke exposure. These include mental disorientation, eye irritation and coughing that make it difficult for someone to escape a burning building. Richard G. Gann, of the NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory, will lead the NIST research team. The data portion of the program will examine existing information on post-fire health effects and prior studies of laboratory animals exposed to gases typical of those in fire smoke.