NFPA report shows better data and more research are needed on pollutant emissions and rebuild impacts of accidental fires. The report assessed literature today available on pollutants released by fires in the built environment, to water runoff, in the contamination plume from the fire, and resulting from replacement and rebuild of destroyed or damaged property, including a number of case studies of real fires. Conclusions are that most available information concerns gas emissions during fire, with little on emissions to water or fallout to soil, or on impacts of firefighting choices. The report concludes that more data is necessary, and research is particularly necessary into policy framing, modelling fire effects and modelling economic costs of fire environmental impacts.
“Research Roadmap: Environmental Impact of Fires in the Built Environment”, M. McNamee et al., NFPA Research Foundation, February 2020, report n° FPRF-2020-02 https://www.nfpa.org//-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/US-Fire-Problem/RFRoadmapEnvironmentalImpactFires.pdf