FIRE PROTECTION

Design Considerations:
The purpose of fire protection is to extinguish or mitigate the effects of a fire. They all have the
same goal: to detect fire and protect a building, its occupants, and its contents from fire
damage.
Codes and Standards:
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has developed consensus standards for various
suppression systems that are referenced by most building codes.
Fire is an oxidation (or combustion) process. Three components are necessary for a fire to be
maintained:
Fuel, Oxygen, and a temperature high enough to start the ignition or maintain combustion.

Classifications of fires:
• Class A fires (ORDINARY COMBUSTIBLES) - occur in solid, combustible materials. These
fuels are involved in the most common type of fire. Water-based or foam fire
extinguishers are appropriate for putting out Class A fires.
• ClassB fires (FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS OR GASES) - occur in combustible liquids. Foam and
dry powder fire extinguishers are appropriate for putting out Class B fires.
• Class C fires (ELECTRICAL) - These fires involve energized electrical equipment. Carbon
dioxide and dry powder fire extinguishers are recommended.
• Class D (COMBUSTIBLE METALS) - fires occur in metals with their fuel supply. Metals
can burn when in contact with air and water. Specially formulated powder-medium fire
extinguishers can be effective on type D fires. The extinguisher must match the metal
likely to be involved.
• Class K (COMBUSTIBLE OIL AND GREASE) - Wet-chemical Class K extinguishers contain
an extinguishing medium that cools the fire and then emulsifies to seal the surface and
prevent re-ignition.
Occupancy hazard is determined by the quantity and combustibility of room contents, the
expected heat release rate, the total potential for energy release, the height of stockpiles, and
the presence of flammable/combustible liquids.
Building occupancy and other specific areas within a building are classified as follows, according
to the potential for fire:
• Light hazard: Light (Low) hazard occupancies have combustibles expected to produce
fires with relatively low heat release rates.
• Ordinary hazard: Ordinary (Moderate) hazard occupancies have combustibles with low
combustibility content and relatively moderate heat release rates.
• Extra hazard: Extra (High) hazard occupancies have contents with dust lint and other
materials introducing rapidly developing fire with high heat release rates.
SYSTEM TYPES
• Water-based fire-suppression systems: These use either water mixed with chemicals,
which add fire-extinguishing characteristics, or undiluted water, to cool the fire below
ignition temperature or deprive it of oxygen. When pressure from the building water
supply is inadequate to supply fire standpipe and sprinkler systems, fire pumps,
manufactured and installed specifically for fire suppression systems, are used to
increase water pressure.
• Gas-based fire extinguishing systems: These systems are used when chemicals that
may react to water are present or when water will cause unacceptable damage.
• Chemical-basedfire extinguishing systems (either liquid or powder): These interfere
with the combustion process and deprive the fire of oxygen.
- DRY-CHEMICAL FIRE-EXTINGUISHING SYSTEMS
This system is used to protect areas for which water is not a suitable extinguishing
medium, such as chemical storage areas and cooking areas with exhaust ductwork that
vents grease.
- WET-CHEMICAL FIRE-EXTINGUISHING SYSTEMS
The recent shift from animal fats to vegetable fats for cooking required a different medium for
fighting fires in kitchens. This medium is a wet chemical, which operates in the same manner as
the dry-chemical system.
 DRY OR WET-CHEMICAL SYSTEM FOR KITCHENS

SPRINKLERS
A fire-suppression sprinkler system uses water distributed through a network of valves,
piping, and nozzles, whose primary purpose is to set off an alarm and mitigate the
effects of a fire, not necessarily to extinguish it. When a fire condition is present, the
heat of the fire melts the element of a closed sprinkler head, allowing water to
discharge automatically onto the fire.

SPRINKLER HEADS
Standard Upright Sprinkler Head - mounted above a sprinkler supply pipe, usually in a room
without a suspended ceiling, and where it is desirable to partially protect the sprinkler head by
not suspending it downward. Characterized by a slightly curved deflector.
Standard Pendent Sprinkler - is mounted below the sprinkler supply pipe, usually below the
surface of a suspended ceiling, and is characterized by a flat serrated deflector.
Concealed Pendent Sprinkler Heads - recessed into the ceiling plane and covered with a
decorative cap. The cap falls away when temperatures are about 20°F below the activation
temperature of the sprinkler head.
Flush pendent heads - similar to concealed heads, but without the cap and with a partial
projection below the ceiling plane.
Sidewall sprinkler heads - have a deflector designed to ensure that the sprinkler discharges
water toward the floor surface from a wall-mounted position. Sidewall heads are used when
sprinklers cannot be in the ceiling (typically due to exposed concrete slab construction). Room
dimensions are limited with sidewall sprinklers.
Conventional Sprinkler head is activated by heat (expressed as temperature). The head opens
when a triggering action occurs—a frangible bulb breaks (the norm in the current head design)
or a fusible link melts.
Fire-suppression standpipes - a network of water-filled pipes, hose valves, and fire hoses that
allows the direct application of water onto a fire. The most common system configuration has
hose valves only, which are connected to system piping to allow fire department personnel to
connect their hose to the system.
Fire department connection (FDC) also called a Siamese connection is a means of providing an
auxiliary water supply for a water-based suppression system— including automatic sprinkler
systems and standpipe systems.
FDCs come in various sizes—from 11⁄2 in. for residential systems, 21⁄2 in. for most other buildings,
and up to 4 to 5 in. for very large buildings. The FDC should be no less than 18 in. and no more
than 48 in. above grade.

Portable fire extinguishers can serve as a first line of defense against fires of limited size, even
property equipped with auto-sprinklers or other fixed protection equipment.
The following are the criteria for selecting fire extinguishers:
• Type and severity (size, intensity, and speed of travel) of potential fire hazard
• Environmentalconditions of potential fire hazard (ambient air temperature conditions,
presence of fumes, etc.)
• Effectiveness of extinguisher on potential fire hazard
• Ease of use
• Suitability for its environment
• Any
anticipated adverse chemical reactions between the extinguishing agent and the burning
materials
General guidelines for fire extinguishers state that:
• Fireextinguishers on accessible routes must be configured so that they do not protrude
more than 4 in.
• The authority with jurisdiction over the location dictates the number, type, and
placement of fire extinguishers and fire- extinguisher cabinets.
• All extinguishers without wheels must be installed on hangers or brackets, mounted in
cabinets, or set on shelves. Extinguishers weighing up to 40 lb. should be no more than 5
ft. above the floor. The top of extinguishers with a gross weight greater than 40 lb.
should be no more than 3 ft-6 in. above the floor. All operable parts must be within
accessible-reach ranges.
Fire extinguishers rated for Class B fires are placed at a maximum travel distance of 50 ft. from
the hazard (smaller rated extinguishers are placed no more than 30 ft. from the hazard). Fire
extinguishers rated for Class C fires are required in locations with energized electrical equipment
that would require a nonconducting extinguishing medium. For Class D fires, extinguishers are
located not more than 75 ft. from the Class D hazard.