Research study conducted by NYU-Poly, FDNY, and NIST

In the winter of 1998, a fire ball roared down a tenth floor hallway of a nursing home in New York City. Three brave firefighters who were searching for victims became victims themselves as the temperature rose, in a matter of seconds, to well over 2000 degrees. The heat turned the cement-block hallway into glass. Inside the apartment, the concrete ceiling spalled so badly that the steel rods were exposed. What was the fire load of this conflagration?

The ensuing investigation found that the apartment had a relatively small fire load. But the wind, which was blowing in through an open apartment window at approximately 20 MPH, engulfed this relatively small fire load. In addition, the space outside the apartment was pressurized by the hot gasses, creating the conditions that ultimately doomed these brave souls.

High-rise fires are among the most technically complex and deadly operations for firefighters and the public. It is estimated that high-rise fires account for a loss of up to $26 billion annually, much of which is accountable to smoke and heat damage.

From 1996 to 2004, 100 civilians and 12 firefighters were killed in high-rise fires nationally. In New York City, 16 civilians and five firefighters perished, proving that these incidents are among the most difficult emergencies for fire commanders to manage.

With the increasing concentration of high-rise buildings and the threat of terrorist attacks still looming, the fire departments are seeking to investigate new techniques for safer, more efficient high-rise fire operations.

In 2008, the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, in collaboration with the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), conducted a study of wind-driven fire dynamics in high-rise structures through an AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program) funded fire research grant. The objective of this study was to improve the safety of firefighters and building occupants by developing a better understanding of wind-driven fires and wind-driven firefighting tactics, including structural ventilation and suppression. A series of 14 experiments were conducted to evaluate the ability of positive pressure ventilation fans (PPV), wind control devices (WCD), and exterior water application via floor below nozzles (FBN), also known as high-rise nozzles (HRN), to mitigate the hazards of a wind-driven fire in a structure. The results of the burn experiments were also validated by scientific simulation techniques. Many representatives from major fire departments across North America witnessed the results of this week-long series of burn experiments. Many newspapers and TV channels recorded, manifested, and published the event. Learning from the research, the FDNY modified its operating procedures, trained its 11,000+ firefighters, and implemented the new firefighting procedures in several wind-driven fires in NYC.