5.

FIRE SAFETY IN BUILDINGS

GENERAL ISSUES

Occurrence and Causes of Fire

Occurrence of fire in a building is included

into the category of extraordinary actions, similar

to explosions, earthquakes et al. Such an
exceptional event may occur with a certain
probability during the life of a given building.
Although this probability is relatively small for
1

each building considered individually, the number

of constructions world- wide affected by the fire
every year is quite large and social economical
consequences are extremely important.
The fire action has certain peculiarities, which
makes it completely different from other actions.
A fire once initiated feeds itself until all
combustible
respective

materials
space

existing

self-ignite

due

inside

the

to

high

temperature. This phenomenon is currently

known as flash-over, meaning a generalised
fire inside a certain enclosed space or volume.

 Generally speaking, fires are caused either by

lack of knowledge on the matter or by inadequate
or

insufficient

measures

applied

for

fire

protection.
More specifically, among the causes that generate
or amplify fire in buildings one should mention in
the first place:
4

excessive

or/and

inadequate

storage

of

combustible materials;
- leakage or spilling of fuel or other flammable
liquids present under normal service conditions in
buildings;
- explosion of gases or other chemical matters;
- fireworks;
- deficient electrical installations or appliances;
- negligence and deficiencies in buildings
utilisation;
- lightning;
-self-ignition

of

crops,

woods

or

other

combustible matters outside the buildings, due to

excessive heat and drought;
- criminal actions.

Temperature Variation vs. Time During a Fire

Inside a compartment set on fire, it has been
found

that

temperature

variation

vs.

time

generally follows a pattern emphasising three

phases, as represented schematically in Fig. 4.1.

During the first phase, when temperature

currently does not exceed 200C, the amount of

heat produced is very small with respect to the
volume of the compartment set on fire. This phase
of fire may last from a few minutes to several
hours or even days .The propagation of burning
process contributes in the beginning to a slow
raising of temperature, which eventually is
accelerated up to a critical level of self-ignition of
materials and compartment contents. The fire
6

becomes generalised (flash-over) and the

process enters its second phase.

At the beginning of the second phase there

is a sharp raise in temperature (510 times),

which frequently reaches 1500C or more and
remains quite constant for a while, until the
compartment thermal load is consumed.
From the viewpoint of investigation of
buildings behaviour when exposed to fire action,
this phase is of most interest.
After this moment, the fire process enters its
third phase, which usually lasts for a long
period of time. The temperature drops rather
quickly in the beginning, but decreases very
slowly afterwards.
7

temperature

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

flash-over
time

Fig.4.1. Temperature vs. Time Relationship

During a Real Fire Smoke A Primary Threat
to Life
A fire always generates combustion gases and
smoke; the latter consists of fine solid or liquid
particles, remains of combustion drawn by hot
gases.

 Despite the common belief that flames are the

immediate danger, it is smoke the primary threat
to life in actual fires. Choking, blinding and, very
possibly, lethally hot or poisonous, the smoke can
quickly disorientate and kill people far from the
seat of a fire. Sleeping people in residential
buildings may never live to wake up and try to
escape.
The movement of smoke in buildings set on
fire is extremely important. Many cases have
been recorded when a relatively small fire had
produced a large amount of smoke, hampering
evacuation of people and generating panic and
casualties.

Overall Considerations on Measures Aimed at

Ensuring Protection Against Fire
Generally speaking, there are two broad
categories of measures to be taken in order to
provide adequate fire protection.
Passive measures consist in devising and
applying appropriate design provision concerning
the layout, planning and detailing of buildings, so
that:
- the possibility of fire occurrence be reduced as
much as possible;
-

fire be contained in the area ( compartment )

where it has occurred and its spreading be
prevented. The limitation of fire propagation is
primarily based on the capacity of fire
10

resistance provided by certain building elements

such as floors, walls, doors, shutters, hatches
etc;
-

people be allowed to get out of the building set

on fire, through purposely created escape
routes;

- interventions

from exterior be facilitated in

order to fight the fire.

Active measures consist in providing special
devices, equipment and installations aimed at:
-

detecting incipient fire( activated by smoke,

heat or flames);
-

triggering fire alarm, inside and outside the

building;
-

keeping the fire in a confined area, either by

automatically triggered devices(e.g. sprinklers,

11

drenchers using water, chemical foams, inert

gasesetc) or by people-handled means (e.g. hoses
connected to hydrants, portable extinguishers
with foam, carbon dioxide, aerosols etc), till the
arrival of fire-intervention squads.
One must stress the fact, confirmed by
experience acquired during past fires, that to rely
primarily upon the fire service to save people
from buildings does not represent good politics
and a correct approach. This is in no way to
discount the fire services vital work, but simply
to recognise that, if a building has to rely on
outside help only to save its occupants, then it has
failed.

12

PROPERTIES AND BEHAVIOUR OF

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND
ELEMENTS EXPOSED TO HIGH
TEMPERATURES
The resistance against fire represents the most
important exigency addressed to both structural
and non-structural elements, with respect to the
conditions imposed by fire outbreak in a building.
It expresses the capacity of the respective
element to maintain, during the fire, its specific
functions

(e.g.

mechanical

resistance,

partitioning, insulation etc.).

A quantification of fire resistance is

currently based on the so-called fire resistance

rating (or limit of fire resistance), meaning the
period of time (measured in hours or
minutes) during which the element under
13

consideration is able to maintain its specific

functions, when subjected to fire action.
Obviously, this assessment is relevant only if
the fire severity is stipulated.
To this aim, a standard fire testing procedure
has been worked out, making use of a standard
curve for temperature-time relationship.
The standard curve introduced by I.S.O. is
intended to express an equivalence between the
quantity of heat developed during a standard fire
and that corresponding to actual fires having the
same duration
The combustibility of construction materials
and elements is given by their capacity to ignite
and keep on burning, thus contributing to increase
the heat quantity produced by the fire.
14

Depending

on

their

behaviour

to

fire,

construction materials and elements can be noncombustible ( class Co ) or combustible. These

latter are further classified according to present
Romanian regulations into the following classes
of combustibility:
- practically non-flammable (C1);
- hardly flammable (C2 );
- slightly flammable (C3 );
- easily flammable (C4 );
Based on furnace tests and experience, and
applying some specific I.S.O. criteria, any
combustible construction material and element is
assigned to one of the above classes of
combustibility. Rather empirically, materials that
ignite when in direct contact with the fire, burn as
15

long as this contact is maintained and selfextinguish after cease of contact, are currently
included into class C1 or C2. Similarly, materials
that ignite under the action of fire and heat, burn
with flames, are charred and smoulder after
removal of heat source, are included into class C3
or C4.
FIRE

RISK

AND

DEGREE

OF

FIRE

RESISTANCE
Exigencies and Performance Criteria Related
to Fire Safety of Buildings

The assessment of buildings performance

concerning fire safety can be done based on the

following main exigencies, which have to be
addressed to either the whole building system,
to its subsystems structure, enclosure, partitions,
16

or to its elements (e.g. exterior and interior

walls, floors, roof, etc);
- stability
- tightness;
- thermal insulation.

Stability means the capacity of the structure

as a whole and of the structural elements to

avoid

collapse

as

well

as

excessive

deformations during the phase of heating and,

respectively, of cooling. The latter is currently
estimated to last about 24 hours after the
consumption of thermal load.
Tightness is expressed by the capacity of
partitioning elements(walls, floors) to prevent
flames and hot gases to penetrate into building
17

compartments adjacent to the one where a fire

has broken out. This generally implies absence
of cracks or dislocations.
Thermal insulation represents in this case
the capacity of partitioning elements to reduce
excessive heat transfer from the face oriented
towards

the

fire

to

the

opposite

one.

Accordingly, the temperature on this latter face

should not exceed 150200C, in order to
avoid self - ignition of combustible materials.

Specific

technical

regulations

set

up

different values for fire rating (or limit of fire

resistance) are corresponding to each of the
exigencies previously mentioned.

18

 When considering the building as a whole,

the following two exigencies are of paramount
importance:
- reduction of the risk of fire breaking out and
evolving inside the building;
- reduction of the possibility of fire propagation
between neighbouring buildings.

19

BASIC DESIGN PROVISIONS

Life safety is obviously a major concern in
building design. From the viewpoint of the
building structure, the most relevant elements of
fire resistance are:
- combustibility of the structure. If structural
materials are combustible, they contribute fuel to
the fire as well as hasten the collapse of the
structure;
- loss of strength and stiffness at high
temperature. This consists of a race against time,
from the moment of fire burst to the failure of the
structure a long interval increasing the chance
for the occupants to escape;

20

- containment of fire. Fire usually starts at a

single location, and preventing its spread is a
strong requirement.
Protection of Neighbouring Buildings
There is the risk that fire may spread from
one building to another. Many of today provisions
aiming at reducing as much as possible this risk
stem from past disaster experience showing what
can happen without proper fire-spread control.
The threat can be by flames and hot gases
directly. It can be also by flying brands, which
have been known to ignite buildings as much as
half a kilometre from a fire outbreak. It can be by
radiation as well; timber facades can be ignited at
50 m distance, and even if neighbouring buildings
are not ignited directly, they can be heated to the
21

point where ignition by flying brands is more

likely to occur.
The chance of fire spread between an
exposing and an exposed building depends on
many factors, such as:
- their distance apart;
- fire severity, potentially depending on what and
how much there is to burn, i.e. on the thermal
load. This, in turn, depends on the exposing
buildings construction type and use, on its size
or, more exactly, the maximum size of any
compartment within the building in which fire
occurs. Logically, compartmentation within a
building

increase

its

effective

compartmentation from its neighbours;

-

fire resistance of

the enclosures and, most

immediately, the exposing enclosure, including

22

the extent to which its area is perforated by

doors, windows (and sometimes roof-lights);
-

combustibility of both buildings enclosure

surfaces.
In accordance with Romanian regulations,
in order to avoid the propagation of fire during an
appropriately established period of time, as well
as the potential damage to neighbouring buildings
in case of collapse of the building on fire, the
distances between buildings must not be less than
the values given in Table 4.3.

23

Table 4.3.
Minimum Distances
Buildings Required for Fire Safety

Between

Minimum
Degree of fire distances(m)
with
resistance of the respect to
building under buildings having the
consideration
degree
of
fire
resistance
I ,II
III
IV, V
I , II
1
6
8
0
III
1
1
8
0
2
IV, V
1
1
1
0
2
5

24

Overall Planning Issues

Fire safety-based planning of buildings
aims at creating proper condition for:
- evacuation ( escape) of buildings occupants;
- limitation of fire propagation and smoke;
- efficient intervention from outside.
Evacuation of buildings users, cannot be
strictly limited to indoor circulation; it is also
dependent on building location, having to account
for the possibility of people to move away from
the building on fire.
Limitation of fire propagation and smoke
eviction means provision of obstacles inside the
building (e.g. walls, floors, water curtains etc.),
able to ensure the containment of fire within well
25

defined compartments and proper ventilation

systems. It also means avoidance of fire
propagation from one building to another, either
by obstacles similar to the indoor ones or by
provision of safe distances between buildings.
On the other hand, certain correlations are
necessary to be established between building
function, maximum number of storeys and degree
of fire resistance.
Prompt

and

efficient

intervention

of

emergency services from outside implies easy

access of fire engines and ambulances close to the
building set on fire, as well as easy access of fire
fighting teams inside the building. They
normally follow functional circulation paths
(lobbies, stairs, corridors) that also serve as
escape routes for buildings occupants.
26

Fig.4.15. Escape Provision by Having Alternative Routes:

a unsafe building;
b much safer building.

Fig.4.16. Provision of Alternative Escape Exits from Large Rooms and Spaces
27

Fig.4.17. Example of Hotel Floor Where Compartimentation

Ensures That the Two Stairways Are Truly Alternatives to
Escapers And That Any Fire Outbreak Is Confined to Its
Floor of Origin

28

Fig.4.18. Stair Tower Compartmented as Fully Protected

Refuge

29

Fig.4.19. Some Measures Preventing Fire from Bypassing

Internal Compartments/Divisions Via the Enclosure

The evacuation of smoke and hot gases can

be achieved by:
- organised natural draught;
- mechanical draught;
- pressurisation of the protected space with
respect to the space on fire;
30

- combination of the above procedures.

Smoke evacuation by organised natural

draught implies communication with the outside,

either directly (through air-intake openings and
vents) or indirectly (through ducts), so achieved
that appropriate air circulation within the
protected space is obtained, with subsequent
smoke evacuation.
The admission of air can be ensured
through:
- faade wall openings;
- doors in the exterior walls of protected rooms;
- pressurisation or efficient aeration of rooms and
corridors;
- not enclosed stairways;
- air-intake holes, either linked or not to ducts.
31

Fig.4.20. Successive Phases of Smoke Spreading and

Stratification in a One Storey Building Without Indoor
Compartimentation
32

Fig.4.21. Smoke Spreading and Accumulation in a Large

Size Room

33

Fig.4.22. Smoke Spreading in a Multi-Storey Building

34

smoke evacuation hatch

smoke evacuation
hatch

Fig.4.23. Examples of Smoke Evacuation in Single Storey

Public Buildings, Through Organised Natural Draught
35

Fig.4.24. Smoke Evacuation Through Organised Natural

Draught Applied
for Enclosed Spaces Over 10000 m 2,
Without Partition Walls

The evacuation of smoke can be provided

through:
- faade wall openings, kept either open or closed
by automatically triggered
openable devices in case of fire;
- ducts or fireproof shafts;
36

- automatically triggered hatches, located either at

roof level or in the upper third of rooms exterior
walls.
Some typical examples for single-storey
buildings with public functions are schematically
shown in Figs. 4.23. and 4.24. The latter should
be applied where the enclosed space to be
protected has a built area over 10000m2 and there
are no partition walls.
Smoke evacuation by mechanical draught
implies mechanical removal of
smoke, together with either natural or mechanical
admission of fresh air, so organised that an
efficient air circulation within the protected space
is obtained, accompanied by elimination of
smoke.
37

Alternatively, mechanical devices can be

provided to create pressurisation of the smokeprotected space.
Fig.4.25. Smoke Evacuation from Enclosed Staircases,

Without Windows, Through Organised Natural Draughts:

- hatch provided at roof levels
- hatch provided in topmost-storey staircase
wall

38

Fig.4.26. Smoke Evacuation in Multi-Storey Buildings,

Through Mechanical Draught:
a mechanical admission of air into staircase
and natural evacuation of smoke from adjoining spaces;
b natural admission of air into staircase and
mechanical evacuation of smoke from adjoining spaces.
39

40

Fig.4.27. Mechanical Smoke Evacuation in High -Rise and Tall

Buildings:
a mechanical admission of air into staircase, buffer rooms
and
common horizontal circulation plus mechanical evacuation from
buffer rooms and common horizontal circulation;
b mechanical admission of air into staircases and buffer
rooms, plus mechanical evacuation of smoke from common
horizontal circulation.

Additional Provisions
Automatic fire detectors and a proper
alarm, are by no means essential to fire safety in
buildings.
41

 Fire-extinguishing is the most important

precaution and, certainly, it is the one that comes
first to many peoples minds when thinking of fire
safety.
Extinguishers are normally water-filled but
modern

types

contain

carbon

dioxide

for

flammable liquids. Hoses can be supplied directly

off the mains, possibly pump-assisted to give
adequate head. Alternatively, there can be waterstorage tanking within the building, either located
high enough for gravity feed or, again, pumped.
Sprinkler systems first developed in the
1870s in the USA for protecting high-hazard
industrial buildings are increasingly used today,
wherever the fire risk to life and property is high
enough to justify their considerable expense.
They are reliable, highly effective and, in any
42

unsupervised area, have the enormous advantage

of coming on automatically.

43