What happens if there is a fire in a straw bale house?
Straw bale wall assemblies have been thoroughly tested in the United States, Europe, and Canada. In the United States straw bale wall assemblies plastered with cementitious plaster have achieved an ASTM E119 two hour commercial fire rating in both a small scale and a full scale fire test. A straw bale wall assembly plastered with earthen plaster achieved an ASTM E119 one hour commercial fire rating in a full scale test. In Europe straw bale wall assemblies have achieved an F90 90 minute fire rating. The testing in Canada was done by the National Research Council on behalf of an engineering firm which has declined to share the results. By way of comparison whereas a straw bale wall assembly easily achieved a ASTM E119 2h rating a 2×6 wall assembly suffered complete failure and the test was stopped after only 8 minutes.
