In the modern age of log construction, reports have documented that fires have burned inside or outside of log buildings without destroying the building’s structural integrity. Where logs stack directly on one another, the walls are an assembly of solid wood and do not have cavities through which flames can spread. Many second floor and roof assemblies are constructed using beam and deck assemblies, again without concealed cavities conducive to flame spread. As an organic material, wood is combustible. Yet its insulating and charring characteristics produce an astounding response to fire. While wood begins to char at 300oF, commonly exceeded in the first five minutes of an accidental fire, the wood beneath the char remains structurally sound. Compare this unique response to that of structural steel which loses 50% of its strength at 1000oF.

The fire resistive nature of solid wood walls is a combination of the insulating response of the charred wood at the surface with the slow rate at which flame will spread along the wood surface. In addition to those qualities, a solid wood wall has no concealed cavities in a log wall through which the fire may travel. Combined with the selection of beam and deck second floor and roof options often incorporated into log buildings, log structures can provide exceptional endurance and integrity in a fire. The log wall withstood 180 minutes from its integrity and insulation viewpoint, and 172 minutes from the point of its load-bearing capacity.
The handcrafted Full scribe log wall shows better integrity, insulation, and load-bearing capacity than the chinked or milled log walls (pre-fabricated).