This research project is a continuation of a previous study (Hicks, et al., 2006), which analyzed fire patterns produced from wood cribs. The current study continued this fire patterns research by burning ten commercially available polyurethane (PU) foam chairs and documenting the fire patterns. The reproducibility of fire patterns was analyzed to compare one PU foam chair test to the next, as well as in association to those produced by burning wood cribs. Two aspects of fire pattern production were examined. The first aspect focuses on the reproducibility of a conical shaped fire pattern formed on standard gypsum wallboard surfaces. Second, this study analyzed the effects of the upper layer and its role in the production of a conical shaped fire pattern. This study showed that although the time to reach the fire pattern differed, a duplicate fire pattern was reproduced from a similar loss of mass. The results of this study illustrates that similar fuel packages will reproduce a similar conical shaped fire pattern. Additionally, lowering of the upper layer was found to affect the resulting conical shaped fire pattern. A subsequent aspect of this research is the implication that these patterns can be utilized by fire investigators in determining an area of origin.
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