The Issues and Concepts of Fire Safety Engineering - Term Paper Example

Fire safety engineering Fire safety engineering is important in this day and age given the complex nature of architecture and the fact that much of the threats that safety services face arise from external as well as from internal factors. The idea in essence here is that, over the years there have been many instances where fire safety norms have been challenged and the fact that there can never be one correct manner of construction and engineering that could solve the issue of safety and fire engineering. There is still a large scale flouting of norms as far as fire safety regulations are concerned around the world. In this scenario, it would be useful if one was to outline in some detail, first the issues and concepts that are related to fire safety engineering and second to study some cases of fire incidents, where the issue has been tested or challenged in some manner outlining the pros and the minuses of the matter. For a successful fire safety design we have to understand the interaction between a number of different components, such as (Journal of Fire safety engineering, 2009): The fire source Smoke movement Heat transfer to the structure Detection Active fire safety features Human behavior and egress Toxicity The main objective of ensuring safety in building design is to reduce the level of damage to the building and its contents and to minimize the loss of life in the event of an accident or natural hazard. To achieve this objective the building has to have adequate resistance against accidental loads (Hurley, 2009). In case of an accidental fire, the building should be able to withstand the fire for a reasonable time, and the fire should be contained within a localized part of the building. Several safety measures must be taken to meet the expected performance, including evacuating people from the building, detecting and suppressing the fire, stopping the fire from spreading, and protecting the load-bearing members from losing their strength at elevated temperatures. http://www.accessscience.com/abstract.aspx?id=YB060800&referURL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.accessscience.com%2fcontent.aspx%3fid%3dYB060800 Site Requirements—the design seeks to integrate performance requirements associated with fire department access, suppression, separation distances and site/building security. Fire department access The layout has to be such that the fire department can zero in on the spot with as much ease as is possible. Provisions have to be made in order to provide rapid access to various features such as fire department connections, hose valves, elevators and stairs, key boxes, etc. Accommodate the access of fire apparatus into and around the building site Building Construction Requirements, at a minimum will have to address the following elements: The height of the various floors has to be in keeping with fire norms Occupancy types Interior finish The basics requirement that has to be kept in mind is that of exit from the building in case of a fire. For the purpose special care has to taken of the exit fire stairway. The factors to be kept in mind with regards to egress requirements are as follws Exit stairway remoteness Exit discharge Areas of refuge Accessible exits Door locking arrangement{security interface} The design of the building has to be inclusive of fire detection and notification systems. For the purpose fire detection devices have to be installed in all the key areas including corridors, staircases, elevators, rooms and toilets. The three main points to be kept under notice here are fire detection, notification and surveillance. Fire Suppression Requirements, at a minimum will have to address the elements such as water supply, type of automatic fire extinguishing system (Water-based and non- water based fire extinguishing system) along with standpipes and fire department hose outlets. Also have to addressed are the issues of emergency power, lighting, and exit signage. This includes (Fire safety Desgn Systems, 2008): Survivability of systems Electrical Safety Distributed Energy Resources In designing the building, the incorporation of a smoke control system can significantly improve the life safety protection of the building. A Smoke Control system (sometimes known as fire ventilation or smoke vents) is to be installed. It comes in many forms and range widely in complexity, but the basic objectives are usually the same. Smoke containment systems prevent the movement of smoke and heat from one area to another. These take the form of physical barriers either as smoke curtains or fire curtains, or as pressure differential systems, also known as pressurization systems. The objectives of the smoke control system installed in the building are: To keep escape and access routes free from smoke. To facilitate fire fighting operations by creating a smoke free layer. To delay and/or prevent flashover, and the subsequent full development of the fire. To protect the contents of the building. To reduce the thermal effects on structural components during a fire. To reduce damage caused by thermal decomposition products and hot gases. The key components of smoke and fire ventilation systems are fire dampers; ductwork; smoke curtains; and powered and natural smoke and heat extract systems (smoke vents). The time for total evacuation by stair shafts, as currently provided, however, increases with building height and can exceed one half hour for a typical building over 20 storeys high which is the case here. Many occupants would be physically incapable of negotiating the stair shafts from the upper floors to the ground level, particularly under emergency conditions (Hassanain, 2009). It takes on much more serious significance for high-rise buildings because escape routes may become untenable before the occupants can be evacuated. Two important features of smoke are that it contains toxic products of combustion and reduces visibility. The two factors are generally related. Dense smoke is usually highly toxic and reduces visibility substantially. It can be assumed, that smoke will probably follow the over-all air movement within a building.                                              Case Studies: The English case: The Devon House, 2009 The first case study that one could identify was a fire that claimed the lives of a brother and sister in Devon on October. The fire was believed to have been an accident. The two who dies in the fire were fifteen years old. Investigators ruled out arson, but are trying to find out how the fire started and why it spread so quickly. The incident was in essence an accident given the fact that there were no escape routes in the house in case of a fire, and there was no fire alarm in place. The problem with the Devon house was that there was a sibgle mode of exit and the exits in the room were not continuous from the point of entry to the point of exit. The other big problem with the rescue operations was that the means of egress, including the exit discharge were not illuminated. The building was constructed of reinforced concrete. The exterior of the ground floor was covered in masonry, while the exterior of the second and third levels were covered with what appeared to be metal panels. The exterior windows on all five levels were inoperable. The house was also typical of many of the houses in the neighborhood with no sprinkler facility in the house. This increased the chances of fire damage multiple folds. The house had fire extinguishers but these had been placed out of sight and not really in easy reach. The fire extinguishers were not light weight or portable, making their usage difficult for the residents in any effective manner. Te fire was thought to be the results of extension cords and the fact that these were used as substitutes for the permanent plug-in points. Post fire analysis also found that each extension cord served more than one appliance which is a complete no as far as effective far safety engineering is concerned. Finally, there were no smoke screens and no passage ways that could have helped in the movement and dereliction of smoke from within the house causing congestion and the spread of fire in the quickest of manners. The Ireland Case: The Star Dust Fire One of the most renowned fire accident cases is the Star Dust Disco fire that took place in 1981. the reason the fire had the impact that it did happened due to first, the inadept handling of the situation by the staff and the overall construction of the discotheque that completely disregarded the norms of fire safety engineering. Interestingly enough, the exact reasons for the fire are still under debate given the fact that the possibility of arson has still not been ruled out. The fire claimed a total of forty eight lives, the most number of dead coming from the combined communities of Artane, Kilmore and greater Coolock. The incident has over the years produced headlines in terms of the fact that it threw the issue of fire safety engineering into direct public limelight with the communities alleging that the reason for the fire was neglect by the owners of the club and not arson. The finding odf the couirts in 1981 suggested that the reason for the fire was arosn and not neglect this has been disputed ever since; it legally exonerated the owners from responsibility. However, the inquiry was damning in its criticism of the safety standards. A full-scale test was carried out to demonstrate how and why the fire developed so rapidly but, in fact, enough was known about the particular configuration of combustible materials to have been able to make at least a qualitative assessment of the hazard. The fire was proof of the fact that flouting two of the most basic rules of fire safety engineering could ;rove to be fatal even in cases which could at best be identified as freak accidents. The first thing that went wrong in case of the disaster was that alarm bells were not sounded as on as proof of the fire was discovered. There was o compartmentalization in place at the night club and the overall structure was characterized by the presence of low ceilings that were laced with lighting and matter that was overall combustible. Theoretically, compartmentalization should be used throughout the structure so that one could limit the spread of any toxic smoke or fire.  In the incident, both were able to spread far beyond the original area of origin, killing people that were located floors above the fire.  Ideally, the structure should have been divided avoid this happening again, the current terminal is divided into fire and smoke sectors.  This is accomplished by mechanisms such as doors that will automatically close, subdividing areas into these compartments. A fire has a significant effect on a structure but the characteristics of the compartment that encloses the flames also have an impact on the nature of the fire. Temperatures within the compartment and duration of the fire are defined by the supply of fuel and oxidizer as well as being affected by heat transfer through the compartment boundaries. Fuel generation, in turn is the result of energy feedback from the flames. The Wales Case: Fire at Tenby landmark The fire at Tenby landmark was amongst the worst fire incidents that Wales has witnessed. The incident occurred in 2006, the hotel fire was not a big deal given its size. Infact there were no casualties in the fire but one would have to worry about the repercussions of having a hotel/commercial buildings designed in the manner that the Tenby was and the fact that there are many other cases where hotels have been constructed or old heritage buildings have been transformed into hotel ventures. The incident took place when a SECTION of one of Wales’ most famous facades was reduced to rubble yesterday by a “horrendous” fire which took more than 120 firefighters to control. Around 35 tourists staying in Tenby had to be evacuated in the middle of the busy Bank Holiday weekend after the devastating blaze engulfed the disused five-storey Royal Gate House Hotel. The holidaymakers were evacuated from the nearby Lion Hotel and flats which are close by but no one was injured. By late last night most of those evacuated from nearby premises had been allowed to return. The Royal Gate House Hotel, which was clad with scaffolding, is a central part of Tenby’s historic White Lion Street – the row of houses and hotels that forms the backdrop to the town’s famous North Beach. There are several factors that need to be placed under consideration as far as the incident is considered. There was no training to the staff as far as fire safety was concerned. Given the fact that the structure overall was a heritage site there was no tampering with the system of smoke management, which for all aims and purposes was non existent. There was no compartmentalization (Wales online.com, 2006). The fire exits though were well planned with distances of less than 75 cm between the entry and the exit points. The biggest issue that the fire department had to deal with was the fact that the structure was located in a crowded atmosphere and hence te danger of the fire spreading from one to the other was very high. This is one of the most important lessons learnt from the incident, to be applied at all phases of construction work in the context of fire safety engineering. Scotland Fire: Dundas Fire The fire took place in a private residence where the entire rear end of the building caught fire and the Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service received a call. On arrival, the rear building was well alight and fire service personnel were made aware of an unknown quantity of acetylene gas cylinders on location at the incident. This was confirmed and as their contents are extremely flammable, nearby residents had to be evacuated to ensure their safety (Falkirk Council, 2009). Emergency services are doing all they can to minimize the impact of the incident, however public safety is paramount. The issues that are to be concerned in this particular incident again are those of compartmentalization , which n this case were in intact given the fact that despite sever damage to the rear end the fire did not spread to te front ends of the house. The fact of the matter however is that the smoke movement system was not correct otherwise the fire would not have reached the proportion that it did. the material used in the garage was combustible despite the fact that it might have been previously assumed that fire related work would and in the garage. Another issue that the fire had to deal with was the fact that the interior of the house partially equipped with sprinklers, but the fire occurred on the in the garage built later and was not equipped with sprinklers. At its height there were four fire appliances at the scene, with over 30 firefighters tackling the blaze. Both thermal and oxygen-limiting feedback processes can affect the fire in a compartment. In the course of fire safety design or fire investigation in buildings, all of these effects, along with fire growth characteristics of the fuel, must be understood. The ability to express the relevant physics in approximate mathematics is essential to be able to focus on the key elements in a particular situation. The accuracy of such approximate analyses are usually sufficient, especially when their consistency is confirmed by other information, e.g. witnesses, alarm records, video, etc. this was a factor totally disregarded in case of the nightclub and is was therefore responsible for the quick spread of the fire and the amassing of the overall tragedy. Reference: Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry on the fire at the Stardust, Artane, Dublin on the 14th February, 1981. by Tribunal of Inquiry on the Fire at the Stardust, Artane, Dublin on the 14th February, 1981 (Ireland) Published in 1982, Published by the Stationary Office (Dublin) Stardust families protest over access to report, Genevieve Carbery, The Irish Times, 15 January, 2009 Morris, W. A., 1984, Stardust Disco Investigation - some observations on the full-scale fire tests', pub, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 7, pp255-65 Journal of Fire safety engineering, 2009, accessed December 5, 2009, < http://jfe.sagepub.com/> Hurley J, 2009, Fire Protecting engineering, pub, National Institute of Building Sciences, accessed December 5, 2005, < http://www.wbdg.org/design/dd_fireprotecteng.php> Fire safety Desgn Systems, 2008, accessed December 6, 2009, < http://www.wbdg.org/design/fire_protection.php> Wales online.com, 2006, Ferocious fire destroys famous Tenby landmark, accessed December 6, 2009, < http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/03/24/ferocious-fire-destroys-famous-tenby-landmark-91466-20665186/> Hassanain M A, 2009, Approaches to qualitative fire safety risk assessment in hotel facilities, pub, Structural Survey, Vol.27 No.4, pp287-300 Falkirk Council, accessed December 6, 2009, < http://www.centralscotlandfire.gov.uk/news/press-releases/fire-on-dundas-street---grangemouth.html>   Read More