Investigation of the performance of fire suppression systems in protection of mass timber residential buildings

The effectiveness of fire suppression systems in protecting mass timber construction are experimentally investigated for the objectives of life safety and property protection from fire and water damages. The performance of high- and low-pressure water mist systems was compared with sprinkler systems in a residential fire scenario involving exposed mass timber structures. The tested water mist systems and sprinkler systems successfully maintained the room temperature and gas concentrations tenable, but the smoke obscuration deteriorated rapidly. Although the tested systems resulted in fire damage on the exposed mass timber walls, a high-pressure water mist system with wide spray angle demonstrated rapid fire suppression and less damage to the walls. The performance of sprinkler systems was comparable, yet least effective due to the large amount of water used. A large water pool was formed on the floor in all tests with the size proportional to the total water discharged during the test. Also, the moisture contents of the mass timber panels indicated that water could penetrate the floor-wall interface in a typical assembly.