Fire can completely demolish buildings but what keeps the fire burning long enough to destroy the building? The answer to that question would be the fire load of the building. The term fire load is defined as the weight of combustible contents per unit floor area (Gross, 1977). The fire load of a building includes anything that is combustible such as finishes, furniture, building materials, etc. These materials are divided into two categories movable contents and interior and exterior finishes. Two types of fire loads must be determined for every building and they are the localized and distributed fire loads. The localized fire load shall be determined to reflect concentrations of combustible material that have the potential to pose a more …show more content…
Having an accurate calculated fire load makes code compliance with the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) easier. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) states that the code gives the minimum requirements necessary to establish a reasonable level of fire and life safety, and property protection (Wolin, 2015). Fire load has to be calculated to insure that every building meets the minimum requirements to preserve life safety. All combustible materials included in the building must be accounted for. Another advantage to knowing the fire load helps to make it easier to plan the layout of the building. When planning the building one of the key components is the means of egress. NFPA States that an exit or mean of egress must be separated from other parts of the building (Wolin 2015). The means of egress needs to have as little of a fire load as possible because it will be the exit route for the people inside in case of a fire. Another advantage to knowing the fire load is it can play a role into determining the flow and direction of a fire if the situation does occur. The fire load helps the firefighters to figure out what their Needed Fire Flow (NFF) in gallons per min (gpm) so that they can attempt to successfully fight the fire and save the building while protecting the lives of the citizens inside. There are …show more content…
Standards for Determination of Fire Loads for Use in Structural Fire Protection. NFPA, 1-36. Retrieved February 1, 2016, from http://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/document-information-pages?mode=code&code=557
Gross, D. (1977). Measurements of Fire Load and Calculations of Fire Severity. Wood and Fiber, 72-85. Retrieved February 09, 2016, from http://wfs.swst.org/index.php/wfs/article/viewFile/1821/1821
Kumar, S. (1997). Fire Loads in Office Buildings. Journal of Structural Engineering, 365-368. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
Martin, A. (2011, October 24). Asbestos – and fire retardants. Retrieved February 9, 2016, from https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/asbestos-and-fire-retardants/
Vestal, J. N., & Bridge, E. A. (2010, October 1). A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO SELECTING NOZZLE FLOW RATE AND STREAM. Retrieved February 9, 2016, from http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-163/issue-10/features/a-quantitative-approach-to-selecting-nozzle-flow-rate-and-stream-part-1.html
Wolin, S. D. (2015). Fire Code. NFPA, 9-16. Retrieved February 1, 2016, from
Brannigan, Francis L, and Glenn P. Corbett. Brannigan's Building Construction for the Fire Service. Sudbury, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 2007. Print.
71 percent of the people that were at The Station Nightclub Fire, which occurred in West Warwick Rhode Island on February 20, 2003, that either died or was injured. This paper will look at the contributing factors in this shocking number as it pertains to fire prevention. When breaking down a case study, this case being The Station Nightclub Fire, there are three main factors you must look at. Those factors are fire behavior, human behavior, and building behavior.
NFPA. "Fire Investigator." In Principles and Practice to NFPA 921 and 1033, 16-19. Jones and Bartlett Learning, 2012.
# Coleman, Ronny J., et al.Fighter's Handbook: Essentials of Firefighting and Emergency Response. Delmar/Thompson Learning, Stamford, CT, 2000.
The most pressing issue facing Detroit, in regard to fire, is the steady amount of burning vacant or delipidated buildings, and second to that is the high rate of home fires. For the purposes of this project, the capabilities of
In the last eighteen years in Baltimore, lightweight truss construction has become a household name in firefighting. Two reason for this is the amount of new construction in the area and secondly, the unpredictability of lightweight truss failure during fire attack. Brannigan's (2015, p. 202) describes Lightweight wood truss as a 2-inch piece of wood, the lightweight wood truss is pieced together on a factory table and subsequently joined together with light gauge galvanized steel gusset plates. IFSTA states (2015, p. 287) the reduced mass of their components and the interdependence of those components make them vulnerable to early failure under fire conditions. CDC states that that lightweight wood truss can fail early as 6 to 13 minutes
You are a firefighter and upon arrival at the scene of a working fire you have a lot of decisions to make. One of the most key decisions a chief officer, or firefighter following standard operating procedures has to make in the early stages of a building fire is whether to ventilate or not? The strategy of venting fire buildings must be approached from many angles. In the United States it has long been accepted that there are three criteria for making that decision. Vent for life, safety or the fire with that in mind firefighters must make themselves aware of the effects of ventilating structure before making the that decision.
United States Fire Administration. (2014, January 9). United States Fire Administration. Retrieved January 26, 2014, from National Fire Protection Association Estimates: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/estimates/nfpa/index.shtm
In its very nature, fire is destructive. It consumes everything its near, using a wide range of transfer methods to feed itself. In order to keep the work environment safe, the National Fire Protection Association [NFPA] developed standard NFPA 25 to set the criteria for the upkeep of water-base protection systems. To get a better idea on the importance of NFPA 25, it is important to understand its purpose and its influences on protection and firefighter safety.
Most, if not all, of the buildings were constructed of wood and most of them were put on man-made lands with very unstable soil. The buildings that were constructed of steel or brick were next to wood buildings too. All of these buildings lacked proper fire safety equipment like fire-sprinklers and the city streets were very narrow making it easy for fire to spread. Out of all the buildings in San Francisco at this time under two percent of them were considered to be fireproof (52).Working class and immigrant families at this time were living in these poorly constructed buildings often with many families assigned to one single room. These conditions made it almost impossible for them to have a chance of hope when the deadly San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
HM Government (2008) Fire and Rescue Manual, Volume 2, Fire Service Operations, Incident Command, 3rd Ed.
The EIFS, a non-load-bearing wall assembly consists of a layer of expanded polystyrene foam adhered to gypsum sheathing. The polystyrene and polyurethane portions of the EIFS panels and trim burned along the building’s parapet, and melting foam ran down the exterior edge of the hotel, starting fires in other EIFS panels. As the fire spread from the center of the west and south wings of the hotel, it also began to burn downward, exposing the windows of the suites on the 32nd floor. When heat caused several windows on the 32nd floor to fail, flames spread into the building. In several of the suites, sprinklers operated, confining the interior fires and allowing suppression forces to extinguish them.
Protection is explicitly extended to all occupants, which would include employees, visitors, contractors and passers-by who would all have to be considered in the fire risk assessment. What are the implications for business? When the RRFSO comes into force, building fire safety will be solely risk assessment led, therefore all businesses regardless of size will have to conduct a comprehensive fire risk assessment to enusre; The elimination or reduction of risks (ignition sources), There are suitable means of detecting & raising the alarm in the event of fire, There are adequate emergency escape routes & exits, There are appropriate type & sufficient quantities of fire extinguishers, There are the correct type & sufficient quantities of fire signs & notices, There are provisions for the correct maintenance of installed fire equipment, Suitable provisions for the protection of Fire Service personnel, That occupants receive the appropriate instruction / training in, e.g. actions to be taken in the event of fire and fire evacuation drills, Who is the responsible person(s)? Employer with control of a
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a fire is any process of uncontrollable combustion or burning. A structural fire, refers to any fire occurring in or on a structure, including, if this is limited to the contents. Fire spread rapidly, causing economic losses, injury and even death. The majority of the injuries or deaths caused by fire, occur in the home, either in properties of one, two or multiple families, especially while people are sleeping. In addition, the risk of injury or death does not have a uniform distribution between populations. This varies between age groups, race, religion, cause of the fire and size of the community (Ahrens, 2014).
When a fire occurs in a home, the aftermath can seem overwhelming. The extent and severity of fire and smoke damage that can take place during a fire can leave behind soot, debris, odor, and smoke. Even in areas that seem to be unharmed by the fire and smoke can create a dangerous and hazardous environment. This not only can damage to a home’s structure, it can also damage the contents and personal belongings inside. When fire damage occurs, immediate response is necessary to mitigate the damages as well as prevent further damage from occurring.