Wildfires are continuing to threaten half of all the lower 48 states in some form. According to the First Street Foundation, a New York nonprofit group. Numbers will rise as high as fifty-six percent by 2052. In many rural states like Wyoming and Montana, over ninety percent of properties are facing many risks.
Here are some reasons to use steel for fire safety
Steel is noncombustible
Because it contains no elements that can serve as fuel for the fire. Steel provides no means for a fire to ignite so it doesn't contribute to fire growth or assist in the spreading of fire. It also does not contribute to the generation of smoke or other toxic gases.
Steel miantains its noncombistibility
Throughout its entire lifecycle steel remains to be non-combustible. This means from prefabrication, installation, occupation, and renovation the steel will not lose its noncombustibility.
Steel-framed buildings lower the fire risk to workers and occupants
We have the benefit of decades of research into understanding the behavior of structural steel components when exposed to fire has given designers the confidence to engineer buildings that will provide optimum fire safety. Fire resistance0rated walls and floors help limit or slow the spread of flames in a building and maintain the integrity of the structure.
Steel-framed buildings lower the impact on municipal fire services
Because of the approval of new building code changes, building heights have increased and areas for wood framing have had extremely devastating results. Fire relief services have been severely strained from the dramatic increase in catastrophic, multi-story, wood-frame building fires in Canada and in the U.S. which have destroyed entire building complexes. Because of this, site-safety regulations during the construction of combustible buildings will ultimately increase the construction costs and timeframes of projects. In late 2021 the Los Angeles City Council Public Safety Committee approved a proposal to expand Fire District 1, an anachronistic planning overlay that would effectively ban wood-frame construction in much of the city. There are other cities within Canada and in the U.S. that are also working to ban combustible framing above three stories, we will more than likely see these changes being pushed further in 2025.
Steel-framed buildings will cost less to insure
Insurers offer steel-framed structures lower builder's risk and premiums in general liability compared to structures framed with wood. This is because steel is surprisingly easier to work with and because it is lighter it offers overall less risk to workers.
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