Protecting Wood from Fire Inside a Structure
Much of the fire-retardant-treated wood in construction today is used in interior applications. In these uses, the wood is protected from the weather and from moisture. It can be found in wall framing, ceiling joists, roof trusses and other structural elements of a building.
The chief reason to use fire-retardant-treated wood in interiors is to increase safety reducing or slowing the spread of flames and smoke to give people time to safely exit the structure during a fire. Interior fire-retardant wood also can reduce the destruction and damage to a structure, giving fire services more time to extinguish the blaze.
Wood pressure treated with interior fire retardants are typically sold under the brand name of the retardant. The interior retardants available today include:
D-Blaze
D-Blaze, manufactured by Viance LLC, is regularly used in multifamily and commercial structures, helping reduce construction and insurance costs.
Dricon FS
Produced by Arxada, Dricon was introduced in 1981 and for decades has been used successfully in a variety of structures and projects.
FlamePro
FlamePro from Koppers Performance Chemicals is a proven successful formulation based on the American Wood Protection Association P50 Standard for Fire Retardants. Koppers also manufactures a similar formulation under the brand name FirePro.
PyroGuard
Hoover Treated Wood Products’ PyroGuard was the first fire retardant for pressure treating wood to be issued a code compliance report based on high temperature testing for roof sheathing and framing uses.
SaferWood Thermex-FR
Part of the SaferWood line of products, Thermex-FR is a safe and environmentally friendly formulation that renders wood safe from fire. Wood treated with Thermex-FR has passed strict fire and weathering tests and comply with all model building codes.
Others
Other interior fire retardants used by Western treaters include FlameTech, which is designed for use in a wide variety of enclosed structural applications and many other interior applications.
Each interior fire retardant has passed the code-required testing and is approved for use under the building codes per an ICC-ES Evaluation Report for each formulation.
Lumber and plywood that has been treated for interior use can be identified by the required quality mark, which will list the name of the fire retardant, the flame spread or smoke developed value and the ICC-ES report number confirming its conformance.
Use the links above to download specification guides and other important information on each fire retardant.