High Rise Buildings The primary goal of any fire department operating at a fire or other emergency in a high-rise building is the safe removal and/or rescue of the building occupants. Fires in high-rise buildings everywhere have the potential to be one of the most challenging incidents to which we respond. Fires can burn for extended periods of time before operations can begin. The time it takes to reach the fire area is prolonged due to the fact that men and equipment must be transported many feet above street level. A high-rise building has been defined in several different ways. One definition considers it to be a building in which the vertical movement of occupants is accomplished primarily by means of elevators rather than stairs. Another definition considers a high-rise building to be any structure which extends beyond the reach of fire department aerial ladder equipment. In Chicago, this height is generally accepted to be eighty feet. While these definitions are short and quite easy to understand and apply, a building fifty or one-hundred stories high has significantly different fire safety problems than one that is eighty feet high. Thus, it is felt that a more comprehensive definition must be used. A definition has been developed that considers a high-rise building to be a structure in which complete emergency evacuation is not practical and in which the fire must be fought internally because of height. The usual characteristics of such a building are that it:
The development and spread of fire in a high-rise building and the subsequent damage caused to the structure is a result of a number of factors. Ample fuels are available in nearly all high-rise occupancies to support a damaging fire. While fire prevention codes attempt to reduce fire hazards in a number of ways, the fuel loadings contributed by the contents are not normally regulated, particularly in individual apartments or residential buildings. Fuel contribution is also made by the high-rise structure itself in a variety of ways. Interior wall and ceiling finish materials have long been recognized as providing potential for fire spread. Floor finishing materials have been identified as being pertinent under some fire spread situations. Concealed spaces formed by suspended ceilings or sandwich type panel walls can also provide for fire and heat spread. Utility systems running through these spaces often use plastic materials for items such as wire insulation and duct connection. Combustible insulation is sometimes used. Most new buildings are required to provide enclosed stairways but also have elevators. Lastly, the spaces around ventilation ducts and other minor floor openings may not be properly fire stopped. Smoke-spread is unquestionably the most significant life-hazard problem existing at the time of a fire in a high-rise building. The movement of smoke, often to locations far removed from the floor of origin, appears to be the result of several different factors and is not always simple to predict. Studies have indicated that a chimney or stack effect is present in tall building shafts and is a function of the temperature differential between the inside and outside of the building as well as the height of the shafts. In cold weather, it produces a definite flow of air into stair and elevator shafts on the lower floors and out on the upper floors. An opposite effect occurs in warm weather when interior temperatures are lower than the outside temperatures. The ventilation systems in the building can also play an important role in smoke spread — not only from the standpoint of serving as a primary means themselves, but also due to the significant influence they can exert on the building's stack effect on certain floor levels. A number of unique evacuation problems exist in a high-rise building at the time of a fire. In a residential building, the detection of a fire is frequently delayed due to being unoccupied during a good part of the day. Evacuation is also complicated by the fact that there is frequently no effective means of notifying occupants of the fire. The normal means provided for vertical travel in a high-rise building is by elevators. High-rise building fires continue to illustrate the vulnerability of elevators and their controls to both heat and smoke. Thus, stairways must be used as the primary means of emergency egress. Tests have indicated that stairways can quickly become overcrowded if many floors attempt to evacuate at the same time. The facts presented are that serious overcrowding can result in a complete stoppage of occupant movement in stairways. In addition, the previously discussed stack effect can draw smoke into the exit stairways exposing occupants to large quantities of combustion products. The physical demands placed on a fire department in a high-rise building fire are much more severe than that of a similar fire in a non-high-rise building. Just getting to the fire floor, which may be one-quarter mile above the street level, may be difficult if elevators have failed or building occupants have already taken over their use for evacuation. Ventilation of heat and smoke, an important fire-control procedure, is often difficult in a high-rise fire and greatly complicates firefighting operations. The lack of an effective means of communication with the occupants in the building usually results in the fire department having to deploy a substantial part of their firefighting manpower to individually notify the occupants of the situation. This can require more men than are needed to extinguish the fire itself. For these reasons the following plan of action has been developed. STRATEGIC OPERATING PLAN FOR FIRST-DUE CHIEF OFFICERS In order to achieve the Strategic Operating Plan, the first arriving battalion chief must establish a command post in the lobby. This location will allow the incident commander to manage the control of the building systems, have direct contact with the fire safety director / building engineer / responsible party, and receive firsthand information with regards to progress being made or problems being encountered. The second arriving battalion chief must establish an operational command (forward fire command) near the fire floor (1 to 2 floors below). This will allow the chief to verify the fire floor, coordinate operations on the fire floor, monitor conditions, identify stairwells used for fire attack and for evacuation, and determine if any evacuation is in progress and the extent and location of the evacuation relative to floors and stairwells. When operating at a fire in a high-rise building, the following strategic operation plan is essential to successful operations.
Determine the fire floor from information that is available before ascending to the reported fire floor. Use the information received upon dispatch, information received from the command panel if present, information gathered from building management, responsible party, fire safety director, and/or building occupants, etc. Verify the fire floor by collating the information received and deployment of the fire investigation team. Verifying the location of the fire and the extent of the fire is crucial. All subsequent fireground operations will be based on this information. Controlling the movement of building occupants and removing any occupants from a hazardous area is paramount. We must determine if any evacuation is in progress (directed or self-initiated) and the extent and location of the evacuation. Primary search of the fire floor, floor above, and attack stairwell must be initiated as soon as possible. Gaining and maintaining control of the elevators, command panel, HVAC system, and fire pumps are necessary for successful operations at a fire. Locating the fire and determining the extent of the fire will dictate the deployment of the proper resources for confinement and extinguishment. Extinguishment of the fire will halt the production of heat and smoke. © Copyright Firenuggets.com 2005 • Click here for Terms and Conditions of Use
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