CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — As drought conditions are expected to continue into the hot and humid summer months, wildfire safety has to be top of mind in the Carolinas.
At the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety in Chester County, researchers are looking into how fast a wildfire can move through a residential area.
By setting fire to a structure in a simulated environment, they hope to learn what home-building materials are more resistant to fire spread.
The test house is furnished with decor you would find in a real home — couches, blankets and tables. Dr. Murray Morrison, the managing director of research at IBHS, says this is meant to simulate a real world fire situation.
Channel 9’s Joe Puma watched as researchers set fire to stacks of wood outside. Large fans, which simulate wind, are set to 10 miles per hour. Once the house is fully engulfed, researchers increase the winds to between 30 to 50 miles per hour to simulate the environment of an actual wildfire.
Chief Engineer Anne Cope said this series is really insightful into how different materials impact the fire behavior.
“This big, messy, destructive experiment is going to give us some really good information on the differences between different wall systems and what that means for the neighbor,” she said.
Cope says this is important research because the U.S. does not have a national building code. Typically it’s up to the state and cities to determine.
The research at IBHS can help give guidance to home builders, so houses can be more resilient to wildfires.
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