# A Review of Modelling and Simulation Methods for Flashover Prediction in Confined Space Fires
## 1 Introduction  
Enclosure or confined fires are situations that firefighters are used to handling. The consequences of this type of emergency can involve people and structures. A confined fire is one that takes place inside structures such as blocks of houses, garages, single-family homes and commercial establishments. The last International Association of Fire and Rescue Services (CTIF) study [1] suggests that 35% of fires (see Figure 1) located in several cities around the world are structure fires. These kinds of emergencies caused civilian (non-fire service) deaths, civilian fire injuries and property damage. Currently, the reported data about this phenomenon in Europe is very poor. This is because there is not a common database which involves all European countries and most of the fire services do not document such situations. An example of this is the study carried out by the European Fire Safety Alliance (EFSA), which only involves nine countries. Table 1 shows an overview of the results from research [2] carried out for EFSA related to residential fires. To compare these results with data from another continent the reader can refers to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA [3]) statistics. According to NFPA, during the five-year period between 2010-2014, USA fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 358,300 home structure fires. These kinds of emergencies caused an annual average of 2520 civilian (non-fire service) deaths, 12,720 civilian fire injuries, and US$ 6.7 billion in direct property damage. On average, seven people died each day in the US in home fires during this period. Currently it is very difficult to obtain accurate data to evaluate confined space fires in Europe, because there is no database available for this dangerous type of emergency. Furthermore, there is no data available on how this type of enclosure fire affects emergency teams, materials or victims. In order to get some idea of the risk for people involved in these situations, Table 2 provides a more detailed breakdown of losses by occupancy in two types of buildings, family homes and buildings. 70% reported home structure fires and 84% of the fatal home fire injuries occurred in one- or two-bedroom family homes, including manufactured homes. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l} \hline
**Country** & **Population** & **Fatalities Per Capita** & **\% Fatal Fires (Related to** \\  & **(Million)** & **Per Year (Approx.)** & **All Residential Fires)** \\ \hline
**Belgium** (2014-2015) & 11.4 & 0.6 per 100.000 & 0.5\% \\
**Denmark** (2011–2012) & 5.8 & 1.1 per 100.000 & 1.2\% \\
**Estonia** (2013–2017) & 1.3 & 3.7 per 100.000 & 4.6\% \\
**Finland** (2011–2012) & 5.53 & 1.4 per 100.000 & \\
**Netherlands** (2011–2014) & 17 & 0.2 per 100.000 & 0.6\% \\
**Norway** (2016–2017) & 5.3 & 0.5 per 100.000 & 1.3\% \\
**Poland** (2011–2012) & 38 & 1.3 per 100.000 & \\
**Sweden** (2011–2013) & 10 & 1.1 per 100.000 & 1.2\% \\
**UK** (2014) & 66 & 0.6 per 100.000 & \\ \hline
**Total** & 160.3 & & \\
**Total Europe** & 742.9 & & \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Population, fatalities per capita per year and percentage of fatal fires in selected European countries [2]. Figure 1: Distribution of fires by types. International Association of Fire and Rescue Services by Center of Fire Statistics of CTIF 2018 [1]. A compartment fire [3] is one that takes place inside an enclosed area, such as a house, in which two circumstances can occur:  
* The enclosure is ventilated, the oxygen consumption is less than the available amount. * The room is under-ventilated (lack of inlet air or lack of an outlet for the smoke). During the combustion process, oxygen levels in the enclosure decrease. No open vents or oxygen displacement by combustion gases can be the causes. To understand the combustion process in the enclosure it is necessary to introduce the reader to fuel-controlled (FC) and ventilation-controlled (VC) concepts.