There are two distinct aspects of fire protection: life safety and property protection.
Although providing for one aspect generally results in some protection for the other,
the two goals are not mutually inclusive. A program that provides for prompt notification
and evacuation of occupants meets the objectives for life safety, but provides
no protection for property. Conversely, it is possible that adequate property
protection might not be sufficient for protection of life.
Absolute safety from fire is not attainable. It is not possible to eliminate all
combustible materials or all potential ignition sources. Thus, in most cases, an
adequate fire protection plan must assume that unwanted fires will occur despite the best efforts to prevent them. Means must be provided to minimize the losses caused by the fires that do occur.
The first obligation of designers is to meet legal requirements while providing the facilities required by the client. In particular, the requirements of the applicable building code must be met. The building code will contain fire safety requirements, or it will specify some recognized standard by reference. Many owners will also require that their own insurance carrier be consulted to obtain the most favorable insurance rate, if for no other reason.
Fire-Protection Standards
The standards most widely adopted are those published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. The NFPA National Fire Codes comprise several volumes containing numerous standards, updated annually. (These are also available separately.) The standards are supplemented by the NFPA Fire Protection Handbook, which contains comprehensive and detailed discussion of fire problems and much valuable statistical and engineering data.
Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL), 333 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook, IL 60062, publishes testing laboratory approvals of devices and systems in its Fire Protection Equipment List, updated annually and by bimonthly supplements. The publication outlines the tests that devices and systems must pass to be listed. The UL Building Materials List describes and lists building materials, ceiling-floor assemblies, wall and partition assemblies, beam and column protection, interior finish materials, and other pertinent data. UL also publishes lists of Accident Equipment, Electrical Equipment, Electrical Construction Materials, Hazardous Location Equipment, Gas and Oil Equipment, and others.
Separate standards for application to properties insured by the Factory Mutual System are published by the Factory Mutual Engineering Corporation (FM), Norwood, MA 02062. FM also publishes a list of devices and systems it has tested and approved.
The General Services Administration, acting for the federal government, has developed many requirements that must be considered, if applicable. Also, the federal government encourages cities to adopt some uniform code. In addition, buildings must comply with provisions of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).
(See Department of Justice final rules, Federal Register, 28 CFR Part 36, July 26, 1991; American National Standards Institute Accessibility Standard, ANSI A117.1; ADA Compliance Guidebook, Building Owners and Managers Association International, 1201 New York Ave., Washington, D.C. 20005.)
The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) sets standards for protecting the health and safety of nearly all employees. It is not necessary that a business be engaged in interstate commerce for the law to apply. OSHA defines employer as a person engaged in a business affecting commerce who has employees, but does not include the United States or any State or political subdivision of a State.
An employer is required to furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees. Employers are also required to comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under the Act.
Building codes consist of a set of rules aimed at providing reasonable safety to the community, to occupants of buildings, and to the buildings themselves. The codes may adopt the standards mentioned previously and other standards concerned with fire protection by reference or adapt them to the specific requirements of the community. In the absence of a municipal or state building code, designers may apply the provisions of the Uniform Building Code, promulgated by the International Conference of Building Officials, or other national model code.
Many states have codes for safety to life in commercial and industrial buildings, administered by the Department of Labor, the State Fire Marshals Office, the State Education Department, or the Health Department. Some of these requirements are drastic and must always be considered.
Obtaining optimum protection for life and property can require consultation with the owners insurance carrier, municipal officials, and the fire department. If the situation is complicated enough, it can require consultation with a specialist in all phases of fire protection and prevention. In theory, municipal building codes are designed for life safety and for protection of the public, whereas insurance-oriented codes (except for NFPA 101, Life Safety Code) are designed to minimize property fire loss. Since about 70% of any building code is concerned with fire protection, there are many circumstances that can best be resolved by a fire protection consultant.
Fire-Protection Concepts
Although fires in buildings can be avoided, they nevertheless occur. Some of the reasons for this are human error, arson, faulty electrical equipment, poor maintenance of heating equipment, and natural causes, such as lightning. Consequently, buildings should be designed to minimize the probability of a fire and to protect life and limit property damage if a fire should occur. The minimum steps that should be taken for the purpose are as follows:
1. Limit potential fire loads, with respect to both combustibility and ability to generate smoke and toxic gases.
2. Provide means for prompt detection of fires, with warnings to occupants who may be affected and notification of the presence of fire to fire fighters.
3. Communication of instructions to occupants as to procedures to adopt for safety, such as to staying in place, proceeding to a designated refuge area, or evacuating the building.
4. Provide means for early extinguishment of any fire that may occur, primarily by automatic sprinklers but also by trained fire fighters.
5. Make available also for fire fighting an adequate water supply, appropriate chemicals, adequate-size piping, conveniently located valves on the piping, hoses, pumps, and other equipment necessary.
6. Prevent spread of fire from building to building, either through adequate separation or by enclosure of the building with incombustible materials.
7. Partition the interior of the building with fire barriers, or divisions, to confine a fire to a limited space.
8. Enclose with protective materials structural components that may be damaged by fire (fireproofing).
9. Provide refuge areas for occupants and safe evacuation routes to outdoors.
10. Provide means for removal of heat and smoke from the building as rapidly as possible without exposing occupants to these hazards, with the air-conditioning system, if one is present, assisting the removal by venting the building and by pressurizing smokeproof towers, elevator shafts, and other exits.
11. For large buildings, install standby equipment for operation in emergencies of electrical systems and elevators.
These steps are discussed in the following articles.
Fire Loads and Resistance Ratings
The nature and potential magnitude of fire in a building are directly related to the amount and physical arrangement of combustibles present, as contents of the building or as materials used in its construction. Because of this, all codes classify buildings by occupancy and construction, because these features are related to the amount of combustibles.
The total amount of combustibles is called the fire load of the building. Fire load is expressed in pounds per square foot (psf ) of floor area, with an assumed calorific value of 7000 to 8000 Btu/ lb. (This Btu content applies to organic materials similar to wood and paper. Where other materials are present in large proportion, the weights must be adjusted accordingly. For example, for petroleum products, fats, waxes, alcohol, and similar materials, the weights are taken at twice their actual weights, because of the Btu content.)
National Institute of Standards and Technology burnout tests presented in Report BMS92 indicate a relation between fire load and fire severity as shown in Table 3.2.
The temperatures used in standard fire tests of building components are indicated by the internationally recognized time-temperature curve shown in Fig. 3.9. Fire resistance of construction materials, determined by standard fire tests, is expressed in hours. The Underwriters Laboratories Building Materials List tabulates fire ratings for materials and assemblies it has tested.
Every building code specifies required fire-resistance ratings for structural members, exterior walls, fire divisions, fire separations, ceiling-floor assemblies, and any other constructions for which a fire rating is necessary. (Fire protection for structural steel is discussed in Arts. 7.49 to 7.53. Design for fire resistance of steel deck in Arts. 8.21.5 and 8.22.4. Design for fire safety with wood construction is covered in Art. 10.28.)
Building codes also specify the ratings required for interior finish of walls, ceilings and floors. These are classified as to flame spread, fuel contributed, and smoke developed, determined in standard tests performed according to ASTM E84 or ASTM E119.
Fire and Smoke Barriers
A major consideration in building design is safety of the community. Hence, buildings should be designed to control fires and smoke so that they will not spread from building to building.
One way that building codes try to achieve this objective is to establish fire zones or fire limits that restrict types of construction or occupancy that can be used.
Additional zoning regulations establish minimum distances between buildings. Another way to achieve the objective is to specify the types of construction that can be used for enclosing the exterior of buildings. The distance between adjoining buildings, fire rating, and stability when exposed to fire of exterior walls, windows, and doors, and percent of window area are some of the factors taken into account in building codes for determination of the construction classification of a building.
To prevent spread of fire from roof to roof, building codes also often require that exterior walls extend as a parapet at least 3 ft above the roof level. Parapets also are useful in shielding fire fighters who may be hosing a fire from roofs of buildings adjoining the one on fire. In addition, buildings should be topped with roof coverings that are fire-resistant.
Fire Divisions. To prevent spread of fire vertically in building interiors, building codes generally require that floor-ceiling and roof-ceiling assemblies be fireresistant.
The fire rating of such assemblies is one of the factors considered in determination of the construction classification of a building. Also, openings in floors and roofs should be fire-protected, although building codes do not usually require this for one-story or two-story dwellings. For the purpose, an opening, such as that for a stairway, may be protected with a fire-resistant enclosure and fire doors.
In particular, stairways and escalator and elevator shafts should be enclosed, not only to prevent spread of fire and smoke but also to provide a protected means of egress from the building for occupants and of approach to the fire source by fire fighters.
To prevent spread of fire and smoke horizontally in building interiors, it is desirable to partition interiors with fire divisions. A fire division is any construction with the fire-resistance rating and structural stability under fire conditions required for the type of occupancy and construction of the building to bar the spread of fire between adjoining buildings or between parts of the same building on opposite sides of the division. A fire division may be an exterior wall, fire window, fire door, fire wall, ceiling, or firestop.
A fire wall should be built of incombustible material, have a fire rating of at least 4 hr, and extend continuously from foundations to roof. Also, the wall should have sufficient structural stability in a fire to allow collapse of construction on either side without the wall collapsing. Building codes restrict the size of openings that may be provided in a fire wall and require the openings to be fire-protected (Art. 11.55).
To prevent spread of fire through hollow spaces, such spaces should be firestopped.
A firestop is a solid or compact, tight closure set in a hollow, concealed
space in a building to retard spread of flames, smoke, or hot gases. All partitions and walls should be firestopped at every floor level, at the top-story ceiling level, and at the level of support for roofs. Also, very large unoccupied attics should be subdivided by firestops into areas of 3000 ft2 or less. Similarly, any large concealed space between a ceiling and floor or roof should be subdivided. For the purpose, firestops extending the full depth of the space should be placed along the line of supports of structural members and elsewhere, if necessary, to enclose areas not exceeding 1000 ft2 when situated between a floor and ceiling or 3000 ft2 when located between a ceiling and roof.
Openings between floors for pipes, ducts, wiring, and other services should be sealed with the equal of positive firestops. Partitions between each floor and a suspended ceiling above are not generally required to be extended to the slab above unless this is necessary for required compartmentation. But smoke stops should be provided at reasonable intervals to prevent passage of smoke to noninvolved areas.
Height and Area Restrictions
Limitations on heights and floor areas included between fire walls in any story of a building are given in every building code and are directly related to occupancy and construction. From the standpoint of fire protection, these provisions are chiefly concerned with safety to life. They endeavor to ensure this through requirements determining minimum number of exits, proper location of exits, and maximum travel distance (hence escape time) necessary to reach a place of refuge. The limitations are also aimed at limiting the size of fires.
Unlimited height and area are permitted for the most highly fire-resistant type of construction. Permissible heights and areas are decreased with decrease in fire resistance of construction. Area permitted between fire walls in any story reduces to 6000 ft2 for a one-story, wood-frame building.
Installation of automatic sprinklers increases permissible heights and areas in all classes, except those allowed unlimited heights and areas.
Permissible unlimited heights and areas in fire-resistive buildings considered generally satisfactory in the past may actually not be safe. A series of fires involving loss of life and considerable property damage opened the fire safety of such construction to question. As a result, some cities have made more stringent the building-code regulations applicable to high-rise buildings.
Many building codes prohibit floor areas of unlimited size unless the building is sprinklered. Without automatic sprinklers, floor areas must be subdivided into fire-wall-protected areas of from 7500 to 15,000 ft2 and the enclosing fire walls must have 1- or 2-hr fire ratings, depending on occupancy and construction.
Fire-Resistance Classification of Buildings
Although building codes classify buildings by occupancy and construction, there is no universal standard for number of classes of either occupancy or construction.
Table 3.3 lists some typical occupancy classifications and associates approximate fire loads with them. This table should be used only as a guide. For a specific project refer to the applicable local code. Note, however, that codes do not relate life-safety hazards to the actual fire load, but deal with them through requirements for exit arrangements, interior finishes, and ventilation.
Types of construction may be classified by a local building code as follows but may have further subdivisions, depending on fire-resistance requirements:
1. Fire-resistive construction
2. Protected noncombustible construction
3. Unprotected noncombustible construction
4. Heavy-timber construction
5. Ordinary construction
6. Wood-frame construction
The required fire resistance varies from 4 hr for exterior bearing walls and interior columns in the highest fire resistive class to 1 hr for walls and none for columns in the wood-frame construction class.
Type of construction affects fire-protection-system design through requirements that structural members as well as contents of buildings be protected.
Extinguishment of Fires
Design of all buildings should include provisions for prompt extinguishment of fires. Apparatus installed for the purpose should take into account the nature and amount of combustible and smoke-producing materials that may be involved in a fire. Such apparatus may range from small, hand-held extinguishers for small fires to hoses attached to a large, pressurized water supply and automatic fire sprinklers.
Also desirable are fire and smoke detectors and a protective signaling system that sounds an alarm to alert building occupants and calls fire fighters.
Classes of Fires. For convenience in defining effectiveness of extinguishing media, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., has developed a classification that separates combustible materials into four types:
1. Class A fires involve ordinary combustibles and are readily extinguishable by water or cooling, or by coating with a suitable chemical powder.
2. Class B fires involve flammable liquids where smothering is effective and where a cooling agent must be applied with care.
3. Class C fires are those in live electrical equipment where the extinguishing agent must be nonconductive. Since a continuing electrical malfunction will keep the fire source active, circuit protection must operate to cut off current flow, after which an electrically conductive agent can be used with safety.
4. Class D fires involve metals that burn, such as magnesium, sodium, and powdered aluminum. Special powders are necessary for such fires, as well as special training for operators. These fires should never be attacked by untrained personnel.
Automatic Sprinklers. The most widely used apparatus for fire protection in buildings is the automatic sprinkler system. In one or more forms, automatic sprinklers are effective protection in all occupancy classes. Special treatment and use of additional extinguishing agents, though, may be required in many high-hazard, industrial, and storage occupancies.
Basically, a sprinkler system consists of a network of piping installed at the ceiling or roof and supplied with water from a suitable source. On the piping at systematic intervals are placed heat-sensitive heads, which discharge water when a predetermined temperature is reached at any head. A gate valve is installed in the main supply, and drains are provided. An alarm can be connected to the system so that local and remote signals can be given when the water flows.
Sprinkler systems are suitable for extinguishing all Class A fires and, in many cases, also Class B and C fires. For Class B fires, a sealed (fusible) head system may be used if the flammable liquid is in containers or is not present in large quantity. Sprinklers have a good record for extinguishing fires in garages, for example.
An oil-spill fire can be extinguished or contained when the water is applied in the form of spray, as from a sprinkler head. When an oil spill or process-pipe rupture can release flammable liquid under pressure, an open-head (deluge) system may be required to apply a large volume of water quickly and to keep surrounding equipment cool.
For Class C fires, water can be applied to live electrical equipment if it is done in the form of a nonconducting foglike spray. This is usually the most economical way to protect outdoor oil-filled transformers and oil circuit breakers.
Fire protection should be based on complete coverage of the building by the sprinkler system. Partial coverage is rarely advisable, because extinguishing capacity is based on detecting and extinguishing fires in their incipiency, and the system must be available at all times in all places. Systems are not designed to cope with fires that have gained headway after starting in unsprinklered areas.
See also Arts. 14.27 to 14.29.
Standpipes. Hoses supplied with water from standpipes are the usual means of manual application of water to interior building fires. Standpipes are usually designed for this use by the fire department, but they can be used by building fire fighters also.
Standpipes are necessary in buildings higher than those that ground-based fire department equipment can handle effectively. The Standard Building Code requires standpipes in buildings higher than 50 ft. The Uniform Building Code requirement starts at four stories or occupancies over 5000 ft2 in area and depends on whether automatic sprinklers are installed.
See also Art. 14.30.
Chemical Extinguishment. Fires involving some materials may not be readily extinguished with water alone. When such materials may be present in a building, provision should be made for application of appropriate chemicals.
Foamed chemicals, mostly masses of air- or gas-filled bubbles, formed by chemical or mechanical means, may be used to control fires in flammable liquids.
Foam is most useful in controlling fires in flammable liquids with low flash points and low specific gravity, such as gasoline. The mass of bubbles forms a cohesive blanket that extinguishes fire by excluding air and cooling the surface.
Foam clings to horizontal surfaces and can also be used on vertical surfaces of process vessels to insulate and cool. It is useful on fuel-spill fires, to extinguish and confine the vapors.
For fire involving water-soluble liquids, such as alcohol, a special foam concentrate??must be used. Foam is not suitable for use on fires involving compressed gases, such as propane, nor is it practical on live electrical equipment. Because of the water content, foam cannot be used on fires involving burning metals, such as sodium, which reacts with water. It is not effective on oxygen-containing materials.
Three distinct types of foam are suitable for fire control: chemical foam, air foam (mechanical foam), and high-expansion foam.
Chemical foam was the first foam developed for fire fighting. It is formed by the reaction of water with two chemical powders, usually sodium bicarbonate and aluminum sulfate. The reaction forms carbon dioxide, which is the content of the bubbles. This foam is the most viscous and tenacious of the foams. It forms a relatively tough blanket, resistant to mechanical or heat disruption. The volume of expansion may be as much as 10 times that of the water used in the solution.
Chemical foam is sensitive to the temperature at which it is formed, and the chemicals tend to deteriorate during long storage periods. It is not capable of being transported through long pipe lines. For these reasons, it is not used as much as other foams. National Fire Protection Association standard NFPA 11 covers chemical foam.
Air foam (mechanical foam) is made by mechanical mixing of water and a protein-based chemical concentrate. There are several methods of combining the components, but essentially the foam concentrate is induced into a flowing stream of water through a metering orifice and a suitable device, such as a venturi. The volume of foam generated is from 16 to 33 times the volume of water used. Several kinds of mixing apparatus are available, choice depending on volume required, availability of water, type of hazard, and characteristics of the protected area or equipment.
Air foam can be conducted through pipes and discharged through a fixed chamber mounted in a bulk fuel storage tank, or it can be conducted through hoses and discharged manually through special nozzles. This foam can also be distributed through a sprinkler system of special design to cover small equipment, such as process vessels, or in multisystem applications, over an entire airplane hangar. The standard for use and installation of air foam is NFPA 11, and for foam-water sprinkler systems, NFPA 16.
High-expansion foam was developed for use in coal mines, where its extremely high expansion rate allowed it to be generated quickly in sufficient volume to fill mine galleries and reach inaccessible fires. This foam can be generated in volumes of from 100 to 1000 times the volume of water used, with the latter expansion in most general use. The foam is formed by passage of air through a screen constantly wetted by a solution of chemical concentrate, usually with a detergent base. The foam can be conducted to a fire area by ducts, either fixed or portable, and can be applied manually by small portable generators. Standard for equipment and use of high-expansion foam is NFPA 11A.
High-expansion foam is useful for extinguishing fires by totally flooding indoor confined spaces, as well as for local application to specific areas. It extinguishes by displacing air from the fire and by the heat-absorbing effect of converting the foam water content into steam. The foam forms an insulating barrier for exposed equipment or building components.
High-expansion foam is more fragile than chemical or air foam. Also, it is not generally reliable when used outdoors where it is subject to wind currents. Highexpansion foam is not toxic, but it has the effect of disorienting people who may be trapped in it.
Carbon dioxide is useful as an extinguishing agent, particularly on surface fires, such as those involving flammable liquids in confined spaces. It is nonconductive and is effective on live electrical equipment. Because carbon dioxide requires no clean-up, it is desirable on equipment such as gasoline or diesel engines. The gas can be used on Class A fires. But when a fire is deep-seated, an extended discharge period is required to avoid rekindling.
Carbon dioxide provides its own pressure for discharge and distribution and is nonreactive with most common industrial materials. Because its density is 11â„2 times that of air, carbon dioxide tends to drop and to build up from the base of a fire.
Extinguishment of a fire is effected by reduction of the oxygen concentration surrounding a fire.
Carbon dioxide may be applied to concentrated areas or machines by hand-held equipment, either carried or wheeled. Or the gas may be used to flood totally a room containing a hazard. The minimum concentrations for total flooding for fires involving some commercial liquids are listed in Standard on Carbon-Dioxide Extinguishing Systems, NFPA 12.
Carbon dioxide is not effective on fires involving burning metals, such as magnesium, nor is it effective on oxygen-containing materials, such as nitrocellulose.
Hazard to personnel is involved to the extent that a concentration of 9% will cause suffocation in a few minutes, and concentrations of 20% can be fatal. When used in areas where personnel are present, a time delay before discharge is necessary to permit evacuation.
For use in total flooding systems, carbon dioxide is available in either highpressure or low-pressure equipment. Generally, it is more economical to use lowpressure equipment for large volumes, although there is no division point applicable in all cases.
Halon 1301 is one of a series of halogenated hydrocarbons, bromotrifluoromethane (CBrF2), used with varying degrees of effectiveness as a fire-extinguishing agent and was included in the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer signed in September 16, 1987. It is currently limited to critical uses and is planned to be phased out by 2002. The types of uses currently defined as critical are spaces where flammable liquid and/or gas release could occur in the oil, gas, petrochemical and military sectors; manned communication centers of the armed forces or other places essential for national security; or for the protection of spaces where there may be a risk of dispersion of radioactive material.
Dry chemical extinguishing agents were used originally to extinguish Class B fires. One type consisted of a sodium bicarbonate base with additives to prevent caking and to improve fluid flow characteristics. Later, multipurpose dry chemicals effective on Class A, B, and C fires were developed. These chemicals are distinctly different from the dry powder extinguishing agents used on combustible metals described below.
Dry chemicals are effective on surface fires, especially on flammable liquids.
When used on Class A fires, they do not penetrate into the burning material. So when a fire involves porous or loosely packed material, water is used as a backup.
The major effect of dry chemicals is due almost entirely to ability to break the chain reaction of combustion. A minor effect of smothering is obtained on Class A fires.
Fires that are likely to rekindle are not effectively controlled by dry chemicals.
When these chemicals are applied to machinery or equipment at high temperatures, caking can cause some difficulty in cleaning up after the fire.
Dry chemicals can be discharged in local applications by hand-held extinguishers, wheeled portable equipment, or nozzles on hose lines. These chemicals can also be used for extinguishing fires by total flooding, when they are distributed through a piped system with special discharge nozzles. The expellant gas is usually dry nitrogen.
Dry powder extinguishing agents are powders effective in putting out combustible- metal fires. There is no universal extinguisher that can be used on all fires involving combustible metals. Such fires should never be fought by untrained personnel.
There are several proprietary agents effective on several metals, but none should be used without proper attention to the manufacturers instructions and the specific metal involved. For requirements affecting handling and processing of combustible metals, reference should be made to National Fire Protection Association standards NFPA 48 and 652 for magnesium, NFPA 481 for titanium, NFPA 482M for zirconium, and NFPA 65 and 651 for aluminum.
(The SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, and Automatic Sprinkler Systems Handbook, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Mass.)
Fire Detection
Every fire-extinguishing activity must start with detection. To assist in this, many types of automatic detectors are available, with a wide range of sensitivity. Also, a variety of operations can be performed by the detection system. It can initiate an alarm, local or remote, visual or audible; notify a central station; actuate an extinguishing system; start or stop fans or processes, or perform any other operation capable of automatic control.
There are five general types of detectors, each employing a different physical means of operation. The types are designated fixed-temperature, rate-of-rise, photoelectric, combustion-products, and ultraviolet or infrared detectors.
A wide variety of detectors has been tested and reported on by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. See Art. 3.5.1.
Fixed-Temperature Detectors. In its approval of any detection device, UL specifies the maximum distance between detectors to be used for area coverage. This spacing should not be used without competent judgment. In arriving at the permitted spacing for any device, UL judges the response time in comparison with that of automatic sprinkler heads spaced at 10-ft intervals. Thus, if a device is more sensitive than a sprinkler head, the permitted spacing is increased until the response times are nearly equal. If greater sensitivity is desired, the spacing must be reduced.
With fixed-temperature devices, there is a thermal lag between the time the ambient temperature reaches rated temperature and the device itself reaches that temperature. For thermostats having a rating of 135F, the ambient temperature can reach 206F.
Disk thermostats are the cheapest and most widely used detectors. The most common type employs the principle of unequal thermal expansion in a bimetallic assembly to operate a snap-action disk at a preset temperature, to close electrical contacts. These thermostats are compact. The disk, 1â„2 in in diameter, is mounted on a plastic base 13â„4 in in diameter. The thermostats are self-resetting, the contacts being disconnected when normal temperature is restored.
Thermostatic cable consists of two sheathed wires separated by a heat-sensitive coating which melts at high temperature, allowing the wires to contact each other.
The assembly is covered by a protective sheath. When any section has functioned, it must be replaced.
Continuous detector tubing is a more versatile assembly. This detector consists of a small-diameter Inconel tube, of almost any length, containing a central wire, separated from the tube by a thermistor element. At elevated temperatures, the resistance of the thermistor drops to a point where a current passes between the wire and the tube. The current can be monitored, and in this way temperature changes over a wide range, up to 1000F, can be detected. The detector can be assembled to locate temperature changes of different magnitudes over the same length of detector. It is self-restoring when normal temperature is restored. This detector is useful for industrial applications, as well as for fire detection.
Fusible links are the same devices used in sprinkler heads and are made to operate in the same temperature range. Melting or breaking at a specific temperature, they are used to restrain operation of a fire door, electrical switch, or similar mechanical function, such as operation of dampers. Their sensitivity is substantially reduced when installed at a distance below a ceiling or other heat-collecting obstruction.
Rate-of-Rise Detectors. Detectors and detector systems are said to operate on the rate-of-rise principle when they function on a rapid increase in temperature, whether the initial temperature is high or low. The devices are designed to operate when temperature rises at a specified number of degrees, usually 10 or 15F, per minute.
They are not affected by normal temperature increases and are not subject to thermal lag, as are fixed-temperature devices.
Photoelectric Detectors. These indicate a fire condition by detecting the smoke.
Sensitivity can be adjusted to operate when obscuration is as low as 0.4% per ft.
In these devices, a light source is directed so that it does not impinge on a photoelectric cell. When sufficient smoke particles are concentrated in the chamber, their reflected light reaches the cell, changing its resistance and initiating a signal.
These detectors are particularly useful when a potential fire is likely to generate a substantial amount of smoke before appreciable heat and flame erupt. A fixedtemperature, snap-action disk is usually included in the assembly.
Combustion-Products Detectors. Two physically different means, designated ionization type and resistance-bridge type, are used to operate combustion-products detectors.
The ionization type, most generally used, employs ionization of gases by alpha particles emitted by a small quantity of radium or americum. The detector contains two ionization chambers, one sealed and the other open to the atmosphere, in electrical balance with a cold-cathode tube or transistorized amplifier. When sufficient combustion products enter the open chamber, the electrical balance is upset, and the resulting current operates a relay.
The resistance-bridge type of detector operates when combustion products change the impedance of an electric bridge grid circuit deposited on a glass plate.
Combustion-products detectors are designed for extreme early warning, and are most useful when it is desirable to have warning of impending combustion when combustion products are still invisible. These devices are sensitive in some degree to air currents, temperature, and humidity, and should not be used without consultation with competent designers.
Flame Detectors. These discriminate between visible light and the light produced by combustion reactions. Ultraviolet detectors are responsive to flame having wavelengths up to 2850 A°
. The effective distance between flame and detectors is about 10 ft for a 5-in-diam pan of gasoline, but a 12-in-square pan fire can be detected at 30 ft.
Infrared detectors are also designed to detect flame. These are not designated by range of wavelength because of the many similar sources at and above the infrared range. To identify the radiation as a fire, infrared detectors usually employ the characteristic flame flicker, and have a built-in time delay to eliminate accidental similar phenomena.
(The SFPE Handbook of Fire Detection Engineering, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Mass.)
Smoke and Heat Venting
In extinguishment of any building fire, the heat-absorption capacity of water is the principal medium of reducing the heat release from the fire. When, however, a fire is well-developed, the smoke and heat must be released from confinement to make the fire approachable for final manual action. If smoke and heat venting is not provided in the building design, holes must be opened in the roof or building sides by the fire department. In many cases, it has been impossible to do this, with total property losses resulting.
Large-area, one-story buildings can be provided with venting by use of monitors, or a distribution of smaller vents. Multistory buildings present many problems, particularly since life safety is the principal consideration in these buildings.
Ventilation facilities should be provided in addition to the protection afforded by automatic sprinklers and hose stations.
Large One-Story Buildings. For manufacturing purposes, low buildings are frequently
required to be many hundreds of feet in each horizontal dimension. Lack of automatic sprinklers in such buildings has proven to be disastrous where adequate smoke and heat venting has not been provided. Owners generally will not permit fire division walls, because they interfere with movement and processing of materials.
With the whole content of a building subject to the same fire, fire protection and venting are essential to prevent large losses in windowless buildings underground structures, and buildings housing hazardous operations.
There is no accepted formula for determining the exact requirements for smoke and heat venting. Establishment of guidelines is the nearest approach that has been made to venting design, and these must be adapted to the case at hand. Consideration must be given to quantity, shape, size, and combustibility of contents.
Venting Ratios. The ratio of effective vent opening to floor area should be at least that given in Table 3.4.
Venting can be accomplished by use of monitors, continuous vents, unit-type vents, or sawtooth skylights. In moderate-sized buildings exterior-wall windows may be used if they are near the eaves.
Monitors must be provided with operable panels or other effective means of providing openings at the required time.
Continuous gravity vents are continuous narrow slots provided with a weather hood above. Movable shutters can be provided and should be equipped to open automatically in a fire condition.
Vent Spacing. Unit-type vents are readily adapted to flat roofs, and can be installed in any required number, size, and spacing. They are made in sizes from 4 4 ft to 10 10 ft, with a variety of frame types and means of automatic opening. In arriving at the number and size of vents, preference should be given to a large number of small vents, rather than a few large vents. Because it is desirable to have a vent as near as possible to any location where a fire can start, a limit should be placed on the distance between units. Table 3.5 lists the generally accepted maximum distance between vents.
Releasing Methods. Roof vents should be automatically operated by means that do not require electric power. They also should be capable of being manually operated.
Roof vents approved by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., are available from a number of manufacturers.
Refer to National Fire Protection Association standard NFPA 204 in designing vents for large, one-story buildings. Tests conducted prior to publication of NFPA 231C indicated that a sprinkler system designed for adequate density of water application will eliminate the need for roof vents, but the designers would be well advised to consider the probable speed of fire and smoke development in making a final decision. NFPA 231C covers the rack storage of materials as high as 20 ft.
High-Rise Buildings. Building codes vary in their definition of high-rise buildings, but the intent is to define buildings in which fires cannot be fought successfully by ground-based equipment and personnel. Thus, ordinarily, high-rise means buildings 100 ft or more high. In design for smoke and heat venting, however, any multistory building presents the same problems.
Because smoke inhalation has been the cause of nearly all fatalities in high-rise buildings, some building codes require that a smoke venting system be installed and made to function independently of the air-conditioning system. Also, smoke detectors must be provided to actuate exhaust fans and at the same time warn the fire department and the buildings control center. The control center must have twoway voice communication, selectively, with all floors and be capable of issuing instructions for occupant movement to a place of safety.
Because the top story is the only one that can be vented through the roof, all other stories must have the smoke conducted through upper stories to discharge safely above the roof. A separate smoke shaft extending through all upper stories will provide this means. It should be provided with an exhaust fan and should be connected to return-air ducts with suitable damper control of smoke movement, so that smoke from any story can be directed into the shaft. The fan and dampers should be actuated by smoke detectors installed in suitable locations at each inlet to return-air ducts. Operation of smoke detectors also should start the smoke-ventshaft fan and stop supply-air flow. Central-station supervision (Art. 3.5.12) should be provided for monitoring smoke-detector operation. Manual override controls should be installed in a location accessible under all conditions.
Windows with fixed sash should be provided with means for emergency opening by the fire department.
Pressurizing stair towers to prevent the entrance of smoke is highly desirable but difficult to accomplish. Most standpipe connections are usually located in stair towers, and it is necessary to open the door to the fire floor to advance the hose stream toward the fire. A more desirable arrangement would be to locate the riser in the stair tower, if required by code, and place the hose valve adjacent to the door to the tower. Some codes permit this, and it is adaptable to existing buildings.
(The SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Mass.)
Emergency Egress
In addition to providing means for early detection of fire, preventing its spread, and extinguishing it speedily, building designers should also provide the appropriate number, sizes, and arrangements of exits to permit quick evacuation of occupants if fire or other conditions dangerous to life occur. Buildings should be designed to preclude development of panic in emergencies, especially in confined areas where large numbers of persons may assemble. Hence, the arrangement of exit facilities should permit occupants to move freely toward exits that they can see clearly and that can be reached by safe, unobstructed, uncongested paths. Redundancy is highly desirable; there should be more than one path to safety, so that loss of a single path will not prevent escape of occupants from a danger area. The paths should be accessible to and usable by handicapped persons, including those in wheelchairs, if they may be occupants.
Building codes generally contain requirements for safe, emergency egress from buildings. Such requirements also are concisely presented in the Life Safety Code of the National Fire Protection Association.
Egress Components. Many building codes define an exit as a safe means of egress from the interior of a building to an open exterior space beyond the reach of a building fire or give an equivalent definition. Other codes consider an exterior door or a stairway leading to access to such a door to be an exit. To prevent misunderstandings, the Life Safety Code defines a means of egress composed of three parts.
Accordingly, a means of egress is a continuous, unobstructed path for evacuees from any point in a building to a public way. Its three parts are:
Exit access that portion that leads to an entrance to an exit Exit the portion that is separated from all other building spaces by construction or equipment required to provide a protected path to the exit discharge Exit discharge the portion that connects the termination of an exit to a public way Means of egress may be provided by exterior and interior doors and enclosed horizontal and vertical passageways, including stairs and escalators. (Elevators and exterior fire escapes are not generally recognized as reliable means of egress in a fire.) Exit access includes the space from which evacuation starts and passageways and doors that must be traversed to reach an exit.
Types of Exits. Building codes generally recognize the following as acceptable exits when they meet the codes safety requirements:
Corridors enclosed horizontal or slightly inclined public passageways, which lead from interior spaces toward an exit discharge. Minimum floor-to-ceiling height permitted is generally 80 in. Minimum width depends on type of occupancy and passageway (Table 3.7 and Art. 3.5.11). Codes may require subdivision of corridors into lengths not exceeding 300 ft for educational buildings and 150 ft for institutional buildings. Subdivision should be accomplished with noncombustible partitions incorporating smokestop doors. In addition, codes may require the corridor enclosures to have a fire rating of 1 or 2 hr.
Exit passageways horizontal extensions of vertical passageways. Minimum floor-to-ceiling height is the same as for corridors. Width should be at least that of the vertical passageways. Codes may require passageway enclosures to have a 2-hr fire rating. A street-floor lobby may serve as an exit passageway if it is sufficiently wide to accommodate the probable number of evacuees from all contributing spaces at the lobby level.
Exit doors doors providing access to streets or to stairs or exit passageways.
Those at stairs or passageways should have a fire rating of at least 3â„4 hr.
Horizontal exit passageway to a refuge area. The exit may be a fire door through a wall with a 2-hr fire rating, a balcony providing a path around a fire barrier, or a bridge or tunnel between two buildings. Doors in fire barriers with 3- or 4-hr fire ratings should have a 11â„2-hr rated door on each face of the fire division. Walls permitted to have a lower fire rating may incorporate a single door with a rating of at least 11â„2 hr. Balconies, bridges, and tunnels should be at least as wide as the doors providing access to them, and enclosures or sides of these passageways should have a fire rating of 2 hr or more. Exterior-wall openings, below or within 30 ft of an open bridge or balcony, should have at least 3â„4-hr fire protection.
Interior stairs stairs that are inside a building and that serve as an exit. Except in one-story or two-story low-hazard buildings, such stairs should be built of noncombustible materials. Stairway enclosures generally should have a 2-hr fire rating. Building codes, however, may exempt low dwellings from this requirement.
Exterior stairs stairs that are open to the outdoors and that serve as an exit to ground level. Height of such stairs is often limited to 75 ft or six stories. The stairs should be protected by a fire-resistant roof and should be built of noncombustible materials. Wall openings within 10 ft of the stairs should have 3â„4-hr fire protection.
Smokeproof tower a continuous fire-resistant enclosure protecting a stairway from fire or smoke in a building. At every floor, a passageway should be provided by vestibules or balconies directly open to the outdoors and at least 40 in wide. Tower enclosures should have a 2-hr fire rating. Access to the vestibules or balconies and entrances to the tower should be provided by doorways at least 40 in wide, protected by self-closing fire doors.
Escalators moving stairs. Building codes may permit their use as exits if they meet the safety requirements of interior stairs and if they move in the direction of exit travel or stop gradually when an automatic fire-detection system signals a fire. Moving walks horizontal or inclined conveyor belts for passengers. Building codes may permit their use as exits if they meet the safety requirements for exit passageways and if they move in the direction of exit travel or stop gradually when an automatic fire-detection system signals a fire.
Refuge Areas. A refuge area is a space protected against fire and smoke. When located within a building, the refuge should be at about the same level as the areas served and separated from them by construction with at least a 2-hr fire rating.
Access to the refuge areas should be protected by fire doors with a fire rating of 11â„2 hr or more.
A refuge area should be large enough to shelter comfortably its own occupants plus those from other spaces served. The minimum floor area required may be calculated by allowing 3 ft2 of unobstructed space for each ambulatory person and 30 ft2 per person for hospital or nursing-home patients. Each refuge area should be provided with at least one horizontal or vertical exit, such as a stairway, and in locations more than 11 stories above grade, with at least one elevator.
Location of Exits. Building codes usually require a building to have at least two means of egress from every floor. Exits should be remote from each other, to reduce the chance that both will be blocked in an emergency.
All exit access facilities and exits should be located so as to be clearly visible to building occupants or signs should be installed to indicate the direction of travel to the exits. Signs marking the locations of exits should be illuminated with at least 5 ft-c of light. Floors of means of egress should be illuminated with at least 1 ft-c of artificial light whenever the building is occupied.
If an open floor area does not have direct access to an exit, a protected, continuous passageway should be provided directly to an exit. The passageway should be kept open at all times. Occupants using the passageway should not have to pass any high-hazard areas not fully shielded.
To ensure that occupants will have sufficient escape time in emergencies, building codes limit the travel distance from the most remote point in any room or space to a door that opens to an outdoor space, stairway, or exit passageway. The maximum travel distance permitted depends on the type of occupancy and whether the space is sprinklered. For example, for corridors not protected by sprinklers, maximum permitted length may range from 100 ft for storage and institutional buildings to 150 ft for residential, mercantile, and industrial occupancies. With sprinkler protection, permitted length may range from 150 ft for high-hazard and storage buildings to 300 ft for commercial buildings, with 200 ft usually permitted for other types of occupancies.
Building codes also may prohibit or limit the lengths of passageways or courts that lead to a dead end. For example, a corridor that does not terminate at an exit is prohibited in high-hazard buildings. For assembly, educational, and institutional buildings, the maximum corridor length to a dead end may not exceed 30 ft, whereas the maximum such length is 40 ft for residential buildings and 50 ft for all other occupancies, except high-hazard.
Required Exit Capacity
Minimum width of a passageway for normal use is 36 in. This is large enough to accommodate one-way travel for persons on crutches or in wheelchairs. For twoway travel, a 60-in width is necessary. (A corridor, however, need not be 60 in wide for its full length, if 60 60-in passing spaces, alcoves, or corridor intersections are provided at short intervals.) Building codes, however, may require greater widths to permit rapid passage of the anticipated number of evacuees in emergencies.
This number depends on a factor called the occupant load, but the minimum width should be ample for safe, easy passage of handicapped persons. Running slope should not exceed 1:20, and cross slope, 1:50.
Occupant load of a building space is the maximum number of persons that may be in the space at any time. Building codes may specify the minimum permitted capacity of exits in terms of occupant load, given as net floor area, square feet, per person, for various types of occupancy (Table 3.6). The number of occupants permitted in a space served by the exits then can be calculated by dividing the floor area, square feet, by the specified occupant load.
The occupant load of any space should include the occupant load of other spaces if the occupants have to pass through that space to reach an exit.
With the occupant load known, the required width for an exit or an exit door can be determined by dividing the occupant load on the exit by the capacity of the exit.
Capacities of exits and access facilities generally are measured in units of width of 22 in, and the number of persons per unit of width is determined by the type of occupancy. Thus, the number of units of exit width for a doorway is found by dividing by 22 the clear width of the doorway when the door is in the open position.
(Projections of stops and hinge stiles may be disregarded.) Fractions of a unit of width less than 12 in should not be credited to door capacity. If, however, 12 in or more is added to a multiple of 22 in, one-half unit of width can be credited. Building codes indicate the capacities in persons per unit of width that may be assumed for various means of egress. Recommendations of the Life Safety Code of the National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269, are summarized in Table 3.7.
Building Operation in Emergencies
For buildings that will be occupied by large numbers of persons, provision should be made for continuation of services essential to safe, rapid evacuation of occupants in event of fire or other emergencies and for assisting safe movement of fire fighters, medical personnel, or other aides.
Standby electric power, for example, should be available in all buildings to replace the basic power source if it should fail. The standby system should be equipped with a generator that will start automatically when normal power is cut off. The emergency power supply should be capable of operating all emergency electric equipment at full power within 1 min of failure of normal service. Such equipment includes lights for exits, elevators for fire fighters use, escalators and moving walks designated as exits, exhaust fans and pressurizing blowers, communication systems, fire detectors, and controls needed for fire fighting and life safety during evacuation of occupants.
In high-rise buildings, at least one elevator should be available for control by fire fighters and to give them access to any floor from the street-floor lobby. Also, elevator controls should be designed to preclude elevators from stopping automatically at floors affected by fire.
Supervision of emergency operations can be efficiently provided by personnel at a control center placed in a protected area. This center may include a computer, supplemented by personnel performing scheduled maintenance, and should be capable of continuously monitoring alarms, gate valves on automatic fire sprinklers, temperatures, air and water pressures, and perform other pertinent functions. Also, the center should be capable in emergencies of holding two-way conversations with occupants and notifying police and fire departments of the nature of the emergencies.
In addition, provision should be made for the control center to dispatch investigators to sources of potential trouble or send maintenance personnel to make emergency repairs when necessary. Standards for such installations are NFPA 72A, Local Protective Signaling Systems, NFPA 72B, Auxiliary Protective Signaling Systems, NFPA 72C, Remote Station Protective Signaling Systems, and NFPA 72D. Proprietary Protective Signaling Systems. See also Art. 3.7.2.
For economical building operation, the emergency control center may be made part of a control center used for normal building operation and maintenance. Thus, the control center may normally control HVAC to conserve energy, turn lights on and off, and schedule building maintenance and repair. When an emergency occurs, emergency control should be activated in accordance with prepared plans for handling each type of emergency.
The control center need not be located within the building to be supervised nor operated by in-house personnel. Instead, an external central station may provide the necessary supervision. Such services are available in most cities and are arranged by contract, usually with an installation charge and an annual maintenance charge.
Requirements for such systems are in National Fire Protection Association standard NFPA 71.
Safety during Construction
Most building codes provide specific measures that must be taken for fire protection during construction of buildings. But when they do not, fundamental fire-safety precautions must be taken. Even those structures that will, when completed, be noncombustible contain quantities of forming and packing materials that present a serious fire hazard.
Multistory buildings should be provided with access stairways and, if applicable, an elevator for fire department use. Stairs and elevator should follow as closely as possible the upward progress of the structure and be available within one floor of actual building height. In buildings requiring standpipes, the risers should be placed in service as soon as possible, and as close to the construction floor as practicable.
Where there is danger of freezing, the water supply can consist of a Siamese connection for fire department use.
In large-area buildings, required fire walls should be constructed as soon as possible. Competent watchman service also should be provided.
The greatest source of fires during construction is portable heaters. Only the safest kind should be used, and these safeguarded in every practical way. Fuel supplies should be isolated and kept to a minimum.
Welding operations also are a source of fires. They should be regulated in accordance with building-code requirements.
Control of tobacco smoking is difficult during building construction, so control of combustible materials is necessary. Good housekeeping should be provided, and all combustible materials not necessary for the work should be removed as soon as possible.
Construction offices and shanties should be equipped with adequate portable extinguishers. So should each floor in a multistory building.
