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There's new information about a possible fix for a potentially deadly hazard in your home.
A recent 12 News investigation showed how lightweight wood floor beams can quickly collapse -- without warning -- in a house fire.
WISN 12 News' Kent Wainscott found something that may reduce the danger.
At just the time firefighters may be entering a burning home, or anyone else is trying to get out, lightweight floor beams can quickly burn through and collapse.
One wrong step can send someone crashing through the floor.
WISN 12 News tested the beams to show the danger. Now, another test may point to a possible solution.
The plan was to start a simulated basement fire to test whether a special type of paint would protect the wood beams and keep the floor above from collapsing.
"We went down to our knees, and we took maybe another step when the floor gave way, and that was it," former Green Bay firefighter Jo Brinkley-Chaudoir said.
A floor collapse in 2005 sent Brinkley-Chaudoir and Lt. Arnie Wolff crashing into a basement inferno.
"I got to that point where I thought, 'I'm going to die in here. I'm going to die. I'm not going to make it out of here,'" Brinkley-Chaudoir said.
Almost miraculously, she made it out alive, but Wolff did not.
A recent 12 News investigation showed how wooden I-joists, used in most newer homes because they're strong and inexpensive, can quickly fail in a fire.
But there is a product that claims to limit the danger. It's called intumescent paint. It expands in a fire, creating a protective coating around the wood.
Fire Safety instructors at Waukesha County Technical College, who helped 12 News test those wood beams, put the fire-resistant paint to the test.
They built two sections of floor supports using lightweight beams. They coated one with the intumescent paint and left one uncoated and then lit a fire.
They covered them with a cement-board to keep the flames below and placed weights on top.
In less than five minutes, flames had spread throughout the unpainted basement. While in the other basement, the paint bubbled and expanded, but the fire didn't spread.
The first unpainted beam fell in less than 15 minutes. The floor was then unsafe. Less than two minutes later, it gave way.
"Well, it appears the product is protecting the wood. In a couple of areas concentrated directly over the flame, we've had some burn through, but very little extension beyond that," WCTC fire training instructor Thomas Schlei said.
By the time the first structure had completely collapsed, the gas line is the only thing keeping the painted structuring burning.
That one didn't collapse at all, and Schlei said that protection could allow firefighters, or anyone in a burning home, enough time to get out.
"It doesn't prevent fires. It's not going to extinguish the fire, but hopefully it'll provide structural integrity for a little bit longer," Schlei said.
There are a few different brands of intumescent paint on the market. The WCTC test was on a product called No-Burn.
Intumescent paint is becoming more common in home construction.
But there's a catch -- because it's a fire safety tool, and not just regular paint, you can get it directly from the manufacturers, and it has to be professionally applied.
Document:Light-Weight Construction Concerns For Fire Service
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