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The National Fire Protection Association’s 2002 National Electrical Code (NEC), Section 210.12, requires that all branch circuits supplying 125 volt, single phase, 15- and 20-ampere outlets installed in dwelling unit bedrooms be protected by an ACFI. Although not required, AFCIs may be used in other circuits or rooms throughout the dwelling unit if desired. Mr. Walter Smittle, West Virginia State Fire Marshal (retired), says that the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NFASFM)
has
studied the effectiveness of AFCIs and has publicly endorsed the
technology. Benefits from using AFCIs could be significant by
reducing property losses and safeguarding lives from electrical fires.
Two
web sites that have information about AFCIs are the Consumer Product
Safety Commission’s (CPSC) site at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub
/pubs/afci.html
and the Underwriters Laboratories’ site, http://www.ul.com/regulators
/afci/.
For additional information
you may contact Mr. David Dini at Underwriters’ Laboratories; telephone
(1) + 847-664-2982 or send e-mail to David.A.Dini@us.ul.com
. and Mr. Walter Smittle, West Virginia State Fire Marshal (retired),
telephone: (1) + 304-372-2326 or send e-mail to wsmittle3@wirefire.com
.
[1] Ault, Singh, and Smith, 1996 Residential Fire Loss Estimates, October 1998, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Directorate for Epidemiology and Health Sciences.
Arc Fault Circuit Interupter
Mr. Daniel Madrzykowski was awarded the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bronze Medal in recognition of his exemplary leadership in conducting fire experiments, and his outstanding effort to transfer fire dynamic modeling technology to the fire service and arson investigators. Through Dan’s tireless effort, NIST has become the principal source of large-scale data used by fire investigators, fire modelers, and national consensus standard and code organizations. Data has been collected at hundreds of full-scale fires over the past 5 years. Teaming with local fire departments, the US Fire Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF),
International
Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), and the National Institutes of
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), data have been generated from many
buildings ranging from single houses to multi-story apartment buildings.
Mr. Madrzykowski’s computer simulation/re-creation of the townhouse fire that occurred at 3146 Cherry Road, Washington DC on May 30, 1999, killing two-firefighters is particularly noteworthy. A simulation of the fire events in the townhouse was constructed using NIST’s Fire Dynamics Simulator model. Dan utilized NIST’s Smokeview software to display the
model simulation
for the fire department investigating committee.
Results are available on CD, NISTIR 6510, which includes still and animated images from the simulations. As the information is important to help other firefighters avoid similar tragedies, every fire fighter should take the time to learn the lessons from this investigation. Since its release in April 2000, over 8000 fire departments have requested and received copies of the CD.
To obtain a copy of the report, you may download it from the web site http://fire.nist.gov, or you may request the CD-ROM by e-mailing Dan at daniel.madrzykowski@nist.gov.
Dan Madrzykowski (left) works with the Regional FD, Casa Grande, AZ gathering data from burning house.
Simulation of the unexpected flare-up of basement fire shows hot gases racing up the staircase in the DC townhouse.
