Abstract: This paper summarized the change trends of fire accidents in recent years in China, collected 20 cases of fire-caused building collapse events associated with casualties since 1994. The collapse mechanism was analyzed from four correlated aspects such as the building functionality, structural type, collapse characteristics and time of collapsing. The actual fire-resistance duration limit for different type of building structures as well as the collapse causes were statistically summarized and discussed. Moreover, the in-situ fire fight and rescue strategy for typical building structures were suggested.

Key words: fire, building collapse, structural type, fight and rescue strategy