Smoke Influences

Smoke is influenced by heat, pressure, impingement, magnetism and ionization:

• Heat - Warmed or heated air rises and migrates to cold areas such as outside walls and closets. Heat causes pores on walls to expand.
• Pressure - The energy created by fire produces heat and pressure which enables the smoke to penetrate into tiny cracks and crevices.
• Impingement - When a substance hits a surface with sufficient velocity it will impinge (or splatter) the surface.
• Magnetism – This is the attraction of smoke to metal surfaces. Evidence of this can be seen on plumbing pipes, nail or screw heads and metal coat hangers.
• Ionization - Opposite charges attract forming smoke webs on structural surfaces. Plastic bags retain static electrical charges so clothing protected by plastic bags i.e. dry cleaning bags can often suffer severe smoke damage.