The Technical Investigation of the Fire at London's King's Cross Underground Station

Abstract

The behaviour of the fire at London's King's Cross Underground Station on November 18, 1987, was the subject of a prolonged and detailed scientific investigation by the Health and Safety Executive on behalf of the Official Enquiry. In the initial stages of the investiga tion, a detailed damage survey was made at the site of the fire, and samples of many dif ferent materials were collected and subjected to a variety of ignition and flame spread tests. In the course of the investigation, fire growth studies were made on a fulil-size sec tion of escalator, on scale models of the escalator, shaft and ticket hall, and by numerical modelling.