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Fire safety

 
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Dr. N. Subramanian
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 3:58 pm    Post subject: Fire safety Reply with quote

Dear All,

The following post was posted under flat slabs. As it is an important aspect and often neglected in India, I am posting it under separate heading.

There are many fires in India, which resulted in loss of life. Our fire fighters are not equipped to extinguish fire in tall buildings. Also the no. of people engaged in Fire fighting dept. are considerably less than those employed in countries in USA. Of course, in USA more buildings are made of wood and they have sprinklers and several fire hydrants are installed in roads. Such fire hydrants are missing in India. Engineers and Architects often neglect fire engg. design. Fire escapes are not provided in many buildings. I can not forget the horrible scenes that resulted and shown in TV, during the 9/11 incident, when many people jumped from WTC to escape fire and died.

This WTC failure prompted several Fire related research all over the world.  A large scale fire test was undertaken by a consortium led by British Cement Association. The results of Cardington fire tests may be found at http://www.civ.ed.ac.uk/research/fire/cardington.html

National Building Code of India has got a section on Fire resistant design. It is not taught in colleges! May be Architects know better fire management than engineers. NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA has a very large Building and Fire Research Laboratory and has a number of publications. Visit:
http://www.nist.gov/building-and-fire-research-portal.cfm


Prof. V.K.R. Kodur has authored several papers on fire performance of concrete and composite column, James Milke has written on steel members. They have authored a short overview paper for FEMA and is enclosed.

British code: BS9999 fire safety of buildings
BS 9999-2008 is applicable to the design of new buildings, and to alterations, extensions and changes of use of an existing building, with the exception of individual homes and with limited applicability in the case of certain specialist buildings. It also provides guidance on the ongoing management of fire safety in a building throughout the entire life cycle of the building, including guidance for designers to ensure that the overall design of a building assists and enhances the management of fire safety. It can be used as a tool for assessing existing buildings, although fundamental change in line with the guidelines might well be limited or not practicable.

Useful sites:

  • National Fire Protection association: http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=143&URL=About%20NFPA

  • http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/ETD/Available/etd-042806-171420/unrestricted/ALevesque.pdf

  • http://www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/project/research/structures/strucfire/DataBase/References/StructuralFireDesignBailey.pdf

  • http://www.haifire.com/Resources/presentations/SiF06,%20NIPaper.pdf

Best wishes
NS

Dear All,

Please tell us more about Fire safety & evacuations issue and structural engineers role in it

Following are the some points:

  • Standards of Fire rating in Hrs for Various structural elements
  • Role of Concrete covers / concrete encasement in Fire safety
  • Chemicals to improve fire ratings
  • Evacuation issues
  • Progressive collapse issues  
  • Blast Resistant construction for certain elements  

Regards
mjnasar
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Dr. N. Subramanian
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:49 pm    Post subject: Re: Fire safety Reply with quote

I forgot to include the attachment.


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Dr. N. Subramanian
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Fire safety Reply with quote

Another paper from Structures Mag. of ASCE about Fire and Tall buildings


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sivavadivelan
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:29 am    Post subject: Neglagence in minimum Safety requirements Reply with quote

Respected Dr. NS sir,

Thank you for initiating such a important subject which was neglected by many in India.

Now a days I found the fire safety aspects (Fire Extinguisher and water sprinkler system) is provided in industrial buildings and in some of the commercial complexes along with smoke detectors.

Still there is negligence in residential buildings and apartments even in metros like Mumbai, Chennai & Delhi.

I have noticed not even a single extinguisher is placed at many of the raise buildings. In New Mumbai I noticed that CIDCO has provided some incomplete Fire fighting system by road side in their planned area which even many of the people not aware about that.

I request we all engineers should consider this for every project.

Regards



M.Sivavadivelan
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N. Prabhakar
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 1:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Dr. Subramanian,

You have raised an important topic on fire safety.

I have also raised this topic in E-Conference on Tall Buildings, particularly in steel framed buildings with inadequate fire protection by way of insulation, etc.  My postings on this topic may not have been noticed by many as it is hidden under heading of 'Tall Building Design', initiated by Er. Sriprakash Shastry.

With best wishes,

N. Prabhakar
Chartered Structural Engineer
Vasai (E)
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Dr. N. Subramanian
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Er Prabhakar and Er Sivavadivelan,

Thanks for your response.
It is not enough if we provide sprinklers, fire alarms, or fire extinguishers. They should be checked periodically to see whether they are working.



In the United States, fire extinguishers, in all buildings other than houses, are generally required to be serviced and inspected by a Fire Protection service company at least annually. Some jurisdictions require more frequent service for fire extinguishers. The servicer places a tag on the extinguisher to indicate the type of service performed (annual inspection, recharge, new fire extinguisher) and when.

It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which has reached the ceiling, endangers the user (i.e., no escape route, smoke, explosion hazard, etc.), or otherwise requires the expertise of a fire department. Typically, a fire extinguisher consists of a hand-held cylindrical pressure vessel containing an agent which can be discharged to extinguish a fire.

In USA Extinguishers are marked with pictograms depicting the types of fires that the extinguisher is approved to fight. In the past, extinguishers were marked with colored geometric symbols, and some extinguishers still use both symbols. The types of fires and additional standards are described in NFPA 10: Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers, 2010 edition.



Vandalism and extinguisher protection
A fire extinguisher stored inside a cabinet mounted to a wall
Heavy-duty CO2-powered fire extinguisher on standby at a temporary helicopter landing site

Fire extinguishers are sometimes a target of vandalism in schools and other open spaces. Extinguishers are occasionally, partially or fully discharged by a vandal, impairing the extinguisher's actual firefighting abilities.

In open public spaces, extinguishers are ideally kept inside cabinets that have glass that must be broken to access the extinguisher, or which emit an alarm siren that cannot be shut off without a key, to alert people the extinguisher has been handled by an unauthorized person if a fire is not present.

Though not related to tall buildings, you might have read about the fire at a garment factory in which 112 people were killed.

The fire was the deadliest of many to hit garment factories in Bangladesh in recent years. The industry has grown from nothing to become the country's dominant exporter in little more than three decades, but factories often ignore safety in the rush to supply major retailers in the U.S. and Europe. More than 300 people have died over the past six years in Bangladesh garment-factory fires.

Survivors of the weekend fire said an exit door was locked, fire extinguishers didn't work and apparently were there just to impress inspectors, and that when the fire alarm went off, bosses told workers to return to their sewing machines. Victims were trapped or jumped to their deaths from the eight-story building, which had no emergency exits [Bangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories. The country earns about $20 billion a year from exports of garments, mainly to the U.S. and Europe]. Don't you think that the conditions will be similar in India? Do we have emergency exits in multi-storey buildings like this? Are the fire extinguishers, kept in similar buildings in India, checked regularly? Do we have enough fire fighting equipment and men? In case of Fire how quickly they can reach out?

Many times the fire is due to the fire in the kitchen. Sometimes it may be due to short circuits. I am giving below the guidelines for putting out fire in the kitchen(source: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-put-out-kitchen-fires.html)
How to Put Out Kitchen Fires

When a fire starts in the kitchen, you need to act fast to keep the fire from getting out of control. But how you act depends on what kind of fire you have and where it is. Follow these instructions for putting out kitchen fires:

  

  •   If you have a fire in the oven or the microwave, close the door or keep it closed, and turn off the oven. Don’t open the door! The lack of oxygen will suffocate the flames.

  •     If your oven continues to smoke like a fire is still going on in there, call the fire department.

  •     If you have a fire in a cooking pan, use an oven mitt to clap on the lid, then move the pan off the burner, and turn off the stove. The lack of oxygen will stop the flames in a pot.

  •     If you can’t safely put the lid on a flaming pan or you don’t have a lid for the pan, use your fire extinguisher. Aim at the base of the fire — not the flames.

  •     Never use water to put out grease fires! Water repels grease and can spread the fire by splattering the grease. Instead, try one of these methods:

  •         If the fire is small, cover the pan with a lid and turn off the burner.

  •         Throw lots of baking soda or salt on it. Never use flour, which can explode or make the fire worse.

  •         Smother the fire with a wet towel or other large wet cloth.

  •         Use a fire extinguisher.

  •     Don’t swat at a fire with a towel, apron, or other clothing. You’re likely to fan the flames and spread the fire.

  •     If the fire is spreading and you can’t control it, get everyone out of the house and call 101 in India(Police-100 and Medical services-102, 1298, 108, 112)! Make sure everybody in your family knows how to get out of the house safely in case of a fire. Practice your fire escape route.


Hope this post is helpful to many!

Best wishes,
NS

Extracted from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_extinguisher
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2019766141_apasbangladeshfactoryfire.html

Also read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighting
http://safety.eas.ualberta.ca/node/15

N. Prabhakar wrote:
Dear Dr. Subramanian,

You have raised an important topic on fire safety.

I have also raised this topic in E-Conference on Tall Buildings, particularly in steel framed buildings with inadequate fire protection by way of insulation, etc.  My postings on this topic may not have been noticed by many as it is hidden under heading of 'Tall Building Design', initiated by Er. Sriprakash Shastry.

With best wishes,

N. Prabhakar
Chartered Structural Engineer
Vasai (E)
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thirumalaichettiar
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 1:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A Draft Guidelines for Designing Fire Safety in Very Tall Buildings can be had from

http://www.inti.gob.ar/cirsoc/pdf/fuego/Public_Review_Draft.pdf

T.RangaRajan
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