FIRE SAFETY

FIRE
Due to increasing population and lesser space availability in urban areas, a Large Percentage
of urban residents spend much of their time in tall Buildings: houses, offices, hotels,
hospitals, schools, colleges etc.
In such buildings, in the event of fire, fire control and evacuation of occupants has always
been a challenge.
Fire: Causes and classification of fire:
Fire is the rapid oxidisation of
combustible materials producing Class A: Ordinary combustibles or
heat and light. fibrous material, such as wood, paper,
The essential components of a cloth, rubber, and some plastics.
fire are:
Class B: Flammable or combustible
Combustible material(fuel) liquids such as gasoline, kerosene,
Oxygen paint, paint thinners and propane.
Heat
Class C: Energized electrical
equipment, such as appliances,
switches, panel boxes and power tools.

Class D: Certain combustible metals,

such as magnesium, titanium,
potassium, and sodium.
 FIRE
SPREAD
CAUSES OF FIRE SPREAD:
Linings of walls and ceilings can be an important factor in
the spread of a fire and its gaining hold.
Light Construction Methods
False Ceiling
Central Air Conditioning System
Use Plastics for covering of interior
Furniture

COMBUSTIBILITY:
The material which either burns itself or adds heat to a fire,
when tested for non-combustibility.

In the U.K., a numbered system categorises the levels

of fire spread and combustibility: 0 with highest
performance which is non combustible throughout.
followed by classes 1,2,3……
 FIRE
PREVENTION
• CATEGORIZATION OF BUIDINGS INTO GROUPS:
Group A Residential
Group B Educational
Group C Institutional
Group D Assembly
Group E Business
Group F Mercantile
Group G Industrial
Group H Storage
Group J Hazardous
• CATEGORIZATION OF CITY INTO DIFFERENT ZONES BASED ON FIRE
HAZARD INHERENT IN THE BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES
ACCORDING TO OCCUPANCY.

• TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION
The design of any building and the type of materials used in its construction are
important factors :
In making the building resistant to a complete burn-out
In preventing the rapid spread of fire, smoke or fumes, which may otherwise contribute
to the loss of lives and property.
 FIRE
PREVENTION
The types of construction according to fire resistance shall be classified into four
categories, namely,
Type 1 Construction (All Structural Components Have 4-hour Fire Resistance)
Type 2 Construction (All Structural Components Have 3-hour Fire Resistance)
Type 3 Construction (All Structural Components Have 2-hour Fire Resistance)
Type 4 Construction (All Structural Components Have 1-hour Fire Resistance)
 The fire resistance of a building or its structural and non-structural elements is
expressed in hours against a specified fire load which is expressed in kcal/m2.
 For buildings 15 m in height or above non-combustible materials should be used for
construction and the internal walls of staircase enclosures should be of brick work or
reinforced concrete or any other material of construction with minimum of 2 h rating.

• MAXIMUM HEIGHT
Every building shall be restricted in its height above the ground level and the number of
storeys, depending upon its occupancy and the type of construction.
 LIFE HAZARDS
Fire hazards are of the following three types:
1.Exposure hazard
2.Internal Hazard
3.Personal Hazard

Exposure Hazard: Sometimes fire spreads into a building through the open air from
fire in adjacent buildings or from across a road or other divisions of the same building.

Internal Hazard: This type of hazard concerns damage or destruction of the building
itself.

Personal Hazard: The possibility of loss or damage to the life is referred to as the
personal hazard. The fire safety provisions should be liberally provided for this type
of hazard.
 LIFE
SAFETY
Every building shall be so constructed, equipped, maintained and operated as to avoid
undue danger to the life and safety of the occupants from fire, smoke, fumes or panic
during the time period necessary for escape.
•Every exit, shall be maintained free of all obstructions ,to full use in the case of fire or
other emergency.
•No building shall be so altered as to reduce the number, width or protection of exits to
less than that required.
•Fire doors with 2 h fire resistance shall be provided at appropriate places along the
escape route and particularly at the entrance to lift lobby and stair well.
•Exits shall be so located that the travel distance on the floor shall not exceed the specified
distance.
•Whenever more than one exit is required for any room space or floor of a building, exits
shall be placed as remote from each other.
•All buildings, which are 15 m in height or above, having area more than 500 m2 on each
floor shall have a minimum of two staircases
•Every exit doorway shall open into an enclosed stairway or a horizontal exit of a corridor
or passageway providing continuous and protected means of egress.
•No exit doorway shall be less than 1000 mm in width. Doorways shall be not less than
2000 mm in height.

Exits :
1. Corridors and passageways
2. Internal staircases
3. External Stairs
4. Horizontal Exits
5. Fire Lifts
6. Fire Tower
LIFE
SAFETY
Corridor:
Exit corridors and passageways shall be of width
not less 750mm in case of wheelchair 900m and
standard should be 1050mm of exit doorways.
The height of corridors and passageways shall be
Not less than 2.4 m.
 Width of staircase:
STAIRCASE: LIFE a) Residential buildings (dwellings) 1.0 m
Internal stairs shall be constructed of non b) Residential hotel buildings 1.5 m
combustible materials throughout.
SAFETY c) Assembly buildings like auditorium, 2.0 m
Internal stairs shall be constructed as a self theatres and cinemas
contained unit with an external wall of the d) Educational buildings up to 30 m in 1.5
building constituting at least one of its sides and m
shall be completely enclosed. height
e) Institutional buildings like hospitals 2.0
m
f) All other buildings 1.5 m

Tread = 250mm for residential

=300mm for hotels. Educational
buildings, office buildings etc.
Riser = 190mm for residences
150mm for all other.
Handrails shall be provided at a height of
1 000 mm to be measured from the base of
the middle of the treads to the top of the
handrails.
Headroom – 2.2m
 LIFE
Pressurization of staircase: SAFETY
•Pressurization is a method adopted for protected escape routes against ingress of
smoke, especially in high-rise buildings.
•In pressurization, air is injected into the staircases, lobbies or corridors, to raise their
pressure slightly above the pressure in adjacent parts of the building. As a result,
ingress of smoke or toxic gases into the escape routes will be prevented.
•The pressurization of staircases shall be adopted for high rise buildings and building
having mixed occupancy/ multiplexes having covered area more than 500 m2.
Pressurization system may be of two types:
a) Single-stage - designed for operation only in the event of an emergency, and
b) Two-stage - where normally a level of pressurization is maintained in the protected
escape routes and an increased level of pressurization can be brought into operation
in an emergency.

The pressurization system can be interconnected with the automatic/manual fire alarm
system for actuation.

Wherever pressurized staircase is to be connected to un-pressurized area, the two areas

shall be segregated.
 LIFE
External Staircase: SAFETY
•All external stairs shall be directly connected to the ground.
•External stairs shall have straight flight not less than 1250 mm wide with 250 mm
treads and risers not more than 190 mm. The number of risers shall be limited to 15 per
flight.
•Handrails shall be of a height not less than 1000 mm and not exceeding 1200 mm.
•A spiral stair case shall be not less than 1500 mm in Diameter and shall be designed to
give adequate Headroom.

Horizontal Exits:
•The width of horizontal exit shall be same as for the exit doorways.
•For buildings more than 24 m in height, refuge area of 15 m2 , shall be provided on the
periphery of the floor or preferably on a cantilever projection and open to air at least on
one side protected with suitable railings.
 EMERGENCY AND ESCAPE
LIGHTING
Emergency lighting shall be powered from a source independent of that supplying the
normal lighting.
Escape lighting shall be capable of:
a) Indicating clearly the escape routes,
b) Providing adequate illumination along such routes to allow safe movement of persons
towards and through the exits,

Escape lighting luminaries should be sited to cover the following locations:

•Near each intersection of corridors, at each exit door,
•Near each change of direction in the escape route,
•Near each staircase so that each flight of stairs receives direct light,
•Near any other change of floor level,
•Outside each final exit and close to it,
•Near each fire alarm call point,
•Near fire-fighting equipment, and
•To illuminate exit and safety signs as required by the enforcing authority.
 FIRE
PROTECTION
OBJECTIVES:
•To reduce the possibility of outbreak of fire.
•To provide adequate facilities for early evacuation of occupants
•To control the spread of fire.

Fire Protection Measures:

ACTIVE
PASSIVE
Related to building planning: Installation of alarms, fire & smoke
Fire tight cells, fire escapes, detectors and equipment for
ventilation automatic fire extinguishing
 FIRE
PROTECTION

FIRE ALARM SYSTEM FIRE EXTINGUISHING

DETECTION SYSTEMS
 FIRE
1. FIRE DETECTION: PROTECTION
In buildings of such size, arrangement or occupancy where a fire may not itself provide
adequate warning to occupants, automatic fire detection and alarm facilities shall be
provided, where necessary, to warn occupants early of the existence of fire, so that
they
may escape, and to facilitate the orderly conduct of fire exit drills.
 These are installed to detect fire at its various stages:
Invisible Smoke
Visible Smoke
Flame
Heat
Common Detectors:
Heat Detectors: These use the principle of melting of metals, Expansion of gases
and liquids and electric current.
Smoke Detectors: They give a much quicker response as smoke is produced in the
early stages of fire.
Radiation Detectors: They are based on the radiant energy in a fire in the form of
visible light and U.V. radiation.
 FIRE
Heat Detectors: PROTECTION
Heat detectors are used where smoking is permitted and
in other situations where a smoke detector could be
inadvertently actuated by process work in the building,
e.g. A factory.
Detectors are designed to identify a fire in its more
advanced stage, so their response time is longer than
smoke detectors.

Bi-metallic coil type : Heat passes through the cover to

the bi-metal coils. Initially the lower coil receives greater
heat than the upper coil. The lower coil responds by
making contact with the upper coil
To complete an electrical alarm circuit.

Heat Sensitive Cable: Consists of two wires insulated

and in contact. They become active when insulation melts
at rated temperature.
 FIRE
Smoke Detectors:
PROTECTION
Ionisation Smoke Detector :
Positive and negative charged plate electrodes attract
opposingly charged ions.
If smoke enters the unit, particles attach to the ions
slowing their movement.
This reduction in current flow actuates an electronic relay
circuit to operate an alarm.

Light scattering smoke detector :

A light beam projects onto a light trap into which it is
absorbed.
When smoke enters the detector, some of the light beam
is deflected upwards onto a photo-electric cell.
This light energises the cell to produce an electric current
which activates the alarm relay.
 FIRE
2. ALARM SYSTEM: PROTECTION
To give adequate warning to the occupants of a building of the approach of fire.
Manual Alarm System: Operated manually
Sounding devices such as sirens, hand bells, near main exits and passages which are
readily accessible.
Automatic Alarm System:
These operate automatically in case of fire detection.
These alarm on detection of fire, sends information to the nearest control point and
at the same time message to the fire brigade station is also conveyed for fire
fighting.
 FIRE
PROTECTION
3. FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEMS:
a) Normally Operated Equipment:
Portable Fire Extinguishers
 Carbon Dioxide type
 Foam Extinguishers
 Water Extinguishers
 Dry Powder Extinguishers
 Buckets of water, sand
 Asbestos blankets

WATER EXTINGUISHERS FOAM EXTINGUISHERS DRY POWDER EXTINGUISHERS

ARE COMPLETELY RED ARE RED WITH A BLUE ARE RED WITH A WHITE
BAND OR LABEL BAND OR LABEL
 FIRE
Wet Riser : PROTECTION
A wet riser is suitable in any building where hydrant
installations are specified.
It is essential in buildings where floor levels are
higher than that served by a dry riser, i.e. greater than
60 m above fire service vehicle access level.
To maintain water at the required pressure and
delivery rate, it is usually necessary to install pumping
equipment.
 FIRE
c) Sprinklers: PROTECTION

 Water sprinklers provide an automatic spray dedicated to the area of fire outbreak.
 Sprinkler heads have temperature sensitive elements that respond immediately to
heat, discharging the contents of the water main to which they are attached.
 In addition to a rapid response which reduces and isolates fire damage, sprinklers
use less water to control a fire than the fire fighting service, therefore preventing
further damage from excess water.

The simplest application is to attach and suspend sprinkler heads from a water main
fixed at ceiling level.
TYPES OF SPRINKLER HEADS:
 FIRE
PROTECTION
 The specification of a sprinkler system will depend on the purpose intended for a
building, its content, function, occupancy, size and disposition of rooms. Installations to
commercial and industrial premises may be of the following type:

Wet system :
The simplest and most widely
used application.
The pipework is permanently
charged with water.
Suitable in premises, where
temperatures remain above
zero.
Maximum number of
sprinklers on one control valve
is 1000.
All pipework is permanently
pressure charged with water
and the sprinkler heads
usually attach to the underside
of the range pipes.
 FIRE
Dry and Alternate Wet-and-Dry Sprinkler:
PROTECTION
Dry or an alternate wet-and-dry sprinkle system
may be used in buildings that are unheated.
Dry Sprinklers: Installation pipework above the
differential valve is permanently charged with
compressed air.
When a fire fractures a sprinkler head, the
compressed air escapes to allow the retained
water to displace the differential valve and flow
to the broken sprinkler.
Alternate Wet-and-dry System
A wet system for most of the year,
but during the winter months it functions as a
dry system.
The dry part of the system above the differential
valve is charged with compressed air at about
200 kPa.
When a sprinkler is fractured, an automatic
booster pump can be used to rapidly exhaust the
air and improve water flow.
Sprinkler heads are fitted above the range
pipes which are slightly inclined to allow the
system to be fully drained.
 FIRE
PROTECTION
There are various sources of water supply that may be used for sprinkler applications.
Elevated private reservoir
Suction tank
Gravity tank
River or canal
 FIRE
PROTECTION
Pipework Distribution to Sprinklers:
The arrangement of pipework will depend on the building shape and layout, the position
of the riser pipe and the number of sprinkler heads required.

Buildings are assessed by fire risk and categorised by fire load as a hazard according to
their purpose and content:
Light hazard (LH) : low fire load and containing no single compartment exceeding 126
m2 floor area with fire resistance of at least 30 min. Examples include educational
premises, prisons and offices.
 General Rules for Fire Resisting Building System

1. Walls and Columns

2. Floors and Roofs
3. Wall Openings
4. Escape Elements
5. Strong Room Construction