Smoke detector tests in Kinston, NC - News Briefs

Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Jan, 2002

During September 2001, a NIST team of engineers and technicians instrumented and burned a two-story, single-family home in Kinston, N.C., in order to characterize the performance of different types of smoke detectors. Smoke detector arrays were located in the hallway and bedroom upstairs as well as exit paths downstairs. Each smoke detector array consisted of a number of detectors including photoelectric, ionization, photo/ion combination, aspirated, carbon monoxide, and mechanical heat sensor. Additional instrumentation included smoke meters, thermocouple arrays, and carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and oxygen analyzers.

Each fuel package, either a mattress in the upstairs bedroom, an upholstered chair in the living room, or a frying pan of oil in the kitchen, was ignited and the movement of the smoke was monitored as it moved throughout the house. The overall purpose of this project is to determine if different types of fire alarms can respond to threatening residential fire settings in order to permit egress of typical residential structures.

CONTACT: Nelson Bryner, (301) 975-6868; nelson. bryner@nist.gov.