The Study of Flame Engulfment Protection of Firefighter's Clothing

Abstract

The study determined the protection of firefighter's clothing while the clothing faced flashover and explosion condition. 8 different kinds of firefighter's clothing put on an instrumented manikin under flame engulfment measured the burning degree, burning area ratio and the highest temperature and the average heat flux per body segment through the burn risk calculation of the temperature sensors on the manikin surface. The result showed that while FTJAP was the most serious burn risk with 70% surface area of 3rd degree burning, FTUSA was the only one affected by 10% surface area. The appearance of firefighter's clothing after flame engulfment was also analyzed. The analysis indicated that the more integrity the inner layer of clothing had after exposure, without brittleness and shrinkage, the more protection the clothing was. At the same time, the accessories on the firefighter's clothing were also crucial, especially for membrane and retro-reflective stripes. If they shrink in the exposure of flame, the protection of the clothing would reduce.