Fire History and Fire Incidents - Case Study Example

A Case Study of Fire History Name: Institution: Course Title: Tutor: Date: A Case Study of Fire History Introduction Since man invented the use of fire in the earlier ages of his existence after adopting sedentary life, fire has been of great use to human survival up to present. Fire can be seen as one of the greatest invention to be ever made by man even though the sources have been improved on since then. Moreover fire has enabled man to engage in numerous activities like industrial activities like metal works, food industry and construction industry among many others. Fire can be sourced from different source of energy like coal, gas and petroleum products and electricity. Moreover, it is caused by numerous sources like electric sparks, short circuits and faults, gas leaks and human negligence while handling fire or sources of fire. This paper explores case study of fire history by examining two fire incidents. The first incident is the one at Hilton Hotel Texas in 1982. The second incidence is the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada that occurred in 1980. In order to attain the above objective, the paper is divided into two parts. The first is part A and the second is part B. Part A covers analysis and comparison of the case studies, cause, sequence and consequences. On the other hand, part B deals with contribution of human factors in terms of similarities and differences, lessons learnt and if later incidence would have been avoided. In addition, the section will predict the possibility of such disaster occurring. Part A Westcase Hilton Hotel The first instance to be analysed in this paper is the Hilton Hotel in Houston Texas commissioned in 1980. The hotel is a 13 storey building situated at 9999 Westheimer. This hotel was built before 1980 when a new ordinance requiring hotels to have smoke detectors on every floor had not been formulated. In addition, by the time of its construction and commissioning, the requirement that all high rise buildings be installed by automatic sprinkler system and other early fire warning devices had not been formulated (Iklim). According to National Fire Protection Association (2008, p. 4) the fire incidence at the Westchase Hilton Hotel in March 1982 ranks as one of those that have been experienced in hotel industry with more than ten fatalities. Actually the number of fertilities in this fire incidence was twelve. The astonishing factor by then in relation to the fire in the hotel is that the hotel ranks as one of the modern buildings with fire-resistive installations. However, during the incident, twelve out of the thirty occupants on the fire floor were fatalities. This accounted for 40 % of the occupants. After a thorough analysis, Houston arson bureau established that a fallen cigarette ignited the fire. The abetting agent in the process was traced to one of the two upholstered chairs in room 404 on the fourth floor. The argument built after the investigation was that the lighted cigarette fell onto or into the crevices of the chair and thus, igniting the fire. During this incidence, the post analysis confirmed that the fire razed contents in room 404 thereby exposing the fourth floor corridor to extreme heat and smoke. However, one source of concern was that due to the structural configuration of the building, fire was able to spread horizontally to two adjoining rooms on the fourth floor. Apart from the above concern, there was also a minor vertical exterior fire extension to three rooms in the floor above. In a nutshell, the smoke spread out in the entire fire floor fire and in varying intensity, to all levels of the building (Iklim). After the incidence it was confirmed emphatically that occupants of the fourth floor where fire emanated from were the fatalities. In rooms 407 and 411a family of four and a family of five respectively perished. The other casualty was found outside the corridor of room 413. Apart from those who perished on the spot, another five occupants of the fourth floor were hospitalized with four in critical condition and one in serious condition. The saddening experience was that two of the hospitalized died taking the total tally to 12casualties. During the evacuation process, the injured were found behind closed doors in guest rooms and in the fourth floor exit-access corridor by fire fighters. Moreover, it was confirmed that the casualties’ age ranged from 2 years old to 67 years old. In terms of gender, seven of the total 12 who perished were females while the remaining five were male (Iklim). The underlying challenge that hindered rapid response by then was the manual shutting of the buzzer by the desk clerk a few minutes after it went off at 2 a.m. The chief notion for doing this was based on the assumption that it had malfunctioned. However, the striking feature this instance was that the clerk desk did it twice and not once. In spite of all these happenings, one of the 200 guests at the hotel did a noble work by reporting the smoke to the clerk. However, the heart breaking news was that the fire department was not alerted until 2.30 a.m. This kind of slow response by the clerk made it possible for the fire to raze the whole fourth floor and fill it with smoke (Iklim). This simple omission that was ruled to be accidental that led to loss of life since the hotel could not connect to the fire department quickly (Associated Press, 1982). MGM Grand Hotel MGM Grand Hotel is one of the hotels to experience high number of fire fatalities in America. The incident at the hotel occurred in November 2, 1980 killing both guests and hotel employees. The number of fatalities as a result of this fire in November 1980 was 85 (National Fire Protection Association, 2008, p. 4). While the building was partially damaged, it is estimated that the damage resulted into a 300 million USD loss (Iklim). At the time of these happenings, the restaurant was not yet opened for business. Actually, this is the second largest life-loss hotel fire in United States. Apart from the casualties there were over 700 people injured. It was observed that the fire started on the ground floor allowing smoke to rapidly spread throughout the casino and the upper floors of the hotel. Precisely, it was noted that the fire emanated from the wall soffit of side stand in the Deli, one of the restaurants located on the casino level (Clark County Fire Department, 1981, p. VIII-4). The chronology of the events during that day is traceable from the 7: 05 a.m. when a marble and tile supervisor and setting crew who were to examine the premise’s for broken tiles noted a reflection of a flickering light. As a result of keen examination, they observed a wall of flame travelling towards ceiling from the countertop. Consequently, they managed to inform the MGM security who were to secure for them a hose line and a fire extinguisher. As a result of their inexperience in fire fighting, they were overcome by the billowing smoke, heat and pressure build ups that he could not enter the Deli thereby deciding to leave the area. In addition, it was noted that within six minutes after the discovery, the whole of casino pace was razing at 15 to 19 feet per second (Clark County Fire Department, 1981, p. V-1). The Clark County Fire Department was alerted at 7: 17 a.m. This was 17 minutes late since the indication of danger. Consequently, the department sent a platoon of fir fighters and other contingent of support services who reached on the site at 7: 19 a.m. positioning the fire engine at the North entrance of the casino. In an attempt to subdue the fire and at only forty feet into the hotel, a huge fire ball erupted out of the deli and spread into the casino. This happening thwarted their earlier attempts as they were forced to retreat back into the fire engine. The result of the investigators showed that the fire erupted as a result of numerous factors. However, the primary suspect source was electrical ground fault (Clark County Fire Department, 1981, p. VIII-2). Part B Human Factors to the Large Loss of Life As overall observation from part A, in the instance of Hilton hotel, it was the negligence of a person that caused that massive loss of life and property. The first instance of negligence is from the occupant of room 404 in fourth floor who left the cigarette in a wanting manner yet a small fire can snow ball into a larger one. The second negligence comes from the desk clerk who mistook the alarm as an error. More concerning is that he did this twice. As a hotel caretaker he would have been wise to be more alert and check why the alarm was ringing instead of ignoring. The second blame on the side of the desk clerk was also the failure to alert fire department as quickly as possible. Perhaps if he was quick many lives would have been saved. On the other hand, for the case of MGM, the blame also still goes to the tile fixer expert who after noticing the fire at initial stages was not able to alert the relevant authority very fast so that measures would have been taken. Thus, as one big leap, staff, clients and the general public should be trained to notice and react faster to any alarming situation that might pose danger to people. Thus the first human factor that led to loss of life is negligence and ignorance. The second concern that was noted in most of these cases relates to its design and accessibility during emergency time. It is noted that due to the structural configuration of the building, fire was able to spread horizontally to two adjoining rooms on the fourth floor. More over, the smoke contributed a lot towards life loss since there was no enough ventilation to allow it to move out. Apart from, Hilton hotel had no smoke detectors on every floor and automatic sprinkler system and other early fire warning devices even though it would have been prudent as a proactive measure to install these even without legislation as a risk management strategy. The above scenario is almost similar with MGM who were advised by the fire Marshalls during construction in 1972 to install sprinklers yet they refused. The dismay was that they went ahead and sued the Fire Marshal and even the local authority was on their side. It is estimated that had they done that the damage would have been minimised (Iklim). Nowak and Galambos (1990, p. 92) note that numerous building codes were violated yet this was a modern structure. The violations included inadequate exit widths, improper signs, penetration of air shafts and large openings in corridor walls. Thus, the second human factor that contributed to loss of life is the improper design in relation to disaster management. Hence, there is need to update building codes. Lessons Learnt While these occurrences were heart breaking, they have acted as a source of knowledge base for humans. They have allowed concerned parties in the built environment to formulate various approaches to risk management. Projects have becomes gradually complex as a result of the multiple risks and uncertainties associated with them. The key obstacles are how to conceptualize model and visualize risks, define and monitor the risks’ impacts, analyze the probability of risk occurrence and mitigate the negative impact of risks (Stewart and Melchers1997, p. 1, 6 and 7). Risk management help in mitigating of operational risks associated with certain business (Smith, 2003, p. 49). The assessment in great deal helps firms detect areas of concern so as to prioritize use of resource in order to maximize response and recovery efforts. The process exposes operations that are subject to a single point of failure. One area that has been continually improved on in the built industry is the building code and standards so as to address the above concerns. Building codes dates back to 2200 BC. With increased complexities and advancement in technology, numerous approaches have been advanced to keep up with the modern times (Cote, 2004, p. 36). These building codes can be formulated and enforced by local government, central government or a statutory body with the primary purpose of regulating new buildings or those undergoing reconstruction and modification (Cote, 2004, p. 37).One improvement in the 1980 after the fire in Hilton hotel was the requirement that all public buildings should have smoke detectors on every floor and automatic sprinkler system and other early fire warning devices. Could have the later disaster be avoided? While risks exist, human beings can mitigate them if appropriate measures are taken. In accordance with safety engineering and reliability engineering concepts, numerous risk assessment processes are carried out. Risk assessment is one of the key components in risk management. Risk assessment entails the predetermination of qualitative and quantitative value of risks connected to a situation and a likely threat or hazard (Hurst, 1998, p.42 and 43). An organization can estimate possible loss as a result risks, threats or vulnerability of an asset. This kind of estimation can be achieved through quantitative risk assessment of calculating annualized loss expectancy. The results from the assessment can then be used by an organization to justify their expenditure to implement measures of protecting that asset (LaGoy, 1994, p. 2). Thus, to me the later occurrence would have been avoided if relevant authorities took into consideration what had earlier happened. Likelihood of this Disaster Occurring Again So long as human beings still use different forms of energy, the chances of them occurring are there. The only difference is how well people are prepared to manage these disasters. The other difference is that while the source might not be from human negligence and electrical fault, with increased terrorism, the source can be from a person with an aim of sabotage. From the works of Nowak and Galambos (1990, p. 87-91), Iklim and National Fire Protection Association (2008, p. 3 and 4), it is evident that hotel industry in America has experienced fire related incidence over a prolonged period of time even up to these modern times. Thus, the possibility of another one occurring is there. Conclusion Despite of numerous opportunities and advantages of fire if well used, fire can also be a source of disaster. Fire as a hazard can cause destruction of property, loss of human life and destruction of natural ecology. With the emergence of urbanization, increased densification due to population increase, fire presents one of the lethal hazards that can wipe a large number of people within few hours. Moreover, with the existence of highly inflammable products, the threat of fire to human life if not well planned for increases tenfold. Thus, all buildings especially the public ones require risk management plan for fire in their buildings and surroundings. In addition, individuals and authorities in charge of managing built environment should put in place measures that can help reduce occurrence of fire or ease the situation during its occurrence. References Associated Press. (1982, March 9). Around the nation: fatal Houston hotel fire may be ruled accidental. New York Times Clark County Fire Department. (1981). MGM fire investigation report. Retrieved from: http://fire.co.clark.nv.us/%28S%28crzqwyjnubfpx5davoarrk54%29%29/Files/pdfs/MGM _FIRE.pdf Cote, A. E. (2004). Fundamentals of fire protection. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning Hurst, N. W. (1998). Risk assessment: the human dimension. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry Iklim. (n.d). Investigation report on the Westcase Hilton Hotel. Retrieved from: http://www.iklimnet.com/hotelfires/case21.html LaGoy, P. K. (1994). Risk assessment: principles and application for hazardous wastes and related sites. New Jersey: Noyes Publications National Fire Protection Association. (2008). Summary of fire incidents 1934-2006 in hotel fires in the United States as reported to the NFPA, with ten of more fatalities. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association. Retrieved from: http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/press%20room/hotelfirefatalitiesreport.pdf Nowak, A.S. and Galambos, T. V. (1990). Making buildings safer for people: during hurricanes, earthquakes and fires. New York: Springer Smith, M.R. Weather can make or break your business. Retrieved on 18th December 2011 from: http://www.weatherdata.com/services/news_makeorbreak.pdf Stewart, M. G. and Melchers, R. E. (1997). Probabilistic risk assessment of engineering systems. London: Chapman and Hall Read More