HardiePlank fibre cement siding prevents spreading of fire 
(18/06/2008)
Vandals broke into a development in Ashford, Kent, and set a fire in the stairwell of a six-apartment building. The stairwell, which was still under construction, acted as a chimney, with flames spreading quickly to the roof. This eventually collapsed into the rest of the building.
HardiePlank™ fibre cement siding has been credited with preventing the spread of fire at the development, after the arson attack destroyed an apartment building at the scheme. According to site manager, Nick Lane, the intense fire was only prevented from reaching other homes due to the use of James Hardie’s HardiePlank™ siding, which limited the spread of flames to neighbouring buildings.
Amazingly, despite the intense heat, the building’s HardiePlank™ siding was relatively untouched apart from where it had scorched from direct contact with flames.
Commenting on the fire, Nick Lane, said, “I definitely think that the fire would have spread to other buildings on the development if it hadn’t been relatively contained by HardiePlank™ siding. The flames were extremely intense and we eventually had 40 fire fighters working to control the blaze. When we came back the next day we were amazed how well HardiePlank™ siding had stood up to the flames. Apart from some scorching around the windows and doors it looked as good as new.”
Nick added, “We have since been visited by the Fire Service’s Crime Scene Investigator and he was also impressed with the performance of HardiePlank™ siding and even took away some samples to test. I’m certainly thankful that no one was hurt in this incident and that we only have to rebuild one block and not the entire development!”
James Hardie’s HardiePlank™ siding and façade solution is certified in the UK under the BS EN 13501-1 classification. Under this classification the product received an A2 rating when tested. This means that it is non-combustible and does not significantly add to fire load and growth.
Since their introduction James Hardie® fibre cement products have been credited with saving many homes and have proved to be more resilient in real world fire situations than many other siding solutions, with firefighters reporting that they have barely been singed in even the hottest of blazes.
Related categories: Concrete Production, Transport and Finishing General Construction
