Evacuation Procedures in High-Rise Buildings - Term Paper Example

Rеsеаrсh Name: Institution: Course: Date: Introduction Evacuation procedures from high-rise buildings during strategy times such as fire are a big problem to many companies and firms in the developed countries. Countries such as China, U.S.A and Britain have to ensure that they have good fire-fighting departments as they have very tall buildings that can be very difficult to rescue using common fire-fighting strategies (Blaich, 2008). In such scenarios, the government is supposed to be strict in ensuring that every building being constructed has a good evacuation procedure and plan before the building is completed. The government is also to ensure that the buildings that are constructed have good evacuation paths and escape routes. Most firms and companies put into place such procedures but they are normally not followed or overlooked during the evacuation process. This increases the risk level of the individuals in such a building when a fire occurs. In this research, I will discuss the effectiveness and the importance of the case studies cited in the previous text in regard to evacuation strategies. I will concentrate on the advantages and the disadvantages of the case studies in regard to safe evacuation plans from high-rise buildings. Shanghai Apartment Fire This case study was cited to highlight the different scenarios that are used to fight and reduce fire effects on property and life. It also gives the different ways used by civilians and experts to evacuate the building. This particular case study gives an incidence where the fire is caused by a chemical. It was caused by polyurethane foam. It started due to the negligence of unlicensed welders. The study also shows the level of readiness and the speed with which the fire fighters division come to rescue a place if a fire occurs. It also depicts the necessary things to be put available for fire fighting purposes (Blaich, 2008). To start with, on top of buildings, there is need to construct places where helicopters can land so that the survivors that escape to the top of the building can be rescued. This particular case study is well explained as it highlights all the scenarios surrounding the fire tragedy. It gives the cause of the fire and how the fire was stopped. It also gives the different ways the individuals tried to save themselves from the fire. From the study, fire fighters are seen to use the total evacuation strategy. They also used the downward evacuation method and the use of a helicopter to rescue survivors. During the fire there was reported around 50 deaths. Due to delayed assistance from the fire fighters, most individuals tried to save themselves from the fire. This led them to climb to higher floors a situation that left most of them hanging on scaffoldings waiting for help. As a result of delayed help, most of them died while still hanging at the scaffolding (Blaich, 2008). The rescue process was also slowed down by huge smoke that filled the room. The weakness of this strategy is that the fire fighters had short ladders that could not enable rescuing of individuals from higher floors. This fire mission was not very successful because of the lack of heliport, a place where helicopters could be standing for the survivors to boar it. This method gives good time and space for firefighting. From the analysis, the methodology is appropriate as it helped the fire fighters to rescue a good number of individuals before they started to use helicopters to save the one on the top of the building. The report also gives good data for decision-making. It is stated that those who were casualties during the fire incident are averagely 50 years of age. It also gives the number of fire trucks used which is 80. The number of stories is also stated to be 28.In this fire rescue scene, the fire-fighters are seen to fail for a number of reasons. They were overtaken by smoke hence could not go inside to save survivors. They also had no heliport for the easy landing of helicopters to take the survivors. They also were not able to reach the survivors in time to save them from where they were hanging from. To help improve on firefighting skills and strategies, there is need for improvement in response times of the fire-fighters. They also need to have good tools and equipment like ladders. In this case, they came with short ladders that could no help rescue people from higher floors. All these factors are the ones that led to low high deaths during the fore. Mgm Grand Hotel Fire Las Vegas This case study is used to give another way that can be so risky in causing fires (Norman, 2012). In this case, the fire was started with the vibration of a generator, which caused friction in the wires connecting to the power, which made sparks to start flickering hence causing the fire. To put out the fire, the fire fighters used fire engines situated at the Northern Entrance. In this case of the fire, the department of firefighting used the total evacuation method. Using this method, the first phase of the evacuation was very successful. There was a weakness of this method in that it needed smoke detectors and the high-rise tower, which were not fixed to the building. Fire also was a big threat as it moved very fast into the higher floors (Blaich, 2008). This posed a threat to the fire fighters. Another thing is that the evacuation heights were too high. This was also a threat to the firefighting team. The other limiting factor is that air conditioning units on the roof were not equipped with smoke detectors and there was no sound in the high-rise tower evacuation. This caused many people to be trapped inside the building. From the study, the methodology used is very appropriate as it applies to situations where the fire-fighters reach the site in time as in the case of this fire. The problem was the fact that there was no alarm system on the whole building. Due to late awareness, most of the occupants were force to evacuate the building themselves. They had to climb to the roof, others through the window and others through the stairways. This was a big mistake; they were supposed to be assisted by the fire-fighters. Another problem caused by the fire-fighters is that they had short ladders that could not reach the 9th floor. This was risky as they would thus be unable to rescue those on the 10th floor and above. This is very dangerous, as most of the individuals had climbed to higher floor due to fire in the lower floor. The fire-fighters thus had to have means of saving victims from the upper most floors to the ground. To do this they resolved to use helicopters. This was the only saviour. The methodology is also well explained and is easy to understand. Statistics are given indicating that there were 85 lives lost during the fire and 700 others left with injuries. This rescue mission is seen as a success due to the easy access to the stairways and the fact that the fire-fighters reached the scene in time. This did not give time to the fire to grow to uncontrollable amounts. The helicopters also played a big part in seeing that this rescue mission was a success. Some of the shortcomings include, use of short ladders that could not help to rescue individuals in the higher floors. They had very short ladders. They also were unable to go for people in the higher floors. This forced the helicopter to do so. Those that could not be reached by the helicopter had to die. Lack of a fire alarm and smoke detectors was also a big issue that led to many individuals dying. Fire at Lakanal House in London's Camberwell This case is highlighted to show the effect of molten materials in causing fires. In this case, it is a molten material that dropped on a piece of clothing, which started the fire. From this case, it can be seen that any hanging materials, clothing and anything that can catch fire are risky and need to be kept safely. It can also be seen that the building did not have an alarm to alert others of the fire. This poses a big danger to the residents who may not be aware of the fire. In this case, the fire-fighters used the total evacuation in phases. They also used partial evacuation by the use of operational command Centre. This technique helped them to evacuate the people that were trapped in the building. The fire fighters also used extended engines ladders to reach to higher floors. After that, they had to go floor to floor to ensure that there was nobody left in the floors. All this was to ensure safety of every individual that was in the building. These methods are seen to be appropriate as they assist each other to see into it that the survivors are evacuated safely. Statistics show that there were more than 40residents rescued at the fire scene. This was managed by around 100 fire-fighters and 18 fire engines used to put out the fire. During the evacuation, there were many threats that there were pipes that had burst. This bared fire-fighters from going to rescue individuals from higher levels. However, this operation of using partial evacuation was one of the best operations. This rescue mission had its downfalls. The building had no fire alarm system. This made the occupants to delay evacuating the building, as most of them did not know that fire had started. The fire-fighters also reached at a time when they cannot go inside to rescue people since smoke had filled most of the staircases. This made the occupants to look for their own means of survival. The fire-fighters also had short ladders that could not reach for top most floors. To boost their work, they had to go through all the floors to ascertain that no individual was remaining inside. The design of evacuation also had a big deal in ensuring success of the evacuation team. The evacuation in phases gave an easy time to the fire-fighters. As a failure they were also barred from reaching floors that are beyond 11 as they were scared that large gas pipes were about to blow inside the building. This prevented them from saving lives in the upper floors. Case Study 4: 9/11 This case study is one of the deadliest in the U.S.A. It depicts how destructive fire caused by a plane crash can be. The U.S.A airliners were hijacked by Al-Qaeda and used as a weapon against them. As the airlines were hijacked, two planes were rammed and the third landed at pentagon. The jets caused a hole in the 80th floor of the 110-storey skyscraper then again in the 60th floor. This scenario left 3000 people being killed and 400 police officers and fire-fighters were also killed. During this fire, there were 343 fire-fighters and 60 police officers who died and over 10000 individuals were treated of severe injuries. From this experience, it can be seen that fire incidences can affect both those who are in the house at the time of the fire and those that are near the building during the incident. During the incidence the fire-fighters used the partial evacuation strategy. It is not a good methodology as it left many people either injured or dead. This calls for firms to make sure they have good alarm systems such that when it is rung, all people of the public and those that are in the house can be able to hear and respond to the alarm. This signal should be made to be different from any other signals that can be in a company setup. This will help to avoid situations where one ignores the alarm thinking that it is nothing serious. The public should also be notified of such things and any changes that might take place in the organization. This will help to have a total evacuation from such a building so that individuals can assist themselves in advance before the fire becomes very fierce. Dissertation methodology In order for one to come up with a good dissertation methodology, there is need for one to do a good analysis of all the situations and scenarios named above. The table below tries to do this analysis. Evaluation Event No of floors upstairs No of people housed No of those saved No of those injured/suffered No of those who died Shanghai Apartment Fire 28 floors 440 people __ __ 50 people Grand Hotel Fire Las Vegas More than 11 floors __ __ More than 700 People injured 85 people died Fire at Lakanal House 14 __ More than 40 Over 100 families displaced __ Case Study 4: 9/11 110 __ __ Over 10000 ppl deadly injuries More than 3000 From the above analysis, tit can be clearly seen that the second method seems to be the best (Sui, 2008). This is the use of the total evacuation procedure. The procedure used for evacuation in this case is simple and does not have many complicated rules. It therefore saves time during an evacuation hence saving lives and property. Use of this methodology evacuates many individuals as compared to the other methods such as partial evacuation. In addition to that, it helps save disabled people from such fire scenes. The fire experts and extinguishers can easily locate escape routes and exits hence direct people outside the building. This method is seen to have put into considerations all the objectives of a successful evacuation. It is therefore recommended that this technique be used during evacuation. Considering the first method; use of total evacuation together with partial evacuation. This one is not as effective as the total evacuation method (Dunn, 2010). This is because it allows mixing of the two strategies, which can cause confusion during the evacuation. The partial nature of the second part of this strategy can cause one to leave out some important asset or group of people. This methodology also fulfils the four objectives of a successful evacuation plan, it therefore is recommended to be use second in place after the total evacuation strategy. (Grice, 2009). This type of methodology needs keen leaders so as not to forget any group of individuals trapped in a burning house. In extreme cases, the managers need to be a pair so that they can assist each other in places where one is not able to reach (Tubbs & Meacham, 2007). They can also share the burning house halfway so that one manages one-half and the other manages the other half. This way, this methodology becomes one of the best ones as it encourages teamwork and specialization. Considering the third method; total evacuation in phases, it is not as satisfying and complete as the first two as mentioned above. It does not take into consideration all the four objectives that need to be considered during an evacuation. Total evacuation in phases poses many challenges in a setup that is crucial and needs quick response. The fact that the evacuation will be done in phases can cause individuals that are left inside for second shift to suffer fire trauma (Stellman, 1998). In such situations, the evacuation is supposed to be done once to save the situation. In delayed cases, those that are evacuated the second time are affected by smoke and heat from the fire. They may also fall short of oxygen within a short time and may collapse or even die (Craighead, 2009). It is therefore very advisable to take considerations and make sure that an evacuation is done once and not in phases. The fourth case scenario which uses partial or zoned evacuation is not a good strategy either. Two jets are seen to blow through the 80th floor of the world trade Centre in New York leaving the building to collapse killing a number of people. The fire-fighters using this method are able only to save the individuals that are below the level affected by the jets. This leaves many people trapped in the upper rooms of the building. This disaster is seen to be one of the most devastating things that have ever happened to the U.S.A government. It was too late and dangerous for any fire-fighters to lounge a rescue as the buildings collapsed immediately killing many people and trapping many in the remains. After around 20 minutes, there was again witnessed another attack on the 60th floor. This was yet another big blow that engulfed thousands of people in the remains of what was a big building. This made it more difficult for the rescuers to help in evacusting more people as they were trapped again in the building as from the 60th floor. The building then collapsed immediately. The main thing during this time was to rescue the survivors of the tragic accident (McGrail, 2007). All these buildings collapsed killing thousands of individuals. In this case it was both dangerous to carry on with rescue missions as people feared other jet attacks (Kovacich & Halibozek, 2002).Those that were carrying on with the rescue mission after the first attack were killed by the second attack. The fire-fighters and rescuers had thus to be cautious in case they were to be attacked again. In this case, the army and navy had to be on the alert to try to diverge any jet aiming a building if it could be possible. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be seen that evacuation from a building can be in form of many design ways. It is upon the leader of the firefighting team to decide which criteria to use in evacuating the victims enclosed in the building. The strategy to use during such emergencies may apply differently to different floors of the building. All this information is supposed to be available in the fire evacuation plan document prepared before the building was constructed. It is from such a plan that every floor is supposed to have the plan for evacuating victims that are trapped inside the building. The evacuation plan should also show the nearest escape routes that can be used on each floor for evacuation purposes. Floors that are too high should also be addressed and a proper means of evacuating individuals that may be trapped in such rooms be availed. Such floors can be accessed by a ladder, a helicopter and ropes can be used to bring down those that are trapped. The plan should also clearly indicate the areas that have the different types of fire extinguishers. Every fire extinguisher should be labelled by the type of fire it extinguishes. Fire extinguishers should also be strategically placed such that they are placed near substances that are likely to cause the fire related to the extinguishers. References Blaich, P. W. 2008. The benefits of behavioral research to the fire service. Lincoln: IUniverse, Inc. Craighead, G. 2009. High-rise security and fire life safety. Amsterdam ; Boston : Butterworth-Heinemann. Dunn, V. 2010. Collapse of burning buildings. Tulsa, Okla: PennWell. Grice, A. 2009. Fire risk : fire safety law and its practical application. London : Thorogood Pub. Ltd. Kovacich, G. L., & Halibozek, E. P. 2002. The manager's handbook for corporate security. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann. McGrail, D. M. 2007. Firefighting operations in high-rise and standpipe-equipped buildings. Tulsa, Okla: PennWell Books. Norman, J. 2012. Fire officer's handbook of tactics. Tulsa, Okla: Fire Engineering/PennWell. Stellman, J. M. 1998. Encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety. Volume 1. Geneve : International Labour Office/ International Labour Organisation. Sui, D. Z. 2008. Geospatial technologies and homeland security. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. Tubbs, J. S., & Meacham, B. J. 2007. Egress design solutions : a guide to evacuation and crowd management planning. Hoboken: Wiley. Read More

The rescue process was also slowed down by huge smoke that filled the room. The weakness of this strategy is that the fire fighters had short ladders that could not enable rescuing of individuals from higher floors. This fire mission was not very successful because of the lack of heliport, a place where helicopters could be standing for the survivors to boar it. This method gives good time and space for firefighting. From the analysis, the methodology is appropriate as it helped the fire fighters to rescue a good number of individuals before they started to use helicopters to save the one on the top of the building.

The report also gives good data for decision-making. It is stated that those who were casualties during the fire incident are averagely 50 years of age. It also gives the number of fire trucks used which is 80. The number of stories is also stated to be 28.In this fire rescue scene, the fire-fighters are seen to fail for a number of reasons. They were overtaken by smoke hence could not go inside to save survivors. They also had no heliport for the easy landing of helicopters to take the survivors.

They also were not able to reach the survivors in time to save them from where they were hanging from. To help improve on firefighting skills and strategies, there is need for improvement in response times of the fire-fighters. They also need to have good tools and equipment like ladders. In this case, they came with short ladders that could no help rescue people from higher floors. All these factors are the ones that led to low high deaths during the fore. Mgm Grand Hotel Fire Las Vegas This case study is used to give another way that can be so risky in causing fires (Norman, 2012).

In this case, the fire was started with the vibration of a generator, which caused friction in the wires connecting to the power, which made sparks to start flickering hence causing the fire. To put out the fire, the fire fighters used fire engines situated at the Northern Entrance. In this case of the fire, the department of firefighting used the total evacuation method. Using this method, the first phase of the evacuation was very successful. There was a weakness of this method in that it needed smoke detectors and the high-rise tower, which were not fixed to the building.

Fire also was a big threat as it moved very fast into the higher floors (Blaich, 2008). This posed a threat to the fire fighters. Another thing is that the evacuation heights were too high. This was also a threat to the firefighting team. The other limiting factor is that air conditioning units on the roof were not equipped with smoke detectors and there was no sound in the high-rise tower evacuation. This caused many people to be trapped inside the building. From the study, the methodology used is very appropriate as it applies to situations where the fire-fighters reach the site in time as in the case of this fire.

The problem was the fact that there was no alarm system on the whole building. Due to late awareness, most of the occupants were force to evacuate the building themselves. They had to climb to the roof, others through the window and others through the stairways. This was a big mistake; they were supposed to be assisted by the fire-fighters. Another problem caused by the fire-fighters is that they had short ladders that could not reach the 9th floor. This was risky as they would thus be unable to rescue those on the 10th floor and above.

This is very dangerous, as most of the individuals had climbed to higher floor due to fire in the lower floor. The fire-fighters thus had to have means of saving victims from the upper most floors to the ground. To do this they resolved to use helicopters. This was the only saviour. The methodology is also well explained and is easy to understand. Statistics are given indicating that there were 85 lives lost during the fire and 700 others left with injuries. This rescue mission is seen as a success due to the easy access to the stairways and the fact that the fire-fighters reached the scene in time.

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