The Overview of the Fire Preparedness of Santa Cruz Museum of National History - Case Study Example

 Case Study: The Overview of the Fire Preparedness of Santa Cruz Museum of National History Building Features The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History is located at 1305 East Cliff Drive Santa Cruz, CA, USA. It is has been integrated with the Santa Cruz Museum of surfing as they are in close proximity of each other. The Museum is off the shore of the North Pacific Ocean. It is under the shade of trees. For the purpose of this study, the surfing section of the museum is not considered through the fire protection aspect of the museum. In fact, one has to cross the road to reach the beach where the surfing museum is located. The museum of natural history is within the enclosure of trees and a building relatively farther from the beach. The building in question is the one with the exhibitions with the exhibitions of fauna, flora and the people of the area. The museum is a double storey building with two main entrances on the ground floor. The western entrance, that has the checking office on its left just after one enters, can get used for both entrance and exit. Straight ahead of this entrance 15 meters away is a larger exit door. An office for the security personnel lies to the right of this exit and the staircase to the first floor lie to the right of this exit. Beyond the entrance only door to the left lays the offices of the museum management and other museum staff that get consulted from by visitors. A gallery for collections of plants from within the region is directly behind the entrance office at the door. It measures 10 meters by 15 meters, and the ceiling lies at a height of 3 meters. It has 13 cases pinned to the wall displaying the artwork of indigenous Americans and photographs of different cultural spectacles of Native Americans. The first floor can get accessed from the 1st floor through a single staircase at the centre of an atrium. However, inclusive of the entrance, it has three exits from which visitors can leave the premises. To the extreme left is the backroom that has the terrestrial exhibit that measures 10 meters by 13 meters. It has an exit on its eastern end. The centre part of the 2nd floor has a geology/ marine exhibit that measures 8 meters by 13 meters. Am exit lies on the western wall of this gallery. On the south side of the first floor is the atrium that has galleries on both sides and an exit between them that leads to the stair case descending to the ground floor. The western door on this atrium has a front desk for inquiries and security purposes. [San12] Activities and Uses of the Building The museum building is used to set up display various exhibits of plans and animals within the region and from around the world. It also houses exhibits of works of art from the people of the locality and the photographs of the cultural events of Native Americans. The museum is also equipped with reference material as well as well-informed personnel from whom the visitors can inquire for clarifications. It preserves the ancient exhibits and gives artists a venue for exhibiting their works such as paintings and sculptures. Various activities occur within the building; educational tours of the museum’s exhibits, recreational tours to view the exhibits, maintenance of old exhibits by the staff, regular security checks and exhibition that garner public and professional interest. [San121] [Pub12] Occupant Characteristics The museum frequently gets guests that come as groups such as schools and families. A considerable portion of these groups come for recreational purposes. The visitors that come singly get noted mostly during the weekend. All categories of people visit the museum ranging from the old to the young, disabled, students and professionals. People get grouped into manageable units within the museum for a tour of the museum by a museum employee with a savvy of the museum’s collection. This happens mostly in the case of students who come for tours within the museum. There are different types of professionals who come to visit the museum. Historians are avid visitors of the gallery within the 1st floor because it has a rich collection of the history of Native Americans. Geologists frequent the Northern wing and central of the first floor as it has a terrestrial and geology gallery. Archeologists and anthropologists are also frequenters in this museum. The occupants of this building are mostly alert as the exhibits captivate the guests while the management and staff monitor the safety and order within the museum. The visitors are well acquainted with the different parts of the building. In essence, the building is designed to enable ease of access of the various exhibits on display. Am entrance fee gets paid and it has to spacious enough to limiting overcrowding within the museum. Emergency Evacuation Plan In the event of a fire, the staff of the museum is well trained to handle the situation effectively. The personnel of the museum must go through an obligatory, annual training on fire preparedness to make sure their skills are up to date. The evacuation plan has a role for each member of staff on call during the time of the incidence. The staff gets informed immediately the evacuation plan changes or when their responsibilities, locations or actions change during such an emergency. The new employees get trained on fire preparedness as a first assignment after employment. The training involves watching a fire safety video and acquiring knowledge of using fire extinguishing equipment courtesy of the City of Santa Cruz Fire Department. The plan gets reviewed yearly and is made available to them for reference. A copy of this plan is pinned at the notice board of the main conference room and another is at the office of the museum’s director. The fire preparedness of the museum gets inspected by the City of Santa Cruz Department of Parks and Safety Committee. [Lis12] The visitors can access the evacuation plan from the conference room too. It shows the position of exits, gas valves and wrenches and the safety kits’ locations. The evacuation plan (shown in appendix) is based on the number of employees available at the time of the fire. In case there are only two staff members at the time of the fire, the museum attendant, or rather, the desk personnel dial the emergency number to alert the police, fire departments and ambulances of the fire. After this, he/ she begin evacuating the building from the rear at the Terrestrial Exhibit Hall gradually to the centre of the 1st floor. The other member of staff starts from downstairs at the conference room and moves the visitors slowly towards the ground level entrance of the museum. If there are three or more members of staff available at the time of the fire, the building can get split into different sections, with every member of staff responsible for movement of the visitors from one point to the other as the plan pointed them out to do. After completing their part of the evacuation plan, the staff members join other staff member in controlling their groups. All this gets done in a calm and systematic way. [Lis12] As the staff should lead the people from room to room, they close the doors completely followed with propping them with doorstops. The staff is trained not to panic whatsoever, and they are required to order the people within the museum to move in a collected, authoritative tone toward the exits. They get trained to use non-verbal gesture as well because some people have hearing problems. The staff is to lead the people into the preset fire assembly point. This is the Tyrell Park Amphitheatre. The proper authorities should get contacted once everybody is outside if it had not been done before. If the proper exit for evacuation during a fire is blocked for whatsoever reason, the next nearest exit gets used. If the exits with ramps for the disabled get blocked, such people should receive assistance from the staff in moving out of the museum. [Gwy121] Fire Scenario #1 The first fire scenario gets based on the museum being occupied during the fire incident. It takes into account the number of people and their position within the premises. This scenario is adapted from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). According to the NFPA, most fires in such areas with multiple occupants are caused intentionally. Cooking equipment are a close second to intentional fires in causing such incidents. However, in the museum, other electronic equipment such as computers and printers are most likely to cause such fires. [Std11] Objectives This fire scenario is meant to give a response procedure during a time scope within which the museum has a considerable occupation. It describes a fire that starts inconspicuously and develops to the point that it alerts the occupants of the museum via the various alarms within the museum. The scenario stipulates that the fire develops to a level that is almost out of the manageable limits before getting discovered. Methodologies The fire would start from an overheating computer within the ground floor offices due to an overloading with electricity. This in conjunction with the printing papers in the vicinity would spark a fire. Since it would be during the day with a high visitor turnout, most of the staff would be out in the galleries moderating the visitors. The starting fire would thus not get noticed soon. The museum has contracted First Alarm Security Services that also respond to fire alarms. The smoke detectors ring an alarm that call for public attention within the museum causing awareness. It also alerts the security company to retaliate to the fire. The people within the museum are familiar with the structure of the building of the museum as they walk around freely during the tour. This implies that most of them will reach for the exits before waiting for directions. In the case of grouped visitors such as school tour groups, families and couples, exiting the museum will be slower as they group first before making any decision. The museum staff would move to their requisite position as stated within the evacuation plan. The people still within the museum will get directed to the Tyrell Park Amphitheatre. The staff also deploys the various fires extinguishing equipment within the museum and the emergency kits also get dismounted from the walls. They do as much as they can in limiting the spread of the fire with these pieces of equipment. Findings The fact that people know their way around the museum is not favorable to the evacuation plan. Visitors who are conversant with the architecture of the museum might try to find their way out of the museum quickly due to panic. This endangers both their lives and of those they leave behind as they might disorganize the moderators of the evacuation plan. On the other hand, the visitors that came as groupings will enhance the proper deploying of evacuation. Students look up to their teachers for the action to take henceforth. Families will be patient to follow instructions as there may be minors that they might not want to risk escaping with in unconventional methods. [Std11] Fire Scenario #2 The second fire scenario is also a brainchild of the NFPA. It suggests a situation whereby the fire begins from an area remote from the area in question. The fire may spread from to the area in question causing difficulties I exit within it. The fire starts at a different location and spreads to an area relatively distant from it causing significant adversities. The museum is located of the beach of the North Pacific Ocean directly underneath power lines and massive trees. A fault from the power plant may spread along the museum to spark over the building lighting the trees up. [Fir12] Objectives The objectives of this scenario is to enlighten the incumbents of a building the impending threat of fire from outside the building. The scenario once more has the liability of lack of awareness. The museum gets located in serene environments and most of the staff gets located within the building insulated from the outside noises. This puts the preset exits in the evacuation plan in jeopardy as the fire is most likely to block the main entrance at the south. Methodologies The power plant that supplies the museum with electricity might experience an electrical surge that might overwhelm the transformer leading to formation of sparks along the line. The trees in close proximity might catch on the sparks and begin to light up given the windy condition near the beach. This gets followed by a cutting off of the power supply of the museum due to a disruption in the power lines. The museum has a backup generator. The smoke alarms within would still work given the museum has a backup generator. The time it takes to note the existence of the fire. The staff at the Amphitheatre might notice it first, but of not, it might enable the fire to block the ground floor entrance. This situation might get worse if the occupants of the museum at the time are senior citizens. This is because they usually have hearing impairments. The seclusion of the museum in its serene environment also hinders the likelihood of notification by passers-by of the looming fire. The Santa Cruz Museum of National History staff gets informed from the evacuation plan that the blocking of an exit pathway should warrant a change of route to the nearest exit that can get used instead of the compromised exit. Findings The location of the museum near the trees and the power lines makes such a scenario detrimental than most of the other scenarios. To reach such levels, the activity in the museum must be minimal because otherwise someone might notice it before it reaches damaging levels. If at all there are visitors within the museum, it is most likely a group of senior citizens because statistically, they have relatively poor hearing than their younger counterparts. The old people create more burdens in evacuation than younger visitors. Their movement is slower and assistance is required for their movement. This creates a slow evacuation process [Pro01][Gwy12]. The conference room within the ground floor of the museum offers a challenge for its aged occupants as the y will have to climb the stairs to get to the other emergency exits given the others get blocked by the encroaching fire. Fire Scenario #3 The third fire situation center on the unoccupied rooms within the museum as the source of the conflagration. The fire build up to levels that affect the next rooms causing a full blown fire within the building. It increases without getting detected as such unoccupied rooms do not have smoke detectors. The museum store is the most susceptible to unnoticed fires. It is located at the western wing of the atrium within the 1st floor. Such a fire could have significant effects on the surrounding rooms as it next to two exits from the first floor. Objectives The objective of this scenario is to explain the possibility of an unnoticeable fire within the building that can pose a considerable threat to the safety of the people within the building and the building itself. The fire begins in an area that has no fire protection hence calling for a ‘code red’ fire situation. The fire might get stunted by the lack of oxygen resulting in the release of products of incomplete combustion. These products are poisonous, and at higher levels they may cause suffocation. The store might have the tools for firefighting, and this fire will in effect, prevent the access to them. This paralyzes the whole fire prevention program off a building. Methodologies The fire scenario employs situation whereby the fire is unnoticeable until it has saturated its location enough to spread from it. The front desk directly in front of the museum store would be quick to notice this fire immediately the smoke starts emanating from the store. The fire will have begun in the most occupied area of the museum. The ground floor is primarily composed of offices while the first floor bears most of the museum’s exhibits. Therefore, most of the visitors will be within the second floor at the time of the fire. The store is next to the exit leading to the stair well leading to the ground floor. Immediately north of it, an exit that leads outside lies here. Findings This scenario will get aptly detected as soon as the smoke starts filtering from the museum store. The visitors and other people within the ground floor will have an easier time getting evacuated as the main exit is clear for them to make their escape to the Tyrell Park at the fire assembly point. Two exits within the third floor get compromised. Commitment is not an issue in the evacuation as the people will realize the eminent danger of the fire following the blockage of the exit to the ground floor and that on the western wall marine/ geology exhibit hall. The only exit left will be that on the terrestrial exhibit hall. According to the evacuation plan, this is next available exit from consideration following the blockage of other two exits in the first floor. Impact of Fire Scenarios The fire scenario has the numerous impacts on the museum and its occupants. The fire indicates a slackening company policy on maintenance and care for their equipment. The equipment within the museum gets destroyed. The smoke detectors get activated. The First Alarm Services get notified about the fire. The people who came in singly leave on their own terms in a rush. The people that came in groups recollect before deciding on the next course of action. The employees get time to base themselves in their requisite position as per the evacuation plan. The commitment of the people to get out gets increased with the evidence of fire within the open museum. The requisite path for evacuation gets followed sequentially by the enlightened crowd as they are familiar with the structure of the museum. The exit to the ground floor of the museum gets compromised as such as fire scenario is likely to erupt from the offices within it. The staff of the museum coordinates easily with the group that remains within the museum. A group of school pupils engender the use of the exit door within the marine/ geologist exhibit lab. The second fire scenario also has a variety of impacts the museum in various ways too. It disrupts the power supply of the building. It destroys the scenery outside the museum as trees get involved in the spreading the fire. The ground floor main entrance has a chance of getting completely as the trees’ branches hang close to it. The fire will get noticed at later stages as the museum is segregated from the outside noises making it hard to detect. The museum occupants would have to use the 1st floor exits as the ground floor entrance will be blocked. Such a fire is likely to prevail with old people inside the museum, therefore, the need for the staff to help the aged rises. The shutdown process gets initiated as the staff and visitors vacate the ground floor. Gas valves and gas wrenches get closed and fire extinguishing equipment gets deployed. Doors get closed and propped after vacating a room. The ramped exits that get used by the physically on the ground floor entrance gets compromised, the staff is charged with ensuring the safe evacuation of such persons. The third fire scenario involves an unnoticed fire growing within the building without getting noticed. The facilities within the store get destroyed, and this might include supplies for maintenance of the museum. The fire has time to develop to a large fire without any disturbance. The lack of oxygen within the poorly ventilated store room leads to production of carbon monoxide and other products of incomplete combustion. Two exits within the first floor are likely to get compromised as they are nearby the museum store. The terrestrial exhibit hall will be the only safe exit through which the staff can lead the people out to the fire assembly point. The front desk in front of the store room will enhance the detection of this fire immediately the smoke begins filtering out of the room. The gases emanating from the room might have adverse effects to the occupants with respiratory tract problems. The smoke detectors would get activated long after the beginning of the fire delaying the notification of the security group. [Lis12] Assessment and Recommendations for the Fire Preparedness Following the review of Santa Cruz Museum of National History’s fire preparedness, it is not sufficient enough or deals with a fire situation. The staff gets trained adequately; however, the building is designed only to get fire protected in the presence of staff. Without the staff, or with limited staff, the evacuation plan can overwhelm the moderators. The rooms are fitted with fire kits at points within the points within the room that can get blocked by fire. Automated services within the fire protection plan only involve the alarm system that calls the First Alarm Services. This leaves most of the other detections of fires to the staff or the occupants within the museum. This makes the third fire scenario reviewed in this study perilous in any case it occurs within the museum. Also, there is no automated extinguishing equipment within the museum leaving the staff to handle the fires with only two sets of fire equipment to handle use in handling the fire. The museum is located underneath trees and a power line nearby and there are also trees shrouding it close to its entrance. The trees have aesthetic value, but they also pose a threat to the museum because they can spread fires from the power lines to the museum as in the case of the second fire scenario. The museum should put more sign around the building to show recommended or alternative exits to case of a fire within the building. The building should make these instructions visible in large print in other places within the museum apart from the one within the main conference room in the ground floor. The management should organize the procurement of more fire extinguishing equipment to decrease the probability of their inaccessibility in case of a fire. The automated fire detection systems should get installed in every room to avoid a scenario similar to the third one reviewed above. Automated fire extinguishers should also get installed within the museum. Among these, the automatic water sprinkler can aid the extent of fire containment within the museum. This enables the staff to calmly evacuate the museum. The water will also increase the commitment of the occupants to vacate as they will be getting wet the moment the fire gets detected. In a bid to keep dry they would not mind vacating the museum in case of fire. [Fed83] References San12: , (Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History: Hours and Directions, p. 52), San121: , (Santa Cruz City Museum of Natural History, 2012), Pub12: , (Public Programs at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, p. 67), Lis12: , (Lise, p. 89), Lis12: , (Lise, p. 46), Gwy121: , (Gwynne, Kuligowski, & Nilsson, 2012), Std11: , (StdP-Clr-ppt, p. 78), Std11: , (StdP-Clr-ppt, p. 34), Fir12: , (Fire Scenarios, p. 100), Pro01: , (Proulx, 2001), Gwy12: , (Gwynne, Purser, Boswell, & Sekizawa, p. 54), Lis12: , (Lise, p. 234), Fed83: , (Federal Emergency Management Agency, p. 222), Picture of the Ground floor entrance to Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Showing the trees nearby Picture of the entrance from a Northern view The atrium, Marine and Geology Exhibit hall and the Terrestrial Exhibit Hall in the background Ariel view of Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Read More