FIRE AND MATERIALS

Fire Mater. 2009; 33:63–78

Published online 18 September 2008 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/fam.984

Fire loads in commercial premises

E. Zalok1, ∗, † , G. V. Hadjisophocleous1 and J. R. Mehaffey2

1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive,
Ottawa, Ont., Canada K1S 5B6
2 FPInnovations–Forintek Division, Carleton Technology Training Centre, Suite 4100, 1125 Colonel Drive,

Ottawa, Ont., Canada K1S 5R1

SUMMARY
This paper presents the results of a survey conducted in the Canadian cities of Ottawa and Gatineau to
characterize fire loads in commercial premises. The survey included various commercial establishments
such as restaurants, travel agencies, and pharmacies, as well as, retail stores selling clothing, shoes,
food, alcohol, computers, and computer supplies. Five different types of combustible material groups
were selected as the base of analyses: textiles, plastics, wood/paper, food, and miscellaneous. The data
collected were analyzed to determine the total fire load in each establishment, the fire load density, and the
contribution of different combustible materials to the total fire load. A total of 168 commercial premises
were surveyed with a total floor area of 17 127 m2 . The area of the surveyed stores ranged from 3.25 to
1707 m2 . The fire load densities of the 168 surveyed stores had a lognormal distribution with a mean
value of 747 MJ/m2 , a maximum value of 5305 MJ/m2 , a minimum value of 56 MJ/m2 , and a standard
deviation of 833 MJ/m2 . In most stores, the 95th percentile and the mean fire load density showed a
tendency to decrease with an increase of floor area, which is consistent with those of earlier surveys.
Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 5 January 2007; Revised 6 March 2008; Accepted 24 June 2008

KEY WORDS: fire loads; design fires; survey of fire loads; combustibles in commercial premises

INTRODUCTION

The fires used for evaluating fire protection designs are called design fires. The characteristics of
design fires depend on the type, amount, and arrangement of combustible materials in the room
of fire origin. Design fires are characterized by the heat release rate (HRR) and the production
of toxic gases with time: Both are affected by the types of combustible and their distribution.

∗ Correspondence to: E. Zalok, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel
By Drive, Ottawa, Ont., Canada K1S 5B6.
†
E-mail: ehab zalok@carleton.ca

Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

64 E. ZALOK, G. V. HADJISOPHOCLEOUS AND J. R. MEHAFFEY

The total amount of fuel and the ventilation characteristics in the compartment of fire origin govern
the intensity and duration of the fire.
The growth characteristics of the design fire influence the time of detection, as well as, the
time when conditions in the compartment of fire origin become untenable. The ability of the
compartment barriers to withstand the fire attack and contain the fire preventing it from spreading
to other compartments in the building depends on the intensity and duration of the fire. A fire in
a compartment with limited fuel is more likely to be contained than a fire in a compartment with
large amounts of fuel.
The first step in the process of defining and characterizing design fires for a building is the
characterization of the combustibles in that building. This can be done through surveys of buildings
to collect data that include:
• Fire load.
• Type of combustibles.
• Size of compartments.

Fire loads
The design fire load for an enclosure is a value that is representative of the fire load expected
in the building during the life of the building. The total fire load Q is the sum of all the energy
available for release when the combustible materials are burning in a free-burning condition. It
includes both fixed and movable items [1]. The total fire load can be computed using the following
equation:

Q = ki m i h ci (1)

Where Q is the total fire load in a compartment (MJ), ki is the proportion of content i that can
burn, m i is the mass of content i in the compartment (kg), and h ci is the calorific value of content
i (MJ/kg).
The fire load in a compartment is most often expressed as fire load density; that is, total fire
load per square meter of the floor area, Q  , (MJ/m2 ), given as:

Q  = Q/A f (2)

where A f is the area of the compartment floor (m2 ).

Many European references express fire load as the energy density per square meter of the
compartment’s internal boundaries, At , which is the sum of all internal surface areas of the
fire compartment including walls, floor, and ceiling. In the current work, the fire load density
is expressed in terms of the floor area of the compartment. Calorific values for some of the
combustibles that are usually found in stores can be found in [2, 3].
The work presented in this paper aims at characterizing the fuel loads for commercial premises
using a fire load survey. Information about the combustible contents and configuration of a building
is needed in order to evaluate various aspects of fire safety. The types of combustibles contributing
to the fire load determine ignition characteristics (smouldering or flaming) and the development
of the fire (slow or fast). The total fire load in a compartment together with ventilation conditions
determine the fire duration. The design fire load for an enclosure is often a value chosen between
the 80th and 95th percentile of the fire load, which is not likely to be exceeded during the service
life of a building [1].

Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Fire Mater. 2009; 33:63–78
DOI: 10.1002/fam
 FIRE LOADS IN COMMERCIAL PREMISES 65

The survey was conducted on 168 commercial premises in the two neighboring cities of Ottawa
and Gatineau. Premises surveyed were typical stores in shopping centers, such as fast-food shops,
restaurants, shoe stores, bookstores, and liquor stores. The data collected were total fire load, fire
load density, type of combustibles (wood, plastics, textiles, food, etc.), and compartment geometry.

Survey methodology
Determining the fire loads in a building involves determining the mass of all the different types
of combustibles and their effective calorific values. The mass of an item in a compartment can
be determined by weighing it (weighing technique), or by determining its volume and identifying
its density (inventory technique). In this survey, both techniques have been employed. The direct-
weighing method was used for items that could easily be weighed, such as toys and clothing
material. The inventory method was used for items such as large objects and built-in shelves.
In this method, dimensions of items were measured and their volume was calculated. The mass
was then computed by multiplying the volume by the density of the material. To facilitate the
survey process, a combination of the weighing and inventory methods was used, in which some
common items were pre-weighed and then the surveyor noted their inventory. To ensure a high
quality of the survey data and to avoid inconsistencies that might occur if individuals such as
storeowners or managers had to complete questionnaires, one of the authors conducted the survey
himself.
A survey form was developed to facilitate the survey process and to ensure that data were
collected in a systematic and consistent fashion for all buildings and stores. The survey form was
divided into the following five sections:

1. Building and store identification, and date of investigation.

2. Type of establishment.
3. Store dimensions.
4. Fixed fire load: this section contains information regarding building construction, mass, and
type of lining materials.
5. Movable fire loads: this section deals with the building contents. For each item, type of
materials and their mass were recorded.

The survey was conducted in two phases. In Phase I, every store in the shopping malls in the
lowest two-storeys of several multi-storey office buildings was surveyed. In Phase II, stand-alone
stores on a main city street were surveyed. In addition, if stores had storage areas associated with
them, the storage areas were also surveyed and data for these storage areas were kept separate. In
all, 168 commercial premises were surveyed with a total area of 17 127 m2 .
For each survey, the surveyor followed a similar procedure. First, he recorded the building
name and address, as well as, the type of establishment, and date of the investigation. Second, the
dimensions of the store were measured and the types of wall, floor, and ceiling lining materials
were determined and noted in the fixed fire load section of the survey form. The third step was
to identify and classify all contents in the store. Items that could be weighed were weighed, to
determine their mass; the materials that the item was made of were determined and recorded. For
items consisting of more than one material type, the percentage of each type was determined and
quantified. The mass of items that could not be weighed, such as large combustibles and built-in
shelving units, was determined by measuring their volume and using the density of the material to
calculate their mass. During the process of data analysis, it was assumed that combustibles within

Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Fire Mater. 2009; 33:63–78
DOI: 10.1002/fam
66 E. ZALOK, G. V. HADJISOPHOCLEOUS AND J. R. MEHAFFEY

the compartment were uniformly distributed, and that at the time of fire, all combustibles would
be involved in a fire and would experience complete combustion [4, 5].

DATA ANALYSES

The data collected have been analyzed to determine the ratio of floor area of different stores to the
total floor area of surveyed stores, the total fire load in each store, the fire load densities, and
the contribution of different combustible materials to the total fire load and also to the fire load
densities. Figure 1 shows the area contribution of the different store groups to the total area of
the surveyed stores. Clothing stores form the highest ratio. A similar finding was also reported
in Bennetts et al. [6]. Other stores with high ratios were restaurants, storage areas, and fast-food
outlets. The area of clothing stores is about 30% of the total area, restaurants 13%, storage areas
9%, art and crafts supplies 5%, and fast-food outlets 4%.
Figure 2 shows the frequency distribution of fire load densities of the 168 surveyed stores. It
can be seen that the frequency distribution is positively skewed indicating that on the whole, high
values of fire load have low occurrence. The fire load densities have a probability distribution
with a mean of 747 MJ/m2 , a maximum of 5305 MJ/m2 , a minimum of 56 MJ/m2 , and a standard
deviation of 832 MJ/m2 . The four fire load densities at the extreme right hand of the figure are
for a bookstore, storage areas for the bookstore, a shoe store, and a greeting card shop. The total
fire load of all fixed and movable combustibles has a range of 1126 to 511 413 MJ with a mean of
52 339 MJ. The results of the survey are summarized in Table I. The area of the surveyed stores
ranged from 3.25 to 1707 m2 , see Figure 3.

Figure 1. Percentage of floor area of different premises to total floor area of surveyed premises.

Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Fire Mater. 2009; 33:63–78
DOI: 10.1002/fam
 FIRE LOADS IN COMMERCIAL PREMISES 67

Figure 2. Frequencies of fire load density of the 168 surveyed stores.

Table I. Floor area, fire load density, and total fire load for all 168 stores in the survey.
Mean Range Standard deviation 95th percentile

Floor area (m2 ) 102 3.25–1707 183 333

Fire load density (MJ/m2 ) 747 56–5305 833 2050
Total fire load (MJ) 52 339 1126–511 413 77 166 167 383

Statistical interpretation of fire load densities

It was decided to carry out a formal statistical test of the hypothesis that the original fire load
density sample (x0 , x1 , . . . , xn ) could be represented by a lognormal distribution. The standard
lognormal probability density function is as follows:
 
1 ln x− 2
−1
f (x) = √ e 2 
(3)
x 2
where  is the population mean,  is the standard deviation, for the domain 0x<+∞, the
parameters >0, >0.
Using the popular Kolmogorov–Smirnov test [7], the hypothesis that the underlying distribution
is a lognormal distribution could not be rejected. The probability value (P-value) of a statistical
hypothesis test is the probability of getting a value of the test statistic as extreme as or more
extreme than that observed by chance alone. The P-value is equal to the significance level of
the test for that we would only just reject the null hypothesis. The P-value is compared with
the desired significance level of our test and, if it is smaller, the result is significant. That is,
if the null hypothesis were to be rejected at the 5% significance level, this would be reported

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DOI: 10.1002/fam
68 E. ZALOK, G. V. HADJISOPHOCLEOUS AND J. R. MEHAFFEY

Figure 3. Area (m2 ) distribution of the 168 surveyed stores.

Figure 4. Discrete fire load density values and their corresponding lognormal distributions.

as ‘P<0.05’. Accordingly, the P-value of the test was recorded as 0.79, which is extremely
large. The distribution fitting program, EasyFit c
[8] was used to test the best-fit distribution
for the fire load density of survey stores, and ‘R’ software to calculate the P-value [9, 10]. As
depicted in Figure 4, the test results clearly confirm that the fire load frequencies have a lognormal
distribution.

Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Fire Mater. 2009; 33:63–78
DOI: 10.1002/fam
 FIRE LOADS IN COMMERCIAL PREMISES 69

Groups
To provide insight into the fire loads representative of specific commercial activities, the 168
surveyed stores were categorized into 66 different groups. Some groups have sufficient samples
for accurate analysis, whereas other groups do not. Groups like clothing stores, fast-food outlets,
and restaurants have samples of 14, 18, and 11 stores, respectively, whereas groups like cafés,
computer accessory and stationary shops, and custom cloth design stores have samples of 5, 3,
and 2, respectively. In Table II, the stores surveyed are conveniently arranged in like groups. In
general, storage areas tend to have the highest fire load densities.
Figure 5 shows the range of contributions of different types of combustibles to the total fire
load. Five types of combustibles usually found in commercial establishments, and usually having
different calorific values, were selected. The five groups are textiles, plastics, wood/paper, food, and

Table II. Number of samples and characteristics of the fire load density for the major groupings.

Fire load density (MJ/m2 )

Group No. of samples 95th percentile Mean Standard deviation Maximum Minimum
All stores 168 2050 747 833 5305 56
Shoe storage areas 3 — 2547 — 4896 686
Storage areas 43 4289 1196 1208 4899 56
Fast-food outlets 18 881 526 320 1592 151
Clothing stores 14 661 393 164 755 142
Restaurants 11 582 298 190 625 84
Kitchens 8 553 314 161 602 149

Figure 5. Contribution of combustibles to the fire load in the surveyed

stores [95th percentile (-), mean ()].

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70 E. ZALOK, G. V. HADJISOPHOCLEOUS AND J. R. MEHAFFEY

Table III. Mean composition (%) of combustibles by generic materials.

Contribution of different combustibles (%)
Textiles Plastics Wood/Paper Food Misc.
95th 95th 95th 95th 95th
Group Mean percentile Mean percentile Mean percentile Mean percentile Mean percentile
All stores 8.3 47 17.9 58.8 60.3 96.2 6.9 40.9 6.7 41.1
Shoe storage 0.3 — 0.8 — 18.2 — 0.0 — 80.6 —
Storage areas 6.2 38.5 27.4 82.5 50.6 99.7 4.9 40.7 10.9 77.0
Fast-food outlets 0.1 0.6 22.9 38.7 55.1 78.1 21.8 41.5 0.1 0.2
Clothing stores 48.1 85 5.3 22.9 44.5 75.3 0.0 0.0 2.1 7.6
Restaurants 3.7 13.1 5.2 10.0 84.0 94.9 2.2 11.1 4.8 23.3
Kitchens 0.0 0.0 30.5 47.5 36.0 60.9 33.5 55.7 0.0 0.0

miscellaneous. Miscellaneous items include all combustibles not included in the first four groups,
for example, alcohol products, rubber, tobacco products, etc. It is obvious that the contribution of
combustibles from the five groups has a wide range and hence there is a need for further analysis
of the data focusing on the different groups of establishments individually.
Table III shows the contribution of four types of combustible materials to the total fire load for
the commercial establishments identified in Table II.
The following sections present the analysis of the commercial establishments with a reasonable
number of samples to conduct further analysis. The establishments considered are storage areas,
clothing stores, shoe storage areas, fast-food outlets, and restaurants.

Storage areas
Forty-three storage areas were surveyed, which is a sufficiently large number to allow for develop-
ment of good statistics. They provided storage for different stores such as clothing stores, computer
supply stores, fast-food outlets, grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and travel agencies. As
shown in Figure 1, storage areas form the third-highest floor area contribution to the total area of
the buildings surveyed, with floor area that is about 9% of the total area of surveyed stores.
The floor area of the 43 storage areas ranges from 3 to 350 m2 . The total fire load ranges from
1126 to 258 683 MJ. As Figure 6 shows, the fire load density ranges from 56 to 4899 MJ/m2 , with
a wide peak ranging from 200 to 1200 MJ/m2 , and a spike at 400 MJ/m2 . The fire load density
has a 95th percentile value of 4289 MJ/m2 , a mean value of 1196 MJ/m2 , and a standard deviation
of 1208 MJ/m2 .

Clothing stores
As shown in Figure 1, clothing stores form the largest component, 29.73%, of the total area of
the buildings surveyed. There were 14 clothing stores surveyed, which allows for development
of good statistics. Other stores with activities related to clothing stores, such as tailor shops and
custom cloth designwere excluded from the sample.
The floor area of the surveyed clothing stores ranged from 29 to 1707 m2 . The total fire load
ranged from 6256 to 511 413 MJ. As seen in Figure 7, the fire load density ranged from 142 to

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 FIRE LOADS IN COMMERCIAL PREMISES 71

Figure 6. Fire load density (MJ/m2 ) of storage areas.

Figure 7. Fire load density (MJ/m2 ) of clothing stores.

755 MJ/m2 , with one peak ranging from 400 MJ/m2 to 500 MJ/m2 , with a 95th percentile value
of 661 MJ/m2 , a mean value of 393 MJ/m2 , and a standard deviation of 164 MJ/m2 .
Further analysis of the data indicated that the textiles represent from 16 to 86% of the total fire
load density in clothing stores. In 40% of these stores, textiles are the main combustible, with over
50% of the total fire load density. Wood in tables, shelves, and lining materials is another major

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72 E. ZALOK, G. V. HADJISOPHOCLEOUS AND J. R. MEHAFFEY

Figure 8. Combustibles’ contributions in clothing stores [95th percentile (-), mean ()].

Figure 9. Effect of floor area (m2 ) on the fire load density of clothing
stores [95th percentile (-), mean ()].

combustible in clothing stores, with values ranging from 7 to 76%. In 60% of the stores, wood
is the main combustible, contributing over 50% of the total fire load density. Contributions from
plastic materials range from 0 to 23%, as depicted in Figure 8.
A closer look at the data collected from clothing stores (see Figure 9) shows the influence of
floor area on maximum, 95th percentile, mean, and minimum fire load densities. A clear decrease
in the maximum, 95th percentile, and mean values of fire load density is related to an increase in
floor area. Similar findings have been reported for office and residential buildings [4, 5]. The data
do not indicate a clear, definite relationship between minimum fire load density and floor area.
Hence, clothing stores have been split into three categories for further analysis: stores with floor
area less than 100 m2 , between 100 and 300 m2 , and greater than 300 m2 .

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 FIRE LOADS IN COMMERCIAL PREMISES 73

Table IV. Fire load densities (MJ/m2 ) and contribution of combustible materials (%)
to the fire load density of clothing stores.
Textiles Plastics Wood/Paper Rubber/Leather Food products
No. Store (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
1 Clothing store, small store 55.0 6.00 37.0 2.00 0.00
2 Clothing store, mostly wood 23.0 1.00 76.0 0.00 0.00
3 Clothing store, mostly textiles 86.0 2.00 12.0 0.00 0.00

From the survey analysis, it was noticed that three different fire scenarios could be identified.
The first group represents the combination of combustibles in small stores; that is, those stores
less than 100 m2 in floor area. The second group comprises those stores that have high wood
content and less clothing content. These high-end clothing stores use extensive amount of wood for
shelving, flooring, and on walls and ceilings. Wood/paper is assumed to form 76% (by mass) of
the fuel load in these stores as this represents the 95th percentile of the wood/paper contribution in
clothing stores (see Figure 8). The third group comprises those stores with low wood content and
high clothing content. In this kind of stores, shelving is mainly made of steel with some wooden
tables, and the internal store lining consists mainly of non-combustible materials, such as cement
floor tiles, bricks for walls, and reinforced concrete ceilings. Textiles are assumed to form 86% (by
mass) of the fuel load in these stores as this represents the 95th percentile of textile contribution
in clothing stores (see Figure 8). Three design packages were chosen to represent fires in clothing
stores. They all have the same fire load density of 661 MJ/m2 , which is the 95th percentile
of all clothing store samples, but have different combustible compositions as summarized in
Table IV.

Fast-food shops
Eighteen fast-food shops were surveyed. As shown in Figure 1, fast-food outlets have the fourth-
highest floor area contribution to the total area of the buildings surveyed, with floor areas of 3.9%
of the total area of surveyed stores.
The floor area of the surveyed fast-food shops ranged from 9 to 211 m2 . The total fire load
ranged from 2953 to 117 592 MJ. The fire load density ranged from 151 to 1592 MJ/m2 , with a
peak ranging from 400 to 800 MJ/m2 , with one spike at 500 MJ/m2 . The fire load density for
fast-food outlets has a 95th percentile of 881 MJ/m2 , mean value of 526 MJ/m2 , and standard
deviation of 320 MJ/m2 (see Figure 10).
Data for fast-food outlets, presented in Figure 11, show that food contribution (grains, cooking
oil, etc.) ranged from 1 to 63%. For 95% of the shops, the food contribution as a combustible
ranged from 12 to 38%. Food was not the main combustible in about 94% of the shops. Wood
and paper (shelves, tables, wrapping paper, napkins, etc.) are the main contributors, with values
ranging from 40 to 80 for about 90% of the stores. Plastic materials have a contribution that ranges
from 4 to 50%.
A closer look at the data collected from fast-food outlets, presented in Figure 12, shows the
influence of the floor area on fire load density. A clear decrease in the maximum, mean, and the
95th percentile of fire load density is related to the increase in floor area. The data do not show a
clear, definite relationship between minimum fire load density and floor area.

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74 E. ZALOK, G. V. HADJISOPHOCLEOUS AND J. R. MEHAFFEY

Figure 10. Fire load density (MJ/m2 ) of fast-food outlets.

Figure 11. Combustibles’ contribution in fast-food outlets [95th percentile (-), mean ()].

Restaurants
Eleven restaurants were surveyed. As shown in Figure 1, restaurants have the second-highest floor
area contribution to the total area of the buildings surveyed, with a floor area that is 12.93% of
the total area of surveyed stores. Restaurants have a sample of 11, and that gives a good sample
size for further statistical analysis.

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 FIRE LOADS IN COMMERCIAL PREMISES 75

Figure 12. Effect of floor area (m2 ) on the fire load density of fast-food
outlets [95th percentile (-), mean ()].

Figure 13. Fire load density (MJ/m2 ) of restaurants.

The floor area of the surveyed restaurants ranged from 49 to 462 m2 . The total fire load ranged
from 17 656 to 69 843 MJ. The fire load density ranged from 84 to 625 MJ/m2 . It had a 95th
percentile of 582 MJ/m2 , a mean value of 298 MJ/m2 , and a standard deviation of 190 MJ/m2 (see
Figure 13).

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76 E. ZALOK, G. V. HADJISOPHOCLEOUS AND J. R. MEHAFFEY

Figure 14. Combustibles’ contribution in restaurants [95th percentile (-), mean ()].

Food has a low contribution to the total fire load, except for one restaurant where the cooking
and handling area was enclosed within the restaurant. Carpets, tablecloths, and curtains are not
major combustibles. Wood and paper found in tables, chairs, and decoration materials are the
major contributors for 90% of the restaurants with 50–95% of the total fire load, as depicted in
Figure 14.
A closer look at the data collected from restaurants, presented in Figure 15, shows the influence
of the floor area on fire load density. A clear decrease in the maximum, minimum, mean, and 95th
percentile values of fire load density is related to the increase in floor area. In contrast to most
of the other surveyed premises, the data show a clear, definite relationship between minimum fire
load density and floor area.

FUEL PACKAGES

Based on the analysis of the survey data, a number of fuel packages have been designed to
represent the fire load densities and types of combustibles of the different stores. Details of these
packages are shown in Table V. Three fuel packages are used to represent clothing stores due to
the large variation of the type of fuels found in these stores. The first package, CLS, represents
the combination of combustibles in small stores; those stores are less than 100 m2 in floor area.
The second, CLW, represents stores that have high wood content and less textile content. These
stores are typically high-end clothing stores that use wood as a decorative material for shelving,
flooring, and as lining material on walls and ceilings. The third, CLC, represents stores with low
wood content and high textile content. In the kind of stores, shelving is mainly made of steel with
some wooden tables, and the internal store lining consists mainly of non-combustible materials,
such as cement floor tiles, bricks for walls, and reinforced concrete ceilings. Detailed discussion
on these packages can be found in previous publications [11–14].

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 FIRE LOADS IN COMMERCIAL PREMISES 77

Figure 15. Effect of floor area (m2 ) on the fire load density of restaurants [95th percentile (-), mean ()].

Table V. Fire load densities and data for combustible materials used in design fires.
Contribution of combustible materials (%)∗
Fire load Total
density Wood/ Rubber/ Food mass
Test ID Test title (MJ/m2 ) Textiles Plastics Paper Leather products (kg)†
CMP Computer showroom 812 3.08 50.6 46.33 0.00 0.00 31.69
SA Storage area 2320 5.60 31.1 49.10 8.50 5.70 102.1
CLS Clothing store 661 55.0 6.00 37.00 2.00 0.00 34.65
CLW Clothing store 661 23.0 1.00 76.00 0.00 0.00 36.28
CLC Clothing store 661 86.0 2.00 12.00 0.00 0.00 35.44
TOY Toy store 1223 6.59 18.7 74.76 0.00 0.00 60.42
SHO Shoe storage 4900 1.00 0.00 34.00 65.0 0.00 214.8
BK Bookstore 5305 0.40 0.00 99.60 0.00 0.00 302.9
FF Fast-food outlet 881 0.30 19.3 38.92 0.00 41.5 31.81
∗ % of total fire load.
† Total mass of combustible materials only, non-combustible are not included.

SUMMARY

This paper presented the procedures and results of a survey performed to determine fire loads,
types of combustibles, and fuel arrangements in commercial premises. A total of 168 commercial
premises were surveyed with a total floor area of 17 127 m2 . The area of the surveyed stores
ranged from 3.25 to 1707 m2 . The fire load densities of the 168 surveyed stores had a lognormal
distribution with a mean value of 747 MJ/m2 , a maximum value of 5305 MJ/m2 , a minimum value

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78 E. ZALOK, G. V. HADJISOPHOCLEOUS AND J. R. MEHAFFEY

of 56 MJ/m2 , and a standard deviation of 833 MJ/m2 . Five different types of combustible groups
were characterized: textiles, plastics, wood/paper, food, and miscellaneous.
To facilitate the analysis, the surveyed stores were grouped into a number of subgroups, such as
clothing stores, storage areas, restaurants, and fast-food outlets. Fire load densities were identified
for each subgroup (maximum, minimum, mean, and 95th percentile), as well as, the contribution
of different types of combustibles. The data presented in this paper reflect only the fire loads within
the compartments and do not include the fixed fire load associated with construction materials.
Results of the analysis were used to develop fuel packages for fire tests that were conducted to
characterize the fires resulting from these packages.

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Copyright q 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Fire Mater. 2009; 33:63–78
DOI: 10.1002/fam