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Evaluating Fire Service Escape Ropes at Elevated Temperatures and Fire Conditions

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Abstract

The tools and equipment that firefighters carry on the fireground must be able to perform in the thermal conditions for which they may be deployed and utilized. Escape rope systems, which may be utilized by firefighters requiring emergency escape from an elevated position due to rapidly evolving fire conditions, are potentially life critical pieces of equipment. However, until recently traditional standardized tests required that the material properties of the rope only be evaluated at room temperature. In this study, traditional materials testing instruments were modified to quantify the capability of firefighter escape ropes to perform in the thermal conditions for which they may be deployed and utilized. These instruments have shown that at temperatures as low as 100°C, the strength of each rope was significantly reduced and at temperatures as low as 300°C, even the all aramid rope strength reduced by more than 50 %. Furthermore, this study has provided the first means of reliably and repeatably determining the available safe on-rope time. For temperature conditions comparable to those in typical structure fires, where the compartment of egress has flashed over, even the strongest ropes with the highest temperature resistance can only be expected to provide a maximum of 90 s of protection prior to failure. Pilot testing with a protective sheath concept has demonstrated a promising potential for improvement in performance.

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Acknowledgments

The funding for this research was provided by the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program’s Fire Prevention and Safety Grants through Grant No. EMW-2008-FP-02504. The authors thank Bev Stutts and Joe Waters of UL LLC for their assistance with servo-hydraulic testing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 11 Gerty Dr., Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Gavin P. Horn, Julien Chaussidon, Mark Obstalecki & Daniel A. Martin

  2. Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 W. Green St., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Gavin P. Horn & Peter Kurath

  3. Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, 105 Upson Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Mark Obstalecki

  4. Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., 333 Pfingsten Rd., Northbrook, IL, 60062, USA

    Robert G. Backstrom & Stephen Kerber

Authors
  1. Gavin P. Horn
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  2. Julien Chaussidon
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  3. Mark Obstalecki
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  4. Daniel A. Martin
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  5. Peter Kurath
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  6. Robert G. Backstrom
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  7. Stephen Kerber
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Correspondence to Gavin P. Horn.

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Horn, G.P., Chaussidon, J., Obstalecki, M. et al. Evaluating Fire Service Escape Ropes at Elevated Temperatures and Fire Conditions. Fire Technol 51, 153–171 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-013-0373-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-013-0373-2

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