2. Fire development and spread

At this stage of the fire's development, the specific character of electrical equipment as a fire victim is of course less important than it was as a fire source. Nevertheless, the materials used in the electrical industry, on the one hand, and the tests carried out on this equipment, on the other, lead us to consider the bases governing the conditions under which fire can develop at the place of its creation, and then spread to other places.

The following is a summary of the main elements described in [1] .

From the initial ignition of an object on a small surface, the heat released by the flame causes the material in its immediate vicinity to heat up and then thermally degrade. The combustible gases released are then ignited by the flame. This succession of heating, pyrolysis...