Fire protection

Public sign warning of the highest le vel of fire

hazard at a campsite in Germany

Fire protection is the study and practice

of mitigating the unwanted effects of
potentially destructive fires.[1] It involves
the study of the behaviour,
compartmentalisation, suppression and
investigation of fire and its related
emergencies, as well as the research and
development, production, testing and
application of mitigating systems. In
structures, be they land-based, offshore
or even ships, the owners and operators
are responsible to maintain their facilities
in accordance with a design-basis that is
rooted in laws, including the local
building code and fire code, which are
enforced by the Authority Having
Jurisdiction.

Buildings must be constructed in

accordance with the version of the
building code that is in effect when an
application for a building permit is made.
Building inspectors check on compliance
of a building under construction with the
building code. Once construction is
complete, a building must be maintained
in accordance with the current fire code,
which is enforced by the fire prevention
officers of a local fire department. In the
event of fire emergencies, Firefighters,
fire investigators, and other fire
prevention personnel called to mitigate,
investigate and learn from the damage of
a fire. Lessons learned from fires are
applied to the authoring of both building
codes and fire codes.

Classifying fires
Classifying fires
When deciding on what fire protection is
appropriate for any given situation, it is
important to assess the types of fire
hazard that may be faced.

Some jurisdictions operate systems of

classifying fires using code letters.
Whilst these may agree on some
classifications, they also vary. Below is a
table showing the standard operated in
Europe and Australia against the system
used in the United States.
 North
Type of Fire Australia European
America

Fires that involve flammable solids such as wood, cloth,

Class A Class A Class A
rubber, paper, and some types of plastics.

Fires that involve flammable liquids or liquefiable solids such

as petrol/gasoline, oil, paint, some waxes & plastics, but not Class B Class B Class B
cooking fats or oils

Fires that involve flammable gases, such as natural gas,

Class C Class C
hydrogen, propane, butane

Fires that involve combustible metals, such as sodium,

Class D Class D Class D
magnesium, and potassium

(Class E)
Fires that involve any of the materials found in Class A and B
now no
fires, but with the introduction of an electrical appliances,
longer in
wiring, or other electrically energized objects in the vicinity of Class E1 Class C
the
the fire, with a resultant electrical shock risk if a conductive
European
agent is used to control the fire.
standards

Fires involving cooking fats and oils. The high temperature of

the oils when on fire far exceeds that of other flammable Class F Class F Class K
liquids making normal extinguishing agents ineffective.

1 Technically there is no such thing as a

"Class E" fire, as electricity itself does not
burn. However it is considered a
dangerous and very deadly complication
to a fire, therefore using the incorrect
extinguishing method can result in
serious injury or death. Class E, however
generally refers to fires involving
electricity, therefore a bracketed E, "(E)"
denoted on various types of
extinguishers.[2]

Fires are sometimes categorized as "one

alarm", "two alarm", "three alarm" (or
higher) fires. There is no standard
definition for what this means
quantifiably, though it always refers to
the level response by the local
authorities. In some cities, the numeric
rating refers to the number of fire
stations that have been summoned to
the fire. In others, the number counts the
number of "dispatches" for additional
personnel and equipment.[3][4]
Components
Fire protection in land-based buildings,
offshore construction or onboard ships is
typically achieved via all of the following:

Passive fire protection - the

installation of firewalls and fire rated
floor assemblies to form fire
compartments intended to limit the
spread of fire, high temperatures, and
smoke.
Active fire protection - manual and
automatic detection and suppression of
fires, such as fire sprinkler systems and
(fire alarm) systems.
 Education - the provision of
information regarding passive and active
fire protection systems to building
owners, operators, occupants, and
emergency personnel so that they have a
working understanding of the intent of
these systems and how they perform in
the fire safety plan.

Balanced Approach
Passive fire protection (PFP) in the form
of compartmentalisation was developed
prior to the invention of or widespread
use of active fire protection (AFP), mainly
in the form of automatic fire sprinkler
systems. During this time, PFP was the
dominant mode of protection provided in
facility designs. With the widespread
installation of fire sprinklers in the past
50 years, the reliance on PFP as the only
approach was reduced. Lobby groups are
typically divided into two camps
favouring active or passive fire
protection. Each camp tries to garner
more business for itself through its
influence in establishing or changing
local and national building and fire
codes.

The relatively recent inclusion of

performance based or objective based
codes, which have a greater emphasis on
life safety than property protection, tend
to support AFP initiatives, and can lead
to the justification for a lesser degree of
fire resistant rated construction. At times
it works the other way around, as
firewalls that protrude through the roof
structure are used to "sub-divide"
buildings such that the separated parts
are of smaller area and contain smaller
fire hazards, and do not necessarily
require sprinklers.

The decision to favour AFP versus PFP in

the design of a new building may be
affected by the lifecycle costs. Lifecycle
costs can be shifted from capital to
operational budgets and vice versa.

Building Operation in

conformance with Design

conformance with Design
Fire protection within a structure is a
system that relies on all of its
components. The building is designed in
compliance with the local building code
and fire code by the architect and other
consultants. A building permit is issued
after review by the Authority Having
Jurisdiction (AHJ).

Deviations from that original plan should

be made known to the AHJ to make sure
that the change is still in compliance with
the law to prevent any unsafe conditions
that may violate the law and put people
at risk. For example, if the firestop
systems in a structure were inoperable, a
significant part of the fire safety plan
might be compromised in the event of a
fire because the walls and floors that
contain the firestops are intended to have
a fire-resistance rating. Likewise, if the
sprinkler system or fire alarm system is
inoperable for lack of proper
maintenance, the likelihood of damage or
personal injury is increased.

See also
Fire prevention
Automatic fire suppression
Occupancy
Building code
Firefighting
 Fire test
Listing and approval use and
compliance
Passive fire protection
Compartmentalization
Firestop
Intumescent
Endothermic
Firestop pillow
Fire door
Fireproofing
Fire-resistance rating
Active fire protection
External water spray system
Fire Sprinkler
 Fire alarm
Fire alarm system
Fire alarm control panel
Fire detection
Manual call point
False alarm
Sprinkler Systems
Smoke Alarm
Hypoxic air fire prevention system
Gaseous fire suppression
Condensed aerosol fire suppression
Fire protection engineering
Flame detector
Fire Equipment Manufacturers'
Association
Notes
1. NFPA Fire Protection Handbook, pg. 2-
19
2. New South Wales Rural Fire Service VF
- (2005) Village Firefighter Manual, pg 16.
3. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2007-
11-23.
4.
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_39/fo
uralarmfire.html

Further reading
Huang, Kai. 2009. Population and
Building Factors That Impact Residential
Fire Rates in Large U.S. Cities. Applied
Research Project. Texas State University.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/287/ .

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media
 
related to Fire Protection.

National Fire Protection Association

(US)
National Fire Sprinkler Association
(US)
Fire Equipment Manufacturers'
Association (US)
The Fire Safety Advice Centre (UK)
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Fire_protection&oldid=785062886"

Last edited 26 days ago by Eno Lirp…

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