OSB verses Standard Lumber- Fire Problems

[StimW]

Just saw this article and thought it might be of interest-
http://www.news4jax.com/news/newer-homes-can-burn-8-times-faster-than-older-homes/31426218

[Raider Bill]

Figures, I used them.

[Farmerjw]

Also steel studs, I thought wow, they can't burn.  Well one Industrial Arts teacher informed me, each wood stud has to burn through to fail, once the temp reaches the flex/melting point all the studs fail at the same time!    Good ole lumber!

[kczbest]

I do not build with that type of truss. I almost exclusively use TrimJoist joist systems, they are a web type truss made of 2x4.

[Brucer]

I read a report by Underwriter's Laboratories, comparing the fire resistance of I-Joists made with OSB, versus commercial 2x10 lumber. The floor with solid lumber took nearly twice as long to collapse as the I-Joist floor -- in a test with a gypsum board ceiling on the bottom of the joists. With no ceiling to protect the undersides of the joists, the solid lumber floor took 3 times longer to collapse.

No ceiling:
  2x10 joists - 19 minutes to collapse.
  I-joists - 6 minutes to collapse.
Gypsum board ceiling:
  2x10 joists - 44 minutes to collapse.
  I-joists - 27 minutes to collapse.

The UL tests were conducted under much more controlled conditions and were designed to simulate the actual floor loads you might find in a typical house.

The tests also compared parallel chord trusses to I-joists and found them to have similar performances (i.e., not as good as solid wood).