Fire Incidents - Soccer Stadium Fire in Bradford England - Assignment Example

Name : Lecturer : Subject : Date : Fire Incident Report: Building Fires Case Studies 1. Introduction It is a common knowledge that fire can only start when there is sufficient supply of fuel and it can be triggered intentionally or accidentally. The principle of fire prevention and safety covers protection of people and property, both in the building and in the surrounding areas. The activities in fire prevention and safety can be categorized as engineering, education, and enforcement functions. Fire safety and other interrelated sub-systems work together to prevent and control fires within a building. This report will discuss and analyse various fire and explosion disasters in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It includes discussion on fire safety engineering issues surrounding the incidents and recommendations to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future. 2. Fire Case Studies 2.1 Soccer Stadium Fire- Bradford England At around 3:00 pm of May 11, 1985, 56 people died and 300 were injured when a fire broke up at an outdoor soccer stadium in Bradford, England. The fire began in an accumulated trash between the wood bleachers that most probably was ignited by lighted cigarettes. The fire spread and ignited the lightweight materials used in the construction of the wood bleachers. As the fire develops, smoke and heat mounted up in the roof cavity and moved to the rear concourse. The report says the rapid growth and spread of fire was significantly influenced by the roof structure and quantities of existing fuels. According to NFPA, factors contributed to the fire spread and subsequent loss of life includes ignition of accumulated rubbish beneath the wood bleachers, lightweight and combustible wood bleacher material, alarm systems, one-direction occupant flow design of passageway and egress, and inadequacy in the number of open and accessible exits. 2.2 Royal Gatehouse Hotel Tenby, Wales On the Easter Holiday weekend of March 21-22, 2008, a violent fire ruined a segment of one of Wales’s famous landmark. At 2302 hours of that Saturday night, a serious fire was seen rising from the roof of the uninhabited Royal Gatehouse Hotel. The Hotel was built in 1859 and it had 59 bedrooms reaching over five floors. It had a number of extension and in total measured 45 by 46 metres. The spread of fire was quick regardless of the early efforts of Tenby fire fighters. The condition of the building was inferior thus, portions of the roof began to collapse even in the early stage of fire. Crews were withdrawn from inside the building and attacking the fire from outside. The fire also threatened to cross the road and to involve the Royal Lion Hotel on the Norton. However, this was stopped mainly by the use of an aerial ladder platform. Two turntable ladders were used to attack the core of the fire from above, in order to keep fire crews from having to enter the unsafe building. However, there were problems of obtaining adequate water supplies despite the assistance of the Water Authority. At one point, five fire engines and a water bowser were functioning as a shuttle service to supply fire-fighting water. The problem was solved later by the use of a High Volume Pump that relayed large amounts of water over a mile from a river. In the early hours of Sunday morning the front section of the hotel collapse, bringing with it scaffolding that had previously covered the Hotel. There was further collapse of roofs and walls that justified the early decision to fight the fire from outside to avoid any injuries to fire crews (Coleman 2008, p 12). 2.3 Hayes Depot Blaze – Northern Ireland On the 29th of May 2006, a fire broke out at a fuel depot in north Belfast at around 7:30 pm. The incident involve approximately 30,000 litres of kerosene and other fossil fuel thus thick black clouds of smoke can be seen from mile away. The Hayes depot blaze according to the Fire and Rescue Service was hard to contain and it has destroyed three fuel containers and a portacabin. The large amount of kerosene involved in the incident produced excessively high temperatures and thick and toxic clouds of smoke. Flammable vapours discharged by flammable liquids such as kerosene not only do pose significant risk of fire but they also present an explosion risk (Furness and Muckett 2007, p.120). Fire fighters were brought in from across the region totalling to sixty fire fighters with twelve appliances and specialist equipment. “Every hostile fire requires an initial heat source” (Cote 2003, p.13). The source of the fire in Hayes is still not available in the literature and probably still under investigation since the incident occur just a couple of years back. However, intentional or not, it is still an issue of fire safety. 2.4 Explosion and Fire at 16 Buckstone Grove, Scotland On November 30 2005, at around 15:20 an explosion and resultant fire occurred at a semi-detached two-storey residential house in No. 16 Buckstone Grove. The property was badly damaged and evidence of heave of the living room flooring suggests an explosion below the floor void. In addition, several sections of windows and front door were found in the front garden. Glass fragments were also found about 15 metres away from the house confirming the explosion. After further investigation, the blast and ensuing fire were a result of the build up of natural gas in the property. The incident was the effect of a failed solder joint on a segment of the internal gas pipe work beneath the hall floor. The investigators cannot establish the source of ignition conclusively but they maintain that it is more likely to have been either the central heating control unit located under the living room. Although it has revealed that no evidence of any breach of relevant safety legislation, a review of the issues associated with the installation and close proximity of sub-surface structures to iron gas mains is to be undertaken by authorities. The purpose is to establish the possible consequence and coverage of the issue and to ascertain any realistically feasible safety measures (Health and Safety Executive 2006, p.1-15). 3. Fire Safety Analysis Since fire safety engineering may be applied to any circumstances “where fire is a potential hazard” (Purkiss 2007, p.1), it is therefore extremely important to consider all the issues which can play a part in guaranteeing life safety in a fire affected structure. Although there have been fewer incidents of residents casualty caused directly by the collapse of the structure, many fire fighters suffered injury or death caused by falling debris right after the evacuation of residents. This indicates that the structural integrity of a structure is vital particularly during this period. It has been known that the common cause of deaths is asphyxiation or being overpowered by smoke and gases and being trapped inside a burning structure thus means of escape is also essential as the dependability of structural design. For this reason, key areas of fire safety engineering include “control of ignition, control of means of escape, detection, control of the spread of fire, and prevention of structure collapse” (Purkiss 2007, p.2). In our first case study, the fire in Bradford soccer stadium started from the accumulated trash between the wood bleachers ignited by smoking materials. In the concept of fire safety, ignition can occur through lighted cigarette ends and flammable material used in the finishes or combustible materials wedged between the structures. Apparently, the trashes accumulated between the wood bleachers are combustible materials that eventually ignited the similarly flammable lightweight materials used in the construction of the wood bleachers. Another is the roof structure and the amount and arrangement of available fuels. In fire safety engineering, control of flammability is essential thus, any material used in the finishes on any part of the structure should reduce any hazard. It is unreasonable to suppose that parts of any structure do not contribute to the flammable fire load in a structure thus, it is essential to make sure that those parts generate minimum hazard as possible. Escape routes or means of escape is based on the theory of the maximum length of escape routes to a safe place. The maximum lengths depend on the type of occupancy and the manner of escape. According to the NFPA report, aside from the failure of the patrons to perceive the danger of the rapidly spreading fire, the Bradford Soccer stadium has a one-direction flow design of aisles and exists contrary to the accepted safety design. Generally, during a fire, occupants escaping it should be able to escape unharmed without external help or rescue from the fire service. More importantly, it either should be doable for people to move away from the fire to a final exit or protected escape route leading to a place of safety. Alternative escape routes should be available from all sides of a building, since it is likely that the path of a single escape route may become blocked due to the existence of fire, smoke or fumes (Billington et. al. 2002, p.75). Another problem with Bradford Soccer stadium is insufficient number of open and available exits. In fire safety management, when either two or more exits are provided from a storey exit or on ground floor, it should be assumed that one of the exits many blocked by fire and the occupants cannot use it. Apparently, a number of exits in our case study are unavailable not because they were compromised by fire but securely locked contrary to fire safety procedures. The time taken to pass through doors while making an emergency evacuation can be critical. There have been many incidents where the death toll in fires has been drastically increased because of difficulties with the doors on escape routes. All doors on escape routes should therefore be readily ‘openable’ at all times predominantly when the building is occupied. To be certain that doors on escape routes do not cause needless delays, locking devices should be avoided but if security is necessary, a simple and easily operable fastening device should be installed from the direction of escape routes (Furness Muckett 2007, p.201). In our second case study about the Royal Gatehouse Hotel in Wales, a serious fire was seen emerging from the roof. The old hotel, which was built in the 1800, was in poor condition thus parts of the roof began to collapse during the fire. Consequently, fire crews were withdrawn from the inside the building and attacked the fire externally. The fire spread rapidly and threatened to burn neighbouring houses and establishments but were stopped using aerial ladder platform while the core of the fire was attacked from above using two turntable ladders. However, there was inadequate water supply in the area and fire fighters were forced to use five fire engines and water bowser to shuttle water. The problem was only solved later when they employed a high volume pump to relay the water from a river a mile away. The instability of the structure was further confirmed the following morning when the front section of the hotel collapse along with the scaffoldings that are being used to preserve the hotel. Further collapse of the roofs and walls occurred that day confirming that the fire crew’s decision to fight the fire from the outside is correct. Although the results of the investigation on how the fire started was not published, the primary issue in this case study is the structural stability of the building during a fire. According to Patterson (1993, p.57), structural stability is essential to stop the collapse of the building or any of its section and significant to the protection of occupants and fire fighters. Dunn (1988, p.249) explains, a hastily spreading fire throughout the hundred-year-old structure is a threat to fire fighters because of the likelihood of structural collapses. Generally, old buildings contain wood, as a structural member thus an unrestrained amount of fire in a building with a flammable structure must be regarded as a warning sign. In this type of scenario, similar to Royal Gatehouse fire incident, the chief officer may direct complete withdrawal of a fire building and its surroundings at any time a serious structural defect (roof collapse in the early stage of fire) is discovered. Factors that affect structural stability are fire intensity, burn time, content loads, and construction methods and materials. As a rule of thumb, when enormous amount of fire is burning wild on two or more floors for 20 minutes or longer structural collapse should be expected (Klaene and Sanders 2007, p. 113). Fire safety dictates that an emergency evacuation must be initiated when a collapse is expected or when it has actually occurred. However, since the building is unoccupied, only fire crews were withdrawn from the interior of the building. “Water is the primary agent used for extinguishment of fires by the fire service” (Patterson 1993, p.45). Therefore, it is apparent that a continuous, dependable supply of water, at sufficient pressure must be present at the building for manual as well as automatic extinguishing systems. The Royal Gatehouse Hotel response team suffered delays from inadequate source of water and probably the hotel’s sprinkler system failed to operate for the same reason. According to Nawy (2008, p.31) automatic sprinklers need sufficient water supply and piping system to transport enough water to the sprinkler head. Inadequate water supply on the other hand can result from low pressure in the municipal water system. The lack of a water supply severely hampers fire-fighting operations and contributes to fire spread and escalation. The third and the fourth last case study reveal the destructive force of flammable materials when handled incorrectly. The Hayes depot’s gigantic blaze and toxic smoke suggest that safety procedures in these types of structures should be maximise. Comparable to the incident in Buncefield Oil Depot, large-scale disasters like this affects neighbouring facilities. Similarly, gas-piping systems in residential areas should be safe and regularly checked. The case of Buckstone Grove demonstrates how the failure of 4” low pressure, cast iron gas main located under the public footway can cause explosion and fire. More importantly, it has opened up the issue on safety about installing sub-surface structure in close proximity with iron gas mains. 4. Conclusion The application of scientific and engineering principles to the effects of fire is undoubtedly essential to reduce the loss of life and damage to property. Our case studies shows how discounting fire safety engineering preventive and protective measures can lead to unimaginable disaster and loss of precious lives. Fire safety engineering approach may have its advantage over the prescriptive approach since it takes into consideration the whole fire safety package and provides the most basic and economical solution than traditional methods to fire safety. The Bradford Soccer Stadium, Royal Gatehouse Hotel, Hayes Depot, and BuckGrove incidents are instances where fire safety engineering was ignored particularly control of ignition, means of escape, detection, control of the spread of fire, and prevention of structure collapse. For this reason, this paper recommends the integration of various fire safety scheme in building construction and maintenance to avoid similar incidents in the future. 5. Work Cited List Billington M. J., Ferguson Anthony, and Copping Alex, Means of Escape from Fire: An Illustrated Guide to the Law, Published by Blackwell Publishing, UK, 2002 Coleman Phil, Report to the Fire Authority, Community Risk Reduction, Wales, 2008 Cote Arthur, Organizing for Fire And Rescue Services: A Special Edition of the Fire Protection Handbook, Published by Jones & Bartlett Publishers, UK, 2003 Dunn Vincent, Collapse of Burning Buildings: A Guide to Fireground Safety, Published by PennWell Books, U.S., 1988 Furness Andrew and Muckett Martin, Introduction to Fire Safety Management: The Handbook for Students on NEBOSH and Other Fire Safety Courses, Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, UK, 2007 Health and Safety Executive, Report Into the Gas Explosion Incident at 16 Buckstone Grove, Edinburgh on 30 November 2005, HSE, Scotland, 2006 Klaene Bernard and Sanders Russell, Structural Firefighting: Strategies and Tactics, National Fire Protection Association, Published by Jones & Bartlett Publishers, U.S., 2007 Nawy Edward, Concrete Construction Engineering Handbook, Published by CRC Press, U.S., 2008 Patterson James, Simplified Design for Building Fire Safety, Published by Wiley-IEEE, U.S., 1993 Purkiss John, Fire Safety Engineering: Design of Structures, Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, UK, 2007 Read More