Causes of Fire Outbreaks in the High-Rise Buildings - Report Example

Name: University: Course: Tutor: Date: Community Safety Introduction Most of the multi-occupancy high rise buildings were constructed in 1960s and early 1970s.they were aimed at alleviating the housing problems in many cities of the world. The constructions were thus part of the housing strategy which aimed at expanding and improving the housing stock. One of the significant advantages of the high-rise accommodations is that it provides large numbers housing units and thus huge population numbers also. High-rise buildings are made of modern technologies such as precast concrete panels which are ideally cheaper and quick to construct. In the majority of cities in the world, High-rise buildings were considered to be a dramatic improvement of the slum dwelling which used to be used by the low income earners as their living territories. Since cheap and less durable materials are used when constructing high-rise buildings there are other construction inefficiencies which are also evident in such buildings. Among the inefficiencies includes the installation of inappropriate heating systems such as the under floor electrical heating and improper ventilation. It is evident that there were no any viable regulatory coverage on the housing ventilation and therefore majority of the houses were damp and poorly ventilated. It is however necessary to know that the high-rise buildings cannot be compared with the refurbished houses. This is because despite the fact that they pose some challenges in the installation of ventilation systems, it is still possible to install the system. But in most cases their concrete floors which are mainly 300 mm thick make the installation become a labor intensive and time consuming process. The consolidation of the high-rise dwelling in a certain region also greatly impact on the premises accessibility. The inaccessibility of such regions makes it hard for the life savers to quickly respond in case of emergencies. A considerable duration therefore ends up been consumed by the fire fighters in case of fire outbreaks. This paper seeks to analyze some of the community safety techniques used in the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings. Historical background It is estimated that 15,000 high-rise structures catch fire every year. Approximately 70 civilians die due to the fire outbreaks in the US every year. It is also estimated that 900 victims suffer severe and mere injuries due to fire incidents and that $250 million property worth are destroyed annually by the fire outbreaks. It is also important to note that the high-rise fires results to more injuries, properties and lives destructions than any other structural fires. 75% of these high-rise fires are mainly observed in the residential structures and therefore property loss is significantly low compared to the loss which the fire would cause in the commercial premises. The statistics also shows that’s most of fire outbreaks in the high-rise residential houses are caused by cooking. High-rise constructions also pose a huge threat to the fire service men. Although the above estimates were observed between 1996 and 1998, similar trends have continued to arise as the high-rise number continues to increase day by day. Causes of fire outbreaks in the high-rise buildings The three major causes of fire still remains to be cooking, incendiary and smoking. Since cooking is already discussed in other parts of the research, I will focus my attention on the incendiary also known as arson and smoking. Arson involves the use of inflammable materials such as gases and petroleum products in the domestic operations. As it has been noted most of the migrant workers tend to either use gas cookers or stoves in their cooking activities. The flammable nature of the cooking gases and kerosene mainly causes or jump-starts fire outbreaks in the majority of the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings. The in attendance or abandonment of such cooking gargets such as stoves and gas cookers is the major cause of fire outbreaks in the high-rise buildings. It is also important to remember that electricity use in these buildings may also ignite fire outbreaks in the various dwelling units. It is therefore appropriate for the occupants to be extra cautious whenever they are undertaking their daily cooking activities as that will greatly assist in the reduction of fire outbreaks. Careless cigarette smoking is also one of the major causes of fire outbreaks in the high-rise premises. High-rise fire challenges It should be noted that the tall and big nature of the high-rise buildings poses great threat not only to the occupants but also to the firefighters whenever fire outbreaks emerges. The varying pressures and temperature also threatens the movement of smoke and heat within such premises. Considering the fact that high-rise buildings can be used for residential, restaurant, and commercial purposes, different firefighting approaches needs to be assumed. It is also evident that most of the high-rise building designs have limited exit designs. Such limitation therefore tends to pose huge threat when moving people during emergencies. The technicalities involved in extinguishing high-rise fire outbreaks require a considerable number of personnel. It is therefore advisable for the fire department to think of adding some fire personnel in order to effectively combat and manage the fires in the modern high-rise buildings. It is also appropriate for the fire department to add more fire fighting machines and equipments in order to enable the firefighters in their work (Fineman, 1995). Significant number of injuries and fatalities continues to be registered in the multi-occupancy buildings. Considering the fact that these high-rise buildings accommodate huge populations a fire threat can end up causing more damage to both properties and lives. It is however important to understand that residents in the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings are exposed to fire threats as triggered by the environmental challenges. Among the major fire threats which these residents faces includes the electricity short-circuiting which is caused by power overloads in these buildings. Lack of proper knowledge on how to use electric power is one of the major challenges which affect high-rise occupants. Ignorance and carelessness also significantly contribute to fire outbreaks in these regions. Considering the fact most of this buildings are mainly designed to accommodate singles, gas supply in the buildings also poses huge fire threat to the regions. In most cases the migrant workers uses gas cookers or electricity in cooking their meals. Any small mistake on such cooking devices may lead to a fire outbreak in a certain building. These migrant workers mainly have very tight work schedules during the day, and therefore they are usually very tired in the evenings. The tight schedules therefore increase chances of having notable errors when performing their domestic chores. For instance a tendency to over sleep while cooking which may trigger short-circuiting or gas leaking is very high when someone is extremely tired and in the house alone. Such events may therefore ignite fire within the room without the consent of the occupant (Forehand et al, 1991). It is also important to note that such events also increases overheating dangers which my consequently ignite and cause fire in such regions. The multi-occupancy high-rise buildings are also high energy consumers due to the many dwelling units in them. Since the houses provide huge number of occupants who have varied consumption rates, appropriate wiring connections ought to be done. The structural steel framework in most of the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings tends to hinder effective operations of the firefighting department. The sealed or locked windows in these buildings also make it hard for the firefighters to efficiently put off the fire whenever need arises. Firefighters are forced to break thick glasses in order to access the inside of such building, a move which is extremely dangerous to undertake. In the process the falling glasses end up injuring people on the sidewalk and other supply hoses. The sealing also causes the accumulation of large volumes of heat and smoke whenever fire is contained in those buildings. The stack effect also arises due to the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the high-rise buildings. As a result uncontrollable volumes of smoke and heat spread up and down the high-rise floors. The occupants are also choked by the heat and smoke concentrations in the high-rise rooms. It also becomes difficult to evacuate the thousands of occupants during the occasion a move which results to huge number of casualties (Barnett, 1997). In the past there have been significant inefficiencies in the high-rise elevators, something which caused the death of a firefighter in the U.S Borax and chemical corporation fire incident of 1968. Elevator’s failure was triggered by over heating in the building since the machine was heat activated. In this incident the emergency alarms also failed to operate, radio signals also proved to be ineffective inside the high-rise buildings. Measures to reduce domestic fires in the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings Proper education on energy saving techniques ought to be provided to these multi-occupancy high-rise tenants in order to reduce the high energy consumptions. Safety rules and measures also ought to be sensitized amongst these tenants in order to caution them on dangers caused by calamities such as fire outbreaks. Efforts should also be established to improve community health and energy saving techniques in the high-rise buildings. These can be done through improvement of the indoor environment relationships, health and work performances in the high-rise buildings. It is thus appropriate for these buildings to have appropriate design which provides perfect environment for the occupants well being. For instance the high-rise building system ought to be perfect in order to allow firefighters to effectively access the building in case of fire outbreaks. Systems such as elevators should be installed in order to enable the fire fighters to effectively use their tools and equipments inside the building. Standpipes should also be fully installed in order to provide water pressures and volumes in the upper floors of the building. It is appropriate for the buildings to be constructed in a way which they can allow fire department to operate and transmit their radio signals. Such communication systems enable effective communications whenever there is an emergency (Slavkin, 2000). The constructors ought to ensure that the building have a good number of exit doors which should be used to ease the evacuation process when need arises. Maximum door area should also be provided in order to facilitate easy movement of people in and out of the building. Emergency alarms also need to be installed as they should be used to alert people on the fire outbreak event. In order to prevent elevator’s failure in the future, it is appropriate that the constructors avoid using heat activated elevator buttons. Instead the firefighters should be encouraged to use stairs whenever they wish to access other floors in the high-rise buildings. In order to ensure that people know and understand how to respond to the emergency alarms, the fire department should schedule some educational programs which should aim at sensitizing occupants on the propagation, spread and effects of fire outbreaks in the high-rise buildings. In addition people should be advised on how to develop proper responses in the event of such outbreaks. Appropriate measures should be established on how to suppress and combat fire emergencies in the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings. With the new construction technology, most of the modern high-rise buildings are installed with automatic sprinkler systems which assist in fighting fire outbreaks in these buildings. Some engineers also use the incident command system to operate and improve the fire suppression techniques in the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings (Jones and Cunningham, 1994). The incident command system mainly forced the occupants to remain inside the room whenever a fire outbreak occurs within the building. The system assumes that the fire will only spread in the open dwelling units, but will not have any significant effects on the already closed units. The incident command system (ICS) was however over ruled when a couple was found dead after their room was blown off by fire from an open room beside. Although the ICS measure was aimed at preventing the fire victims from the smoke inhalation, the blast due to the heated air propelled a need for a change. In 1980s, there was a major invention in the community safety as all the new residential high-rise buildings required to be installed with smoke detectors (Moore et al, 1996). Constructors ought to use the concept of compartmentalization in the design and specification of the modern high-rise buildings. In their designs they should make sure that the building controls and regulates air flow within the premise as it is very important in human safety. Floor to floor air connections should be encouraged in order to better and improve indoor air quality within the building. This move will not only relieve the tenants from the daily discomfort but will also encourage them to retain and increase their tenancy duration. Proper and efficient ventilation and air conditioning technique also lessens the life threatening dangers which would otherwise be available within the building. The compartmentalization process assists occupants to leave in a well aerated environment which is conducive to their health (Canter and Frizan, 1998). It therefore prevents the building from the interior elements such as sunlight, wind and weather precipitation. Similarly it is also important to design the high-rise buildings in a way that will greatly reduce energy consumption in these regions. Instead energy efficient techniques should be used in the domestic operations as it will significantly cut the energy costs. Materials such as rubber seals, aluminum door sets, v-strips and foam tapes should be used to regulate and control air leakages within the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings. It is however important that the air barrier systems within the high-rise buildings are remain durable. In addition the system must be compactable and resistant to the mechanisms which threaten such effective air condition. However the air conditioning and compartmentalization process should vary depending on the nature and the use of the building. Critical infrastructures required Among the critical infrastructures which the country should have in order to effectively fight fire in the high-rise buildings includes the fire stations which it core duty should be to extinguish fire during emergencies. The call centers and the police stations are also important since this is where the community can run for safety whenever such incident occurs. It is also appropriate for the country to have hospitals, city emergency operation centers and evacuation centers within a city. Such centers will enable smooth and timely response to the fire outbreaks in the high-rise buildings (Kolko and Kazdin, 1991). On the other side there are some utility infrastructures which are important in the overall process of combating fire in multi-occupancy high-rise buildings. There should be some portable water systems which consist of water treatment plants and reservoirs. Such systems should always be ready to supply water in the high-rise buildings without failure. Good electric power systems, waste water systems, natural gas systems and communication systems should be established in order to ensure that the high-rise occupants enjoys quality services at all times. Conclusion Since the high-rise fires results to more injuries, properties and lives destructions than any other structural fires. And considering the fact that 75% of these high-rise fires are mainly observed in the residential structures, high-rise buildings also poses great threat not only to the occupants but also to the firefighters whenever fire outbreaks emerges. The varying pressures and temperature also threatens the movement of smoke and heat within such premises. Considering the fact that high-rise buildings can be used for residential, restaurant, and commercial purposes, different firefighting approaches needs to be assumed. It is therefore advisable for the fire department to think of adding some fire personnel in order to effectively combat and manage the fires in the modern high-rise buildings. It is also appropriate for the fire department to add more fire fighting machines and equipments in order to enable the firefighters in their work. New construction technology, most of the modern high-rise buildings is installed with automatic sprinkler systems which assist in fighting fire outbreaks in these buildings. Some engineers also use the incident command system to operate and improve the fire suppression techniques in the multi-occupancy high-rise buildings. Additionally, constructors ought to use the concept of compartmentalization in the design and specification of the modern high-rise buildings. In their designs they should make sure that the building controls and regulates air flow within the premise as it is very important in human safety. Floor to floor air connections should be encouraged in order to better and improve indoor air quality within the building. A country should also establish a proper infrastructure in order to effectively combat fire outbreaks in the high-rise buildings. Such infrastructures include the fire stations, the police posts, call centers, hospitals, city emergency operation centers and evacuation centers. Reference list Barnett, M, 1997, Pathological fire setting 1952-1991: A Review, Medicine Science and the Law, 34, 4-20, and Recidivism and concomitant criminality in pathological fire setters, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 42, 879-883 Canter and Frizan, 1998, Differentiating Arsonists. 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