--- title: 4 Ways Vinyl Siding Provides Good Fire Performance description: Vinyl siding has been proven to be a fire-safe exterior cladding. Discover the 4 ways that it provides good fire performance. image: https://mittenbp-213382.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/file-27138443-jpg/images/sbeadcloseup_300.jpg --- [Français](http://www.mittenbp.com/?lang_id=2) ![Mitten_Blog_New_Header_V2](https://mittenbp-213382.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Mitten_Blog_New_Header_V2.jpg?width=960&name=Mitten_Blog_New_Header_V2.jpg "Mitten_Blog_New_Header_V2") # Exterior Building Products Blog # 4 Ways Vinyl Siding Provides Good Fire Performance Posted on Thu, Apr 04, 2013 - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Whether you are a builder, applicator or home owner, it is very important to understand the![Sentry Beaded Vinyl Siding](https://mittenbp-213382.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/file-27138443-jpg/images/sbeadcloseup_300.jpg?width=166&height=250&name=sbeadcloseup_300.jpg) building materials you are using and how they will react under all situations, even the most extreme.  Fire safety is a key consideration in making a home safe. Vinyl siding has been proven to be a fire-safe exterior cladding solution. Below are four ways that it provides safe fire performance: ## **1. Slow to Ignite** Rigid vinyl building products are slow to ignite, their flame spread is slow and they cease to burn after the flame source is removed. It is composed mainly of polyvinyl chloride, more commonly known as vinyl or PVC.  Vinyl’s chemical makeup makes it inherently flame resistant and because of its chlorine base, vinyl siding does not ignite quickly and is inherently flame-retardant. All organic materials -- anything containing carbon -- will ignite, but the higher the temperature a material has to reach before it flames, the safer the product is.  PVC will not ignite until it reaches about 730°F (387°C) and it will not self-ignite until approximately 850°F (454°C).  Those ignition temperatures are significantly higher than common framing lumber, which ignites from a flame at 500°F (260°C) and self-ignites at 770°F (410°C). ## **2. Easy to Extinguish** **[ASTM D2863 (American Society for Testing and Materials) Standard Test Method for Measuring the Minimum Oxygen Concentration to Support Candle-Like Combustion of Plastics (Oxygen Index)](http://www.astm.org/Standards/D2863.htm)** shows that rigid PVC’s high Limiting Oxygen Index means that it needs unusually high amounts of oxygen to burn and stay burning.  Rigid PVC (vinyl siding) will not independently keep burning in air with a normal concentration of oxygen (about 21%) – so it extinguishes more easily. 3. Slows Flames from Spreading Results of **[ASTM E162-06 Standard Test Method for Surface Flammability of Materials Using a Radiant Heat Energy Source](http://www.astm.org/DATABASE.CART/HISTORICAL/E162-06.htm)** show PVC as one of the materials with the lowest radiant panel index – meaning it doesn’t release a lot of energy when it burns and will not readily spread flames on its own. ## 4. Lower Environmental Hazard The products of vinyl combustion are no more hazardous than those produced by burning many other common materials, both natural and synthetic.  When any organic material burns, it releases smoke that contains many different combustion products – mainly gases, many of which are toxic.  There is no research to substantiate claims that vinyl materials release unusually toxic combustion products.  For more information, you can read **[The British Plastics Federation “*PVC in Fires*”](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mJtUjt-3mRcJ:www.bpf.co.uk/Document/Default.aspx?DocumentUid%3D47F321BA-9EB2-41BF-B741-E38BA02EFDAA+&hl=en&gl=ca)** article published in April 1996. If you are still concerned about the fire safety of your vinyl siding, the facts show that exterior cladding is involved in only a fraction of all residential fires.  According to the National Fire Protection Agency, only 4 in 100 house fires start on the outside of a structure and fewer than 2 of 100 house fires originate with the exterior wall surface. [![Like What You See? 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