The US NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) Journal questions the fire hazard posed by decorative features inside and outside buildings. These are often not covered by fire safety regulations.
Examples of fires cited are the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, where a fire in a decorative band on the building’s exterior injured 13 people in 2008 and fake palm trees which caught fire on a terrace of the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas, in 2015 (see pinfa Newsletter n°60). In both cases, the decorations were of non flame retarded foam. Fires in similar materials indoors have been deadly, most recently at the Collectiv Nightclub, Bucharest, 2015 (pinfa Newsletter n°58). Senior fire protection engineer at NFPA, Tracy Vecchiarelli, says that there is a “gap” in fire codes and that regulation of decorative material outside buildings, especially in assembly areas, should be pursued.
“Looks nice. Burns hot. How much of a fire hazard is posed by decorative features inside and outside buildings?” NFPA Journal May-June 2016, pp 66-68.