Recent progresses in research of fire protection on historic buildings

Fire protection of historic buildings has been a subject of many investigations over the last 2 decades. In this article, the perspective of historic buildings, fire situations, and fire protective documents in recent years are introduced briefly; important literatures on fire performance of historic materials and assemblies, and fire propagation risk are reviewed; fire risk analysis approaches and fire protection measures are discussed. It is suggested that emphasis should be laid on (1) establishing specific fire databases for historic buildings, (2) improving related legislation and guidance, (3) exploring more suitable methods for fire risk assessment, and (4) formulating appropriate fire protective strategies.