Skövdebranden: the Insulation caught on fire

"Skövdebranden: the Insulation caught fire,"

"It took many hours for the firemen to tackle the fire in the two lägenhetslängor in the South of Ryd, Skövde. Fighting the fire was complicated by a controversial isolation path used foam between the concrete walls and plåtskivor."

"the Fire started in one apartment and spread through the roof to the other house and continued along the tilläggsisolerade betongfasaderna. Inside the plåtskivorna burned the foam."

"It is common practice to use foam as insulation. It has good insulation properties, is inexpensive, is easy to handle, it can handle high load and is also moisture-resistant. But also flammable. When it burns so softens and melts the plastic before it ignites, then it will be a quick fire, where it burns with excessive smoke and produces much soot."

"– It is clear that there is a problem if you have combustible insulation, considering that it is difficult to quench properly, " says Lars Brodin, fire protection engineer at fire protection association."

"But Lars Brodin still want to nedtona the risks."

" People should not be afraid to stay in the house that is insulated with foam. If you have done the insulation in the right way, according to the building regulations we have in Sweden, so there should be time to vacate the property if a fire starts, " he says."

"However, there can be problems with the protection of property. Cellplastisolering is difficult to extinguish and the fire can spread and cause harm even if those living there had time to get out."

" the Legislation is for personnel protection, says Lars Brodin."

"the building Materials have also been developed. Now, there are new types of insulation that does not melt and thus does not contribute to the spread of the fire in the same dramatic way."

"– It has become more common in recent years with a so-called pircellplats, a härdplats, that will not melt. But it is still combustible, " says Lars Brodin."

"of Foam on the facade was a factor behind the katastrofbranden in Grenfell Tower in Kensington in London in the summer of 2017. Which transformed a high-rise to a burning torch, and over 70 people died."

"– You should not take for big parallels. It was the most important factor for the dramatic progress was also had a panel that was combustible. In addition, it was probably so as to not followed the building codes, " says Lars Brodin."

"if you Look at the fire in Skövde, the Swedish building code still works."

"– it started in one apartment, spread up into the attic and from there to the insulation. This meant that they had time to evacuate. So it has never really been any danger for the residents, " says Lars Brodin."

"No injuries were reported from the fire in the South of Ryd. 96 apartments had to be evacuated."