What do the terms “auto-exposure” and “leap-frog” mean in reference to high-rise buildings? Both describe the upward spread of fire from one floor of a building to the floor above. Regardless of how this risk is described, the 2017 Grenfell Tower serves as a tragic example of external vertical fire spread in high rise buildings.
Occurring in the United Kingdom, the Grenfell fire claimed more than 70 lives. Flames climbed 20 stories in just 35 minutes. In the fire’s aftermath, building owners, life safety experts and designers/architects have carefully examined the factors that may have accelerated the fire’s vertical spread. As post-fire analysis points to possible concerns with the building code, new testing standards are being proposed to address the threat of vertical fire spread on a building’s exterior.