Abstract—Light steel structure buildings, also called metal houses in Taiwan, lack durability and fire resistance performance. When such a building is on fire, because of its relatively high internal fire loading, the fire is more severe, the fire resistance level of the steel structural members is quickly exceeded, and the steel materials are rapidly weakened. Because this kind of building when on fire collapses very quickly, it could threaten the life and safety of fire fighters inside. The study reviewed cases of metal house fires and relevant references to examine the causes of fires and the fatal as well as non-fatal casualties. It also analyzed metal house fire hazards and causes of the collapse of metal houses in fires. The objective is to develop metal house firefighting strategies and to provide the government with useful information for amending relevant laws and regulations to prevent metal house fire disasters.
 

Index Terms—light steel structure, metal houses, fire resistance performance, fire loading, fire fighting strategies

Cite: Jen-Hao Chi, Cheng-Tung Chen, and Peng-Chi Peng, "Fire Fighting Strategies for Light Steel Structure Buildings (Metal Houses)," International Journal of Structural and Civil Engineering Research, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 336-340, November 2015. doi: 10.18178/ijscer.4.4.336-340