The Risks of Fire Destruction in Structures - Term Paper Example

The Risks of Fire Destruction in Structures TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………..2 OBJECTIVES…………………………………………………………………………………………………3 LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………………………………..4 METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………………………………….4 FIRE OCCURRENCE AND PREVENTION…………………………………………………………6 FIRE DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROL……………………………………………………………7 HARMFUL EFFECTS…………………………………………………………………………………….8 DIRECT DETRIMENT…………………………………………………………………………………..8 FIRE SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT……………………………………………………………..9 TIME SCALE……………………………………………………………………………………………….9 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………………..10 INTRODUCTION. It is very important to understand about fire safety engineering along with its effects on design, planning as well as construction of the building structures. For good management of fire in engineering, it is good to understand the concepts involved and how to design structures in order to curb the effects of fire. Fire safety engineering is the application of scientific as well as the engineering principles to the effects of fire so as to minimize losses of life and destruction to property by quantifying the dangers and risks incurred along with providing an optimal solution to the application of protective measures. These principles are as well applicable in other areas like gas and oil installations or even on highway bridges. The aim of this project is to assess the risks of fire destruction in structures as well as other places like highway bridges where tankers ferrying highly flammable commodities like petrol collides. At the end of the research, various control measure should be suggested and if applied then they will help reduce the risks of fire in building structures, and other places. (Purkiss J. A. 2007, p. 1) OBJECTIVES. The aim of this dissertation is to try and design an effective fire safety unit like a building or a planet where fire risks are prone to occur. At the end the following questions should be answered: How much is the fire risk? Here we are trying to assess: The possibility that fire linked with unwanted consequences will occur. The ways by which such fires can develop and their control measures. The probable harmful effects resulting from these fires that cause detriment, especially hurting people and destroying property and the processes. Whether the level of fire safety from the fire risk evaluated is applicable. This depends on how safe is the method. What other measures can be followed to control the risks of fire, depending on their cost. This can be achieved by assessing, preparing and disseminating the requirements for fire safety with an aim of protecting life, property as well as ensuring that disasters caused by fire safety activities do not happen again. (Rasbash, Ramachandran and Kandola 2004, p. 11) LITERATURE REVIEW. There is need for people to maintain the systems of fire safety so as to protect life, properties and any other occurrences that may be hazardous. In spite of the magnitude of the harm caused by fire, people need to move on and thus there is need for awareness of the situations in which the incidence of a fire would make this awfully complex. To achieve the objectives, there is need for: Providing the public education and consumer legislation on fire safety issues. Making sure that public buildings and other industrial processes meet the requirements. These requirements are mainly designed to respond to the disasters that have hinted the main risks to life as well as the expectation of such disasters. Provision of the management of all the concerned properties. Fire safety legislation where fire on one person’s property affects that of the neighbour. METHODOLOGY. Here, there are several steps that are going to be undertaken so as to achieve the objectives of the project. Research is going to be conducted and the results analyzed to see whether they meet the aim of the project. Definition. Here, fire risk areas are going to be defined and identified. This section will provide the primary information about the risk. It is important to define the kind of risk area as well as the occupants of that area so as to access the related legislation literature and fire policies basing on passed experiences with the kind of hazard areas related. This will also help in attaining the information that can be compared with the hazard that is available in many statistical data that have been compiled on fire safety. The people, goods as well as the processes that are at risk will be identified. All the maintenance processes that may be affected will be identified. Assessment. The objectives of the dissertation are going to be defined and their relevance assessed. This will help understand whether the objectives are met or they are not. The definition of the objectives in its quantitative terms will help in differentiating the systemic approach to fire safety from the traditional approach of the fire safety. All the sources of ignition are going to be assessed. These are things like gas cylinders, petroleum products, electricity and other flammable products that surround the risk area. This will help in assessing the danger involved and the extent of the destruction that may occur in case of fire. There are other things that are not ignition sources but may accelerate the spread of establishment of fire such as the furniture, clothes and paints. These are going to be assessed. The probability of fire occurring will also be estimated. This will help in designing the protective measures that are going to be employed. The risks involved in the fire prone areas are going to be estimated so as to develop the means that are going to be adopted to limit the occurrence of fire. All the probable harmful agents that may be produced and have the capacity of harming people and property will be assessed. This will help in determining the protective measures that can be employed in such areas. It will also assist in creating awareness to the inhabitants of that area about the risks that they exposed to in that area. (Harmathy T. Z, 1985. P. 10) FIRE OCCURRENCE AND PREVENTION. This is where the subsystems that are going to assist in, predicting the likelihood of fire starting are going to be employed. The anticipated frequency of fire occurrence will be measured. According to the traditional knowledge of occurrence of fire, fire may occur when these three factors are integrated; heat, air and combustible materials. Air is always available unless certain measures are taken to evacuate it. In most risk prone areas, there is availability of combustive materials in addition to numerous potential sources of ignition as well as different conditions that ease the establishment of fire. (Christian, 2003. P. 28) FIRE DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROL. This is the second subsystem that will deal with the evaluation of the capability of fire development and the control measures that can be employed. The material that can burn as well as the conditions that can lead to fire will control what is likely to burn and the speed with which the combustible material may catch fire. The main objective of fire safety science is to quantify the swiftness of the spread of fire. There are factors that may lead to fire development and they depend on `the geometry of the combustible materials in relation to the environment and the potential ignition sources’ (Rasbash, Ramachandran and Kandola 2004, p. 19). There will be survey of the methods of fire protection that have been installed (both active and passive methods). The active methods entail the “means of detection, control and fire extinction, the availability and effectiveness of the fire brigade, and the extent to which the people on the premises have been trained to recognize and cope with fires. Passive methods include the control of the fire spread conditions that might cause a small fire to become a big one and the means of compatmentation, segregation, and separation against fire within the hazard area” (Rasbash, Ramachandran and Kandola 2004, p. 19). HARMFUL EFFECTS All the relevant harmful effects that are related to the fire are going to be defined and quantified so as to identify what is a risk and what is not. The main harmful effect that is going to be measured is heat that is produced by fire to the property. When the cause of fire is something like explosions or missiles, there may be effects of pressure. Smoke and toxic materials will also affect the people around that area. There are times when burning materials cause corrosion and this may bring harm to the properties. DIRECT DETRIMENT. The extent of the damage caused by fire depends on the protective measures that are employed to fight the fire along with protecting the risk agents from these harmful effects. They include the methods employed to escape, installations for smoke control, availability of emergence services, blast walls, and explosion reliefs among many others in the time of fire fighting operations. The main factors in protecting risk agents from heat are the distance of separation and fire resistance. The defensive procedures that may be adopted are going to be assessed. This will help in estimating the detriments of fire. FIRE SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT. At the end of the dissertation, the best methods of managing fire are going to be developed and advocated so as to prevent the occurrences of fire and to reduce the risks involved. At the end, the required standards should be devised in order to control and manage the occurrences of fire in structures. This will propose the most desirable fire safety designs that can be used when constructing new buildings. TIME SCALE. Task Timeframe Data collection Four weeks Data analysis Three weeks Data simulation Two weeks Research writing Three weeks Work cited Purkiss J. A. 2007. Fire safety engineering: design of structures. USA. Elsevier Ltd. From: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=6Tx5XMG9MpcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=fire+safety+engineering&client=firefox-a&cd=1#v=onepage&q&f=true (accessed May 24, 2010). Rasbash D., Ramachandran G. and Kandola B. 2004. Evaluation of fire safety. From: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=6htxtHDr0m8C&pg=PA71&dq=fire+safety+engineering+proposal&client=firefox-a&cd=1#v=onepage&q=fire%20safety%20engineering%20proposal&f=false (accessed May 24, 2010). Harmathy T. Z, ASTM Committee E-5 on Fire Standards, Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 1985. Fire safety, science and engineering: a symposium. Baltimore. ASTM International, 1985. From: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=IPJcMB89RjkC&pg=PA7&dq=fire+safety+engineering+proposal&client=firefox-a&cd=4#v=onepage&q=fire%20safety%20engineering%20proposal&f=false (accessed May 25, 2010). Christian S. D., British Standards Institution Technology & Engineering, 2003. A guide to safety engineering. London. British library. From: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=0ibEml6WEI0C&pg=PA28&dq=fire+safety+engineering+proposal&client=firefox-a&cd=2#v=onepage&q=fire%20safety%20engineering%20proposal&f=false (accessed May 25, 2010). Read More