Fires and the Built Environment - Case Study Example

The building that was affected by the inferno is made up of a basement and 7 floors. It contains an L-shape plan with a 45o angle symmetrical axis from the side of the outside walls. The ground floor and basement gross surface is about 800 m2 while that of other floors is about 560 m2. The tall building is constructed using reinforced concrete, has 57 columns at the beginning 2 levels and 50 at the building’s upper level. Floor one has been constructed using reinforced concretes slabs with a thickness of 20cm while the others contain tightly fixed hollow-block slabs.

Fire DamageAs a result of the extremely high temperatures attained in the various structural elements present in the compartments, there were transversal cracks which then led to separation and then into crumbling of the building. Due to the spilling of the concrete, some of the steel-made reinforcements were directly exposed to the fire resulting in plastic strains, bone loss, and the occurrence of localized yielding. The highest level of damage was in the basement with only a few damages recorded on the ground floor.

The columns that were damaged the most were those close to the entrance used by the firefighters as a result of the water jets (Lirangi, 2003).Repairing the damaged structure requires the assessment of the building’s residual strength after the huge fire to be done and a way forward obtained depending on the obtained findings (Roblee, 1996).Case study two: Windsor Tower Fire: Madrid SpainThe event of the fire and an overviewThis fire happened on the 12th of February in the year 2005 in the city of Madrid in Spain.

The fire broke out from the 21st floor of the building. On starting, the fire spread to all floors of the building which were above the second floor, and lasted for a duration of approximately 18 to 20 hours. The damage of the fire was so extensive considering that it led to the collapse of the building’s slab from above the 17th floor totally destroying the building. The 106 meters, 32 stories commercial building had no sprinklers, and the fire protection system was passive. The basic type of construction for the entire building was concrete cores which had waffle slabs which had internal RC support columns.

The perimeter columns from the 17th floor upwards were not protected at the time the fire occurred. Insight of the building