Fire behaviour of Kingspan PIR central façade panels
A large fire occurred outside a furniture store in Presov, Slovakia – a large commercial building with a concrete frame and flat roof clad with Kingspan PIR façade panels. The building measures approximately 100 metres by 40 metres and is approximately 8.5 metres high.
The fire occurred in a kitchen area located approximately 4 feet from an exterior wall. The fire affected the combustible contents of the barbecue and 5 propane gas cylinders. At the time of the fire, the flames reached over 10 metres in height and directly affected the surface of the panels. más de 10 metros de altura y afectaron directamente a la superficie de los paneles.
Conclusions:
The fire was so intense that it managed to melt the aluminium composite panel used in the shop mascot sign in the short exposure period of 10 minutes.
There is clear evidence that the materials used in the construction of the shop mascot sign and the perimeter parapet light strip contributed to the spread of the fire and were the cause, according to the initial assessment by the fire brigade, of the external façade also being damaged by flames.
The core of the Kingspan PIR façade panels was charred to a depth of approximately 10mm in the area directly affected by the fire and the outer layer of the panels was peeled away from the core in these areas.
Despite the intensity of the fire, the Kingspan PIR core did not spread within the panel to areas away from the direct impact area of the fire.
After extinguishing the fire outside the wall panels, the fire brigade found no signs of smoldering or flames inside.
The fire did not spread to the interior of the store. The effects were so small that the store was able to reopen about 3.5 hours after the fire.
Download the report of the independent study carried out by Tenos which includes a complete overview of the fire and analysis of the behaviour of the insulation panels.
