A Fire Analysis Tool Revisited – Acoustic Soot Agglomeration in Residential Smoke Alarms.
P. Kennedy, K. Kennedy, G. Gorbett, 2004
Acoustic Soot Agglomeration, Smoke Alarms, Smoke Detector, Fire Investigation, Fire Alarms,
This paper produces additional research particularly focusing on the production of acoustic soot agglomeration patterns in both ionization and photo-electric single station residential smoke alarms. Producing new test data, and combining that with previously reported data, this research work concludes that the presence or absence of acoustic soot agglomeration patterns on smoke detectors exposed to sooty smoke atmospheres was in fact a viable fire analysis tool.
Abstract
In modern fire incident analysis and the litigations that frequently follow from them, it is often of great importance to know whether a particular smoke alarm operated during a fire event. Like so many other issues involving the interpretation of fire analysis data, some scientifically verifiable means of determining if a given smoke alarm had activated properly was needed. Best would be some identifiable physical evidence of smoke alarm activation. As early as 1996, it had been put forward that the presence of enhanced soot patterns on fire event exposed smoke alarms was a useable method of determining that a particular smoke alarm had or had not properly activated. Research first published in 1999 and later updated research published in 2001 began to scientifically address the issue. Building on that earlier research, this paper produces additional research particularly focusing on the production of acoustic soot agglomeration patterns in both ionization and photo-electric single station residential smoke alarms. Producing new test data, and combining that with previously reported data, this research work concludes that the presence or absence of acoustic soot agglomeration patterns on smoke detectors exposed to sooty smoke atmospheres was in fact a viable fire analysis tool.