Building Services | S4 | MASAP

Fire Fighting

FIRE SAFETY
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

Causes of fire?
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

How to prevent fire hazards?

Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

3 types of fire hazards

1. Exposure hazard:
It refers to the risk of fire spreading via open air from adjacent building
Prevented by providing proper offsets and similar measures

2. Internal hazard:
It refers of the risk of the building getting destroyed and is related to the fire load of the structure
Prevented by ensuring proper material quality and use

3. Personal Hazard
It refers to the risk of danger ti the lives
Prevented by ensuring efficient designs for fire escape and fire extinguishing
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

Fire Load:
It is the measure of the maximum heat that will be released if all the
combustibles in a fire area burn. It is expressed in kJ/m2
Amount of heat liberated in Kilojules per square metere

Fire load is divided into 3 classes:

1. Low fire load: Domestic buildings, hotels, restaurants, offices etc.

2. Moderate fire load: Textiles, Markets, Factories etc.
3. High fire load: Godowns and storages
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

CLASSIFICATION OF BUILDINGS BASED ON FIRE ZONES

Demarcations:- A city or area under the jurisdiction of the authority shall for the
purpose of the Code, be demarcated into distinct zones, based on fire hazards
inherent in the buildings and structures according to Occupancy that shall be called
as “ Fire Zones”.

Fire Zone 1:- Residential, educational, institutional, assembly, small business and
retail mercantile buildings.

Fire Zone 2:- Business and Industrial Buildings except High Hazard Industrial
Buildings.

Fire Zone 3:- High Hazard Industrial Building, Storage Building and Buildings for
Hazardous Use.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

CLASSIFICATION OF BUILDINGS BASED ON OCCUPANCY (NBC)

1. Group ‘A’ - Residential : Lodgings, Dwellings, Dormitories, Flats, Hotels.

2. Group ‘B’ - Educational : School, Colleges, Recreations.
3. Group ‘C’ - Institutional : Hospitals, Homes for aged, Orphanages, Jails, Mental
Hospital, reformatories.
4. Group ‘D’ - Assembly : Theatres, Drama Hall, Assembly Halls, Auditorium,
Exhibition, Restaurants, Place of workship, Terminal etc.
5. Group ‘E’ - Business : Office, Labs, Computer Installations
6. Group ‘F’ - Mercantile : Shops, Stores, Market.
7. Group ‘G’ - Industrial : Assembly Plants, Labs, Pumping stations, Refineries, Saw
mills.
8. Group ‘H’ - Storage : All types of storages, Sheds, trucks & marine terminals,
Garages, Hangars, Stables.
9. Group ‘J’ - Hazardous : Used to store highly combustible or explosive materials
which may produce poisonous fumes or explosions or toxic etc.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

Study all the terms associated with fire fighting, as given in NBC.
Quick test to be conducted.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

The following are the elements effective firefighting:

1. Fire fighting equipments

2. Materials of construction
3. Means of escape
4. Fire Alarms
5. Protection of openings
6. Subdivision of Building
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

1. Fire fighting equipments

Fire triangle
A fire must have three things to ignite and maintain combustion:
i) the presence of a fuel, or combustible substances;
ii) the presence of oxygen(usually as air) or other supporter of combustion;
iii) the attainment and maintenance of a certain minimum temperature.

The basic strategy of fire prevention is to control or isolate sources of fuel and heat in order to
prevent combustion. If all three are not present in sufficient quantities a fire will not ignite or a
fire will not be able to sustain combustion.

(a) Starvation (or the limitation of fuel);

(b) Smothering / Blanketing (or the limitation of oxygen); and
(c) Cooling (or the limitation of temperature).
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

Fire extinguishing Arrangements:

a) Hydrant system
b) Automatic sprinkler system
c) Automatic Water spray system
d) Water mist system
e) Foam System
f) Wet Riser
g) Dry riser
h) Down comer
i) Static water storage tanks
j) Portable Fire Extinguishers
• Water
• Powder
• Foam
• CO2
• Wet Chemical
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

a. Hydrant System
A distribution system having a network of piping installed underground/above-ground or
inside of a building with internal or external hydrants fitted with landing valves at regular
intervals according to the occupancy. The distribution system is connected to water supply
system for firefighting.

The user attaches a hose to the fire hydrant, then opens a valve on the hydrant to provide a
powerful flow of water. Normally the water hose range is 30m.
Hydrant System
Landing valve is supposed to be installed in all the floors of high rise
building where we cannot install hydrant. This is for the fire fighters
to connect their water hose to extinguish fire. The normal pressure
should be 65 psi.

A fire hose is a high-pressure hose that carries water or other fire

retardant (such as foam) to a fire to extinguish it. Outdoors, it
attaches either to a fire engine or a fire hydrant.

Fire hose reels are located to provide a reasonably accessible and

controlled supply of water to combat a potential fire risk. The length
of a fully extended fire hose is between 18 and 36 meters with a
diameter of 13 or 19mm Internal Diameter.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

b. Automatic Sprinkler System .

•A system of water pipes fitted with sprinkler heads at suitable intervals and heights and
designed to actuate automatically, control and extinguish a fire by the discharge of water.
•The spacing between 2 sprinklers shall be min. 1.5 m and max. 3 m
•Each closed-head sprinkler is held closed by either a heat-sensitive glass bulb or a two-part
metal link held together with fusible alloy.
•The glass bulb or link applies pressure to a pip cap which acts as a plug which prevents water
from flowing until the ambient temperature around the sprinkler reaches the design activation
temperature of the individual sprinkler head.

•In a standard wet-pipe sprinkler system, each sprinkler

activates independently when the predetermined heat
level is reached. Because of this, the number of sprinklers
that operate is limited to only those near the fire (in
reality, normally one or two will activate), thereby
maximizing the available water pressure over the point of
fire origin. This also minimizes the water damage to the
building.

Sprinkler head
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

•A sprinkler system is a network of pipes running through the ceiling of a building holding
water under pressure. Each sprinkler is nothing but a faucet. In a sprinkler, the hand-
operated faucet is replaced by a heat-sensitive plug designed to open automatically when
fire breaks out. In some sprinklers, the plug is made of a mixture of bismuth, lead, tin, and
cadmium that melts at a relatively low temperature. In other sprinklers, the plug is a
small glass bulb full of a glycerin-based liquid designed to expand and shatter when it gets
hot. The basic idea is the same in both cases: the plug is meant to break and open the
sprinkler as soon as a fire breaks out
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

c. Automatic Water Spray Systems .

A special fixed pipe system connected to water supply and equipped with water spray nozzles
for specific water discharge over the surface or area to be protected. Automatic actuation is
achieved by operation of automatic detecting equipment installed along with water spray
nozzles.

d. Water Mist Systems

A distribution system connected to a pumping and water supply system that is equipped with
nozzles capable of delivering water mist to the part/entire enclosure or area, intended to
control, suppress, or extinguish fire.

e. Foam Protection System

Firefighting systems where foam is made by passing foam producing liquid and water through
an agitation device. It has the appearance of soap leather and flows easily over liquid surface
and forms a blanket covering the inflammable liquid.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

f. Wet Riser
An arrangement for firefighting within the building by means of vertical rising mains not less
than 100 mm nominal diameter with landing valves on each floor/landing for firefighting
purposes and permanently charged with water from a pressurized supply.

g. Dry Riser
An arrangement of firefighting within the building by means of vertical rising mains not less
than 100 mm internal diameter with landing valves on each floor/landing which is normally
dry but is capable of being charged with water usually by pumping from fire service
appliances.

h. Down-comer
An arrangement of firefighting within the building by means of down-comer pipe connected to
terrace tank through terrace pump, gate valve and non-return valve and having mains not less
than 100 mm internal diameter with landing valves on each floor/landing.

i. Static water storage tanks

A satisfactory supply of water for the purpose of firefighting shall always be available in the
form of underground/terrace level static storage tank with capacity specified for each building
with arrangements or replenishment.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

j. Active fire extinguisher

A fire extinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires,
often in emergency situations. Main types , color coding and uses are given below:
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

Classification of fire and type of fire extinguisher used is shown below.

Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

2. Materials of construction
•The structural elements of the buildings should be made of fire resistant materials.
•Combustible materials like wood or fiberboards combines with oxygen and produce a lot of
heat during fire.
•The non combustible materials like steel, concrete or glass get damaged and decomposed.

Fire Resistance Rating: The time that a material or construction will withstand the standard
fire exposure as determined by fire test done in accordance with the standard methods of fire
tests of materials/ structures.

Characteristics of fire resisting material

1. Material shall not get disintegrated under the effect of heat

2. The expansion of the material should not cause instability to the structure
3. The contraction of the material when cooled with water after the fire should not be rapid
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

Fire resisting properties of common building materials

Materials Characteristics
Stone Bad conductor of heat, non-combustible. It disintegrates into smaller pieces when heated
and suddenly cooled.

Brick Not seriously affected till high temperatures like 1200 C Poor conductor. Brick masonry offers
good resistance to fire normally.

Timber Combustible. Add to the intensity of fire. Bad conductor of heat hence heavy sections of
timber may attain high degree of fire resistance for shorter time spans.

Cast Iron It flies into pieces when heated and suddenly cooled. Good conductor

Glass Poor conductor fo heat. Expansion due to heat is small. Cracks are formed when heated and
suddenly cooled.

Steel Good conductor of heat. Rapidly heated . Loses its tensile strength in increased heat.
Unprotected steel beams sag and columns buckle in intense fire.

Concrete Bad conductor of heat and effective fire resistant. The behavior depends on the quality of
cement and the type of aggregate.. Aggregate normally expands and the cement shrinks
during fire. Thus spalling may happen on the surface.
Aluminum Very good conductor of heat. Very low fire resisting properties.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

3. Means of escape

A building should provide suitable means of escape when fire occurs.

This is of great importance in buildings like theatres, auditoriums, multi storied buildings etc.

Some of the important provisions given in NBC are given below.

•Every High rise building should have at least 2 means of access, one remote to the other, of
minimum width 4.5m. with height clearance of 5m. This minimum width is essential to
facilitate free movement of fire units.

•Sufficient open space (setbacks) around residential buildings, depending on the building
height and occupancy, is essential to facilitate free movement and operation of Fire Service
vehicles.

•Every high rise building have minimum 2 number of Staircases and 1 can be used as a fire
escape staircase.

•Number of staircases shall be given as per the travel distances- min. 21.5 m from any point of
the building to the stairs (in A, B , C, J occupancies)
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

•No revolving door should be treated as exits except in residential and mercantile occupancies

•All the services ducts, if provided, should have to be enclosed by walls of at least 2 hour fire
resistance & should have to be sealed at every alternate floor with non-combustible materials
having at least 2 hour fire resistance.

•Refuge area shall be provided in high rise buildings on floor above 24m. The no. of refuge areas
depend on height of the building.

•An exit sign indicating the direction to an exit shall be provided at all changes in direction

•Every high rise building should have a public address system with 2 way communication to
conduct evacuation in a systematic manner & to communicate any messages to occupants on
every floor from the control room.

•Fire Officer / Supervisor for Hotels, Business & Mercantile Buildings with Height more than 30
m.

•For High rise buildings above 60 m in height provision for Helipad should be made.
Fire lifts
A firefighting lift is required forall the high rise building. A firefighting lift includes; the lift car,
the lift well, the lift machinery space, the lift control system and the lift communications system.

Fire lift shall be adjacent and accessible to an exit staircase and be approached by a fire-fighting
lobby at each storey (floor). The fire lift shaft shall be continuous throughout the building and
serve every storey.

Fire lifts shall be provided with a minimum capacity for 8 passengers and fully automated with
emergency switch on ground level. In general, buildings 15m in height or above shall be provided
with fire lifts.

Each fire lift shall be equipped with suitable intercommunication equipment for communicating
with the control room on the ground floor of the building.

Fire Tower
An enclosed staircase which can only be approached from the various floors through landings or
lobbies separated from both the floor areas and the staircase by fire-resisting doors, and open to
the outer air.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

4. Fire Alarms

A fire alarm system has a number of devices working together to detect and warn people
through visual and audio appliances when smoke, fire, carbon monoxide or
other emergencies are present. These alarms may be-

1. Manual: operated by users or securities

2. Automatic: activated by smoke detectors, flame detectors or heat deetctors

A smoke detector is a device that senses smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Commercial
security devices issue a signal to a fire alarm control panel as part of a fire alarm system, while
household smoke detectors, also known as smoke alarms, generally issue a local audible or
visual alarm from the detector itself.
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting
Building Services | S4 | MASAP
Fire Fighting

5. Protection of openings

The openings such as doors and windows should be sufficiently protected by

suitable measures so as to prevent spread of fire

6. Subdivision of Building

It is desirable to subdivide large buildings to small compartments or blocks so

as to reduce the chances of spread to the whole of building