The hazards of the spread of fire smoke in a channel have been recognized. This paper relates to the potential use of a water mist curtain (WMC) for preventing the spread of fire smoke, focusing particularly on smoke control at the early stage of a fire, with the aim of reducing the harm of fire smoke and allowing time for people to escape. Fatal factors for occupant evacuation in a fire, such as carbon monoxide concentration:smoke temperature, and visibility, were measured in the section controlled by the WMC. The results indicate that the WMC can be effective in preventing fire smoke from spreading at the early stage, and may provide a useful reference for developing a novel method of smoke control. Furthermore, the effects of nozzles with different spray characteristics were investigated and an optimal working pressure was suggested. In addition, a mathematical model was simplified and used to analyze the interaction between the fire-induced smoke layer and WMC spray. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.