Wood Truss Construction and Fire Performance Educational Program

The Carbeck Structural Components Institute's (CSCI) Wood Truss Construction and Fire Performance education program provides firefighters with information needed to more safely fight fires in buildings constructed with wood trusses. Addressing the facts surrounding the performance of metal plate connected wood trusses when fire strikes, the program is comprised of more than 20 educational modules divided into short 5-10 minute segments. Modules cover topics including an introduction to wood trusses, fire performance of wood trusses and information for firefighters.

Choose from Carbeck's 4 Resource Types

1.    View CSCI's educational programs.   2.  See key marketplace information.   3. Attend a truss plant tour.   4. Request a Carbeck CD.

What's Hot

Take the Initiative in Promoting Firefighter Safety
Many conversations have been held concerning implementation or "deliverables" related to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. To further the cause, more than 100 movers and shakers of the U.S. fire service attended a summit earlier this month at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD to look at ways of implementing these initiatives. [READ ARTICLE]
UPDATED: 4/4/08

16 Firefighter Safety Initiatives
Recognizing the need to do more to prevent line-of-duty deaths and injuries, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation has launched a national initiative to bring prevention to the forefront. Everyone Goes Home Fire Fighter Life Safety Initiatives. [READ ARTICLE]
UPDATED: 4/4/08

It Takes a Person with Heart to do Your Job. Keep it Strong
The NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program is the only national program dedicated to saving America's firefighters and EMS personnel from their leading cause of death: heart disease. [READ ARTICLE]
UPDATED: 4/4/08

A Study of Metal Truss Plate Connectors When Exposed to Fire
by K.A. Harman and J.R. Lawson of the National Institute of Standards & Technology:
In an attempt to determine the performance of metal plate wood truss connections during fire exposures, NIST conducted a series of twelve instrumented tests exposing one side of the test specimen to the thermal exposure. Results from these tests suggest that the metal plates help to protect the wood beneath the plates. However, additional work is required to produce more detailed information. [READ ARTICLE]
UPDATED: 3/25/08

Ad Hoc Demonstration Fire – Sheathed Unprotected Floor System:
A burn demonstration of a sheathed, unprotected floor assembly was conducted in Colonie, NY at the request of the New York State Building Officials Conference. This presentation provides complete coverage of the demonstration, including design and setup, video and photos of two burns, and analysis of the results. [VIEW COURSES]

"It's time for the fire service to make peace with an old nemesis." (FireRescue Magazine - 2004):
Trusses are strong, efficient, reliable, predictable, and, once you get to know them, pretty cool. For too long the fire service has vilified this structural engineering marvel. In this article you’ll get to know the truss—up close and personal. [READ ARTICLE]

Fire Performance of Finger Joints
The latest information on finger-jointed trusses, a.k.a. gusset-less trusses, is available here.

Facts on the Fire Performance of Wood Trusses
CSCI's four-color brochure addresses the concepts the fire protection industry believes to be true about trusses and states the facts on the fire performance of trusses. [VIEW BROCHURE]

Additional Fire Service Resources
WTCA's Fire Service Resource page offers a host of materials on the structural building components industry and the fire performance of metal plate connected wood trusses.