Analysis of Fire that Came up in the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi - Case Study Example

Fire has got higher risk in Big Buildings BY [ name of the author] Fire has got higher risk in Big Buildings FROM [Name of the organization] [Author’s name] [Date of fulfilment] ACKNOWLEDGMENT ABSTRACT There is much risk of damages both of properties and life in bigger buildings. These are the buildings that get mostly affected due to the availability of lots of things that are not protected for fire. Actually bigger buildings should have more of these precautions. In this paper I am discussing over issue of fire that came up in Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The fire was outrageous and there were major losses. The reasons were all related to the lack of precautions. The target of my paper is to discuss these precautions that would have caused less damage to the building. TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER SHEET 1 TITLE PAGE 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 3 ABSTRACT 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 THE REPORT 6 REFERENCES 16 THE REPORT Introduction This report plan is about a building that came under fire and faced lots of destruction. Here the causes that came under notice are all related to the lack of precautions in the building. The description is all about the measures that are very necessary in a big building with 55 floors. It was at about 2pm in the afternoon tat the fire broke in the building due to some mishap in the store. The sources are yet not sure but say that there was some kind of leakage in a gasoline container and that caused fire in the store and let it spread all around. The fire broke in the 20th floor and went quickly to the 25th floor. In this paper the objective is to discuss the applications that are compulsory to have in big buildings in order to protect them from the losses of fire. Name of the building The Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi is the only boutique hotel in Abu Dhabi, conveniently located in the centre of city. The hotel is one of the popular Hotels in Abu Dhabi in UAE. Number of the floors There are about 55 floors in the hotel. The fire broke in the 20th floor and very easily spread to the 15th floor downwards and the 25th floor towards the top. Used as a hotel The Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi offers deluxe rooms. It also has got the facilities for junior suites and executive suites of all ranges. All these designed elegantly and well-furnished. However the questions were all about the adoption of the fire fighting measures that have been taken while constructing the building and the various aspects of preventive applications after the construction. Kitchen The kitchen of Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi has got the five star category provisions. It is not only exquisite but also is well maintained by the authority. Storage The storage section is also nicely taken care of. It has been later discovered that the fire broke due to some leakage in a gasoline container in the 20th floor store of the building. It resulted into a quick fore and also got supported by other gasoline containers (Bill Begal, 2007). The authority said that there were measures to prevent the fire but were all in vain. Fully occupied (no. of guests, workers) There were almost a population of 6000 people in the hotel. Out of these 1500 were all the staff members and the rest were all guests that came from various countries of the world. There were many children and many elderly people too. All these were threatened by this sudden burst of the fire. In the course almost the entire property burnt and almost 36 people were heavily injured. Among them 4 were children and one is a women. It has been discovered that the heavily injured people were comprised much of the staff who were working in the 20th floor and above. Later on people said that the staff members helped the entire guest with safe evacuations at the risk of their lives. This is really an act of bravery. Location (city, beach) The Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi is at small driveway from the Abu Dhabi Airport. It is the most favourite sot for most of the visitors. The popularity is very much here but the losses in the fire are more likely to affect this reputation. The hotel was good with its hospitality and services but the actual thing gt noticed only after this outbreak of fire in the hotel. The question that everyone is asking is about the measures that were adopted by the authority of Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi, for fire accidents. APPLICATION OF PRECAUTIONS Building from the fire station The building is just near to the fire and safety departments and that was the best thing ever could happen. The fire rescue team was there within 10 minutes of time and that was of great help. The authority informed the fire rescue team and they act really fast. Time - 10 minutes From the first time of call arrival of fire engine to the location Audio/visual advisory system The fir rescue team was well equipped with the provisions of Audio/visual advisory system. It is the means by which people get the supplementary to Exit sign and fire alarm warning devices (Dept for Communities and Local Govt). As these got operated in the event of a fire, the provisions were made for an evacuation towards the safe direction of egress from the building. Cubical Extent The Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi would have been well structured with Cubical Extent. It is the specified space contained within the external surfaces of the walls and roof of a building. The purpose of this Cubical Extent is to extent an upper surface of the floor of its lowest storey. It is also meant to exclude any space within any enclosure on the roof that gets used exclusively for accommodating a water tank or lift gear or any other services (FRS Online links to full report PDF: Independent Review of the Fire Service pub Dec 2002). This provision is very important in a huge building like this. It is also very useful if any side of the building is not enclosed by a wall, that side shall be deemed to be enclosed by a wall extending downwards from the outer edge of the roof and thus providing support in the time of emergency. Fire Compartment There was at least the provision for various Fire Compartments in the building. It is an enclosed space in a building that is separated from all other parts of the building by enclosing construction providing a fire separation. It of course turned up to be of great help to the people and as such many lives were saved. Exit sign The building was having fixed illuminated sign indicating an approved exit route during fire. But there were not in abundance and that created a kind of chaos in the process of evacuation. Most o the people and children were confused ad got stuck in the mid of their way down to the building. Fire alarm system There was this Fire alarm system in the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi. However it was not an automatic siren system. It was the one the got manually operated. It is the system designed to give warning of fire but as the fire broke, there was hardly anyone with the sense to put it on. Sprinkler system Fortunately enough the building had got some sprinkler systems that were designed to discharge water under pressure from sprinkler heads (detecting devices). During the outbreak of the fire it detected the fire near the point of origin of the fire and to sound an alarm and sprinkled water all around (Independent Review of the Fire Service 2002). This made the fire stop from spreading. It was of great use and many losses were stopped due to the application of these sprinkler systems. Ventilation/air conditioning control system There was this Ventilation/air conditioning control system in the building that was of great use as the fire broke. It was having an automatic control system that has been designed explicitly for fire accidents. Its purpose is to stop mechanically induced air movement within a designated fire compartment, actuated by smoke detectors and provided with a central. The system worked properly without the support of the manually operation that was there as the back up facility. As shown in the graph the effects were great during the fire accident the floors towards the top were burning more than those towards the ground. It is very easy to understand the practical difficulties in the risk factor during the day time and night time. As fortunately it was afternoon the affects were far less than what was supposed to be. In the event of fire, the people are able to fetch water so easily and can try to extinguish it manually. In the night time there is a practical difficulty in reaching out the floor even at the level of 25 to 35th floors. The graph shows the level of risk during the day and night time. As shown in the diagram the risk factors were far more at night and the affects were devastating due to darkness. The scene would have something like the diagram shows. The risk level is high if it in the case of top level in night time. In fact, the risk is high in night time. Application some fire fighters There are many things that would have been there in the building to save more property and to diminish the risk in such an accident. The most compulsory things are noted below. Fire control centre The availability of in-house compartment in the hotel premises is highly recommended and that would have done the rescue process in much faster way. Static smoke extraction system The presence of Static smoke extraction system is very important. It is the smoke extraction system utilizing smoke reservoirs. It functions by means of localized conducting; and permanent openings of the automatic opening of windows, panels or external louvers actuated by smoke detectors (Finalised guidance notes). This is the best way for indicating the outburst of fire in the huge buildings like the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi. By means of this the smoke also gets removed, on the principles of natural ventilation. This is also useful for the smoke and products of combustion, from getting rid of damages. It gets designated with proper fire compartment. Fixed foam system It is vet essential to have any combination of generators; pipework; valves; nozzles and pourers in the hotel premises. All these get designed to deliver finished foam to the seat of a fire which may be automatic in operation. This is very useful I case of electric fire and protects lots of losses. Water mist system This is a system that gets connected to a water supply or water and atomizing media supplies and equipped with nozzles capable of generating water mist. The purpose of this particular equipment is to control, suppress, or extinguish fires. As shown in the diagram, by the application of the recommended equipments the risk would have been far more less than what it is now. These are some of the many important things that a big building like the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi, should be particular about. Conclusion From the incident described above it has been found that, it is very important to have all kinds of fire fighting equipments ready in a commercial building like the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi. This lessens the risk of have losses and the lives are saved. There will be less chances of having damages. However the most important thing is of course the presence of mind and the application of strict precautionary measures. The affects will be less or rather there will be no such accidents, if the authority employs at least two people to check all the possibilities of having any such examples. These people will take care of all kinds of measures and will check the possible means to prevent any such accidents (Fire & Life Safety Education). Added to this I feel there should be some kind of professional trainings at least in the high school level so that they came up to be of great use in the future. This is a very important step and everyone at least should have the minimum courage to help others and to have patience in the time of such crisis. It is also very important to have some basic ideas for protecting oneself from such situations. REFERENCES Begal, Bill. "Restoration With a Capital E-P-A: A Case Study", Restoration & Remediation, August 23, 2007. http://www.randrmagonline.com/CDA/Archives/BNP_GUID_9-5 2006_A_10000000000000156172 [retrieved on 02.07.08] Dept for Communities and Local Govt: Fire and Resilience - Introduction to the New Dimensions programme, http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/resilienceresponse/newdimensionequipping/introduction/ [retrieved on 02.07.08] Finalised guidance notes, n.d., www.somersetfirebrigade.co.uk/IRMP/irfmp/html/guidance.html [retrieved on 02.07.08] Fire & Life Safety Education, Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner, n.d., http://www.firecomm.gov.mb.ca/safety_education_nero_and_ashcan.html#6 [retrieved on 02.07.08] FRS Online links to full report PDF: Independent Review of the Fire Service pub Dec 2002 http://www.frsonline.fire.gov.uk/publications/article/17/306 [retrieved on 02.07.08] Government Response to the Communities & Local Government Committee’s Report on the Fire and Rescue Service, 29 September 2006, TSO, http://www.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm69/6919/6919.pdf [retrieved on 02.07.08] Independent Review of the Fire Service (2002) The Future of the Fire Service: reducing risk, saving lives, available on http://www.irfs.org.uk/ [retrieved on 02.07.08] Read More