Full Scale Test on Fire Spread and Control of Wooden Buildings

Wood was widely used for ancient buildings in China, though it is very easy to burn, which causes big trouble for fire preventing. The paper introduced the full scale fire tests in Lijiang ancient town, Yunnan province. A series of full scale fire tests with different fire locations in building, different fuel and different type of ceiling were conducted on wooden building. The effect of water spray on preventing fire spread in wooden building was also studied. It shows that: a).It is easier for fire spread when the fire origin is near the wooden wall; b).Once the inflammable material like foam mattress burned, the fire is very easy to spread over the wooden building; c).If there is ceiling in the wooden building, it can block the fire plume and hot smoke flowing into the adjoining room through the upper space between two rooms; d).Water sprinkler system takes a good effect on preventing fire spread in wooden building, it should be installed in important wooden buildings, such as historical buildings.