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Can fire cause significant structural damage to a stone building like that?
by bhandziuk 8y ago
Can fire cause significant structural damage to a stone building like that?
- davidcollantes 8y agoThere is lots of wood in that stone building. Lots.
- jfoutz 8y agoAlso, high enough temperatures can change the stone. I’m not remotely a material scientist. I vaguely remember stone barbecue pits require some special consideration. There are also probably concerns about thermal expansions as well. The stone might resettle a little bit differently.
- all_blue_chucks 8y agoAt high temperature some types of stone explode or at least crack.
- snarkyturtle 8y agoThe melting point of marble is 800ºC and if reports are true that it's a construction mistake and not something more drastic it stands a good chance of not collapsing.
- LeifCarrotson 8y agoYou can cause a drinking glass (melting point 1400C) to explode if you expose it to 100C and 0C water in quick succession. Differential heating, moisture vaporizing, and expansion/contraction are larger concerns than the stone becoming lava.
- vidanay 8y agoYes. If the fire gets deep into the walls it can severely weaken mortar or even crack stones.
- onetimemanytime 8y agoespecially when water hits the super-hot stone. Hannibal crossing the Alps thing
- CydeWeys 8y agoYes. Keep in mind that a lot of the wood is structural too (i.e. the roof). It's conceivable that this could cause collapse of some to all of the building.
- tguedes 8y agoDefinitely. There is a great book called Pillars of the Earth where a cathedral in England burned down in ~1150.