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Residential Fire Tenability
Track(s): Research, Fire Protection Engineering

Steve Kerber, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

Audio Sample:




The residential fire environment has changed over the last few decades. Newer homes have larger square footage, open floor plans, multi-story rooms, synthetic fuel loads, and light-weight construction materials — all of which impact fire dynamics and occupant egress time. Learn about the series of full-scale experiments Underwriters Laboratories conducted to examine the impact of these factors. You will hear about the experimental results and a discussion of tenability in modern residential houses.

Steve Kerber is a fire research engineer in the Corporate Research Division at Underwriters Laboratories (UL). His areas of research include improving firefighter safety, fire service ventilation, lightweight construction, and smoke management fire modeling. Prior to joining UL, he was a fire protection engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. A 12-year veteran of the fire service, he received his bachelor's and master's degrees in fire protection engineering from the University of Maryland and is also a registered professional engineer.