CHAPTER 6 FIXED FIRE FIGHTING INSTA LLATIONS (WATER BASED) (2) First aid fire fighting arrangements, @) Fire hydrant installations for buildings € © Intemal WevyDry risers © Yard hydrants for public premises/private properties @) Fire fighting system forcities and towns: () Watersprinkler/spray systems (5) Fixed CO, fire fighting installations ~ © Halon and other gaseous fire fighting installations. (Dry chemical and foam installations. Each one of above shall be discussed in detail in following paragraphs : 6.1 FIRST AID FIRE FIGHTING ARRANGEMENTS 6.1.1 Recommendations for providing first aid fire fighting arrangements in public buildings (as per IS 2217-1982) v [6:12 Objectives of First-Aid Fire Fighting Arrangements The objective of first-aid fire fighting arrangements are : (@) to extinguish the fire at its inception or to control its spread, and () to assist the public fire service in dealing with the fire. Jw The public fire service is expected Jo rescue persons who may be cut off by fire or otherwise prevented from using the normal escape Toutes, extinguish fires expeditiously, minimize the extent of damage to the contents and the structure and protect buildings against fire spreading from adjacent areas/property. In view Scanned with CamScannerae yr) chall be made in special cases decided by the appropriate authority. ‘N 6.1.3(c) shall be m: The provision of first-aid fire fighting equipment should not be regarded as tions but only as supplementary to structural precautions independent fire precaul es § a iaid nen in the relevant Indian Standards which are intended to restrict the outbreak of fire in buildings. C613 First-Aid Fire Fighting Arrangements For the purpose of this standard, the first-aid fire fighting arrangement shall be considered in three categories as under : . (a) Provision of portable first-aid fire fighting appliances according to pre- scribed scale. (b) Provision of first-aid hose reel installations, and (c) Provision of internal hydrant system in special cases. 6.1.4 Categories of Buildings to be Provided with First-Aid Fire Fighting Arrangements The following categories of public buildings which have generally low fire loads but high personal hazard shall be provided with portable first-aid fire fighting appliances in accordance with the requirements laid down in 6.1.5. In addition, hose reels in accordance with the requirements laid down in 6.1.6 shall be provided in buildings where the total area of al the floors exceeds 1000 m?: (a) Hotels, boarding houses and restaurants and similar establishments; (b) Schools and buildings used for educational and/or training purposes; (c) Hospitals, nursing homes, sanitoria, asylums and dispensaries, includ- ing all associated offices, plant and equipment ; (d) Buildings for devotional congregations, such as temples, mosques and churches ; (e) Public halls ; (f) Museums, art galleries, public libraries, record rooms and similar buildings ; (g) Commercial offices, banks and government offices ; (h) Club houses ; (i) Retail shops, emporia and stores ; and () Theatres, cinemas and places of public entertainment. It has been observed that the scale of fire fighting equipment prescribed ° be installed and rhaintained in government and other public buildings varies from state to state. Scanned with CamScannersee Guat 1 191m, c01 903-1975, Nn Pipe and nozzle conforming te s Vv | 62 FIRE HYDRANT INSTALLATIONS - The Primary objective of any fire hydrant installation is to make the water supply available all the times under pressure atstrategic points in abuilding, both inside and outside, so that in case of fi i ire, it can be used for extinguishing the fire automatically by sprinklers wherever they exist or by trained staff. The same system can be used to make water a ) vailable to first-aid fire fighting installations like hose reels which are Primarily meant foruseby the occupants of the buildings even through they may not be fully trained in fire fighting. The term trained staff means either the personnel of City’s fire brigade or local fire fighting staff in any large campus (wherever affordable), Any hydrant system essentially consists of : (1) A reliable water supply source and its storage (2) A piping network connecting the various fire fighting hydrant outlets with the storage tank ; (3) Fire fighting hydrant outlets with their controlling valves. (4) Hose pipes with nozzle for spraying water jet at Pressure. The hydrant systems are of following six different types 1. Dry-riser . 2. Wet-riser 3. Dry cum wet-riser system 4. Yard hydrants Scanned with CamScannerstorage tank at grounu te i ing, hydrant piple (of 1 of vertic ly rising, hydra t Pi t vericefcore area of the building. This nydrantouttet of 65 mm diameter at (assmebly known as yard hydrant, Il over the complex. valve pitting + the system fully primed with water ‘iser, When the system is connected with “tion, itis knownas Wet-riser connection. ‘ace floor of the building, the system is BE aernit is multistoreyed jem exis iven the name as yard hydrant ctwork or some combined storage tank. np to Keer Tn tat gy, n case s Se where pun! “nas Wy oncul a et nse © and only horizontal ptt System that may be aude’ SF ORY Hy pRANT RISER SYSTEM A dry riser york installed in the building which isnormally empty Dut ascends ene he building, being fitted with outlets at every floor. At ust + fire brigade so that when fire happens sTound level j ta pumping inlet for and fire brie g een TD rescue people and building-their personnel are able s already existing. to pump water for fire fighting purposes through dry riser pipe: A. dry-tiseris recommended in UK in all buildings in heights more than 18.3 m (60 fi) and upto 60 m (200 ft) above which wet riser systems become necessary. As per National Building Code, no dry risers are necessary for any building. Horizontal mains can be laid from the riser up to a distance of 12.2 m (40 ft) to the outlet. If any part of the floor is more than 12.2 m (40 ft) from the rising main, a second dry riser should be installed. The riser should be a 100 mm (4 inch) nw mr do ofthe system dto the same mm Pipe. The outlets known as “landing valves” should be matched to the outlets of the Jocal fire brigadeand the riser should be topped with an automatic air vent valve. Outlets should be so arranged that they do not cause an obstruction and are not liable to mechanical damage. Where possible, they should be in the rocm to be Protected and ‘Rot on the stairway. If they are on the stairway the hose, if abandoned, might obstruct the closing of the door. The outlets should be controlled by a wheeled valve and the direction of turing to open the valve . Should be plainly marked on it. The inlets to the riser should’ be standard with those of the local fire brigade and should have a drain valve at the lowest point. The inlets should be Contained in a glass fronted box, locked if necessary and plainly marked ‘dry riser Sire main”. These inlets should be so placed that they are not subi fae getanical damage, They should be situated horizontally _—aithin 12.2 m ') of the actual dry riser. If possible, the inlets should be Scanned with CamScannerOutlet Inlet Fig. 6.3 Fire Brigade Connections vo [os WET HYDRANT RISER SYSTEM , 6.4.1 Technical Details i in buildi inhei \d comprise Wet hydrantrisersare recommened in buildings over 24 min height an der pressure fed by pumping sets from a break tank of pipe charge with water un‘ or reservoir. A typical wet hydrant riser installation is jllustrated in Fig. 64. ROX MATERIAL ATTACHED — Scanned with CamScannerix ions (Water Based) Pt ing pig yngInsiains hater Based) = mission has been given for hydrants to be installed belo Wer es ey shall be properly enclosed ina surface base of cast irons asonary 0-75.mM square and7.5cmabove ground level, the top of the Peayant outlet being not more than 7.5 cm below the top of box, hydri . i © Where it is not possible to instal hydrants fully in accordance with the *e Ments of this code, special application shall be irate authority for approval of alternative arrangemena, °° | As AUTOMATIC WATER SPRINKLERS j Water. ig the cheapest means of fire extinguishing if availabe in abundance ina Particular locality. Automatic water system can provide a convenient form of fire Protection which can operate) without human agency. Advantage of using any extinguishantcanbefurtherenhanced by increasing thesurfaceareaofcontact Of that extinguishant which can be easily\done by dividing it into small droplets, As an extinguishing method this is achieved by sprinkler systems which is Probably the most efficient means of dealing with the early stages of fire in ordinary combustible material. Water has got four times more thermal conductiv- ity than the air and normally availabe at much lower temperature. Source maintains its average temperature equivalent to wet bulb temperature of air. Automatic water sprinkler protection is thus envisaged as facility to discharge water automatically in sufficient density to control or extinguish a fire in its early Stages. It consists of: (a) Reliable source of water at desired pressure. (b) A regular pattem of spray nozzles (the sprinkler heads) provided atthe top or side of area of risk, suitably spaced over the risk area. (©) Valuesand piping to distribute and convey water from source to sprinkler heads. (@) A temperature sensitive fire detector as integral/built-in part of the sprinkler head or separately which after fusing or melting activates the sprinkler head through which water flushes out as high pressure jet in case of fire automatically. (©) Subsidary firealarm (warning) system which alerts the people audio visually to take suitable action to tackle the fire. Each sprinkler system is tailor designed to suit the requirements of individual installations, The design depends upon : if (i) Type of occupancy and fire hazard. ii) Type and dimensions of compartments. ii) Fire load of occupancy and materials stored in them. (iv) Possible type of fe.) ve Scanned with CamScannerCHAPTER 9 AUTOMATIC FIRE DETECT] 0 ALARM CIRCuy “AND TS Any fire security and protection 8 i ed ystem will have following major functions to be 1. Fire prevention & isolation Fire detection 2. 3. Fire alarm (visual and audio) 4. Fire fighting and extinguishing 5. Fire salvage and insurance. We have already studied as to how to organize item No. 1 and 4 and- leam about 3 in next paragraphs, A NEED FOR AUTOMATIC DETECTION AND ALARM In IS 2189:1976 it is suggested that with the rapid growth of the industries and expansion of cities, fire hazards have also increased. Though considerable attention is being paid by the authorities concerned towards fire prevention and fire protection, a possible outbreak of fire cannot be detected and forestalled withoutan automatic fire alram system. Inthe absence of sucha system, itis also not possible to ensure (a) an immediate transmission of call to the fire brigade in the event of an outbreak of fire in any premises during the closed hours, and (b) aneffective control of a fire in the incipient stage with the help of firstaid fire appliances. An automatic fire alrams system functions through detectors distributed in the premises to be protected, which causes the alarm to be actuated automatically whenever there is possibility of a fire breaking out or immediately, upon the outbreak of fire. The system helps evacuation of the premises, and brings fire fighting facilities into action as quickly as possible. Scanned with CamScannernjitiae VC 52a so as to provide, in the event of fire, an early alarm ip space gna/or property by warning Occupants for evacuation Lee v0 of fire fighti Jog salvage stat Fighting an design of a system shall be determined consideri , ae eto dangerous fire conditions and desired oe he a speed of origin of calls. The relative importance of these two facts shall dc aire number of type of occupancy of the premises, the nature ofthe wore rene the value and nature of this structure and its content, its sine anne storcys, staircases and exits tothe street, and its situation in relat number of property and thoroughfare. In boarding schools, hospitals and ie toadjacent the highest assessment possible, shall be placed on both factor jee S. 9.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF AUTOMATIC DETECTION A. study of the factors (1) which contribute to the ov i ( erall size and severi large fires and the magnitude of the direct loss show a regular pattern sane * atendency for fire discovery in the early morning, or at the end of the working day, e @ atendency for delay in calling the fire brigade, e a tendency for fires to occur in parts of the building which are unoccupied at night or are infrequently visited. The above dictates that a large number of such fires could be kept out of the large fire category by the installation of a suitable automatic detection system. How- ever, investigation of large fire has revealed that early detection and ealy fire- fighting effort do notreduce the loss substantially because the nature of the risk was such that automatic dectection and automatic fire fighting measures are necessary to retard, if not extinguish the fire, pending the arrival of the brigade. 9.3 PRINCIPLES OF AUTOMATIC FIRE DETECTION Fire as a phenomenon has got four chronologically sequenced stages of develop- ment as studied earlier in section of the book. @ Incipient stage : Formation of areosols i.c. non-visible smoke © Smoldering stage : Visible smoke formation but no flame @ = Flamming : Radiation of heat & Light Scanned with CamScannerVice yet foe attbowatic Aken, ad Alannt = KEROX MATERIAL AttAcHE) — , Cnmificrtiow of Mrdewudic fre dletector 4, Seat detectors &. 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