Assessing Fire Safety in Historical Commercial Towns: A Case Study of Fire Spread Simulation in the Ancient Town of Shedian

This study numerically simulated the fire dynamics of a two-story traditional brick and wood retail structure, focusing on the ignition of aging household electrical sockets, utilizing the fire dynamics simulation software Pyrosim. The simulation was based on a commercial street in the ancient town of Shedian, located in central China. Orthogonal experiments evaluated the primary fire spread effects of six factors: the number of rooms, distance between adjacent gable, gable wall projection length, partition wall configuration, ceiling design, and front porch presence. Significant factors underwent one-factor quantitative experimental validation concerning fire spread conditions. The results indicate that an extended gable projection effectively mitigates fire spread to adjacent buildings; however, it leads to smoke accumulation, resulting in a higher temperature at the gable’s end compared to the middle. The front porch significantly influences the lateral propagation of smoke. The fire source room, equipped with a suspended ceiling, delays the ignition time of adjacent rooms, while this effect is less pronounced for opposite rooms. Although an increase in the number of rooms minimally affects the ignition time of opposite rooms, it causes more substantial fluctuations in the ignition time of adjacent rooms.