Safety of structures in fire

The study of the response of structures to fire is a relatively niche field. It is rare to find this subject in the curriculum or even as a topic of research in most civil engineering departments worldwide. There are consequences to the lack of attention to this important topic in terms of the level of safety provided to structures against the fire hazard. Inadequate understanding of the thermomechanical behavior of structures to fire leads engineers to rely upon prescriptive approaches to structural fire safety that have changed little from a century ago and barely address the challenge posed by the fire hazard to modern urban infrastructure, which in turn compromises the safety of occupants and emergency responders in major fires. This paper discusses the drawbacks of the prevalent approaches to fire safe design of structures and suggests alternatives that should offer significantly improved solutions.