Fire Hazards in Leeds City Centre, the United Kingdom - Case Study Example

Running Head: FIRE HAZARDS IN LEEDS Fire Hazards In Leeds [Name Of Student] [Name Of Institution] FIRE HAZARDS IN LEEDS INTRODUCTION Within a city center the fire hazards are many and varied. At a generating plant a quick look around reveals flammable and combustible liquids, some under high pressure. Solid fuels abound in the form of coal and coal dust, biomass, paper and electrical cable insulation. Also, natural gas, which is becoming more popular as a fuel, can increase fire risks. In addition, there are many areas inside a city center that contain very hot surfaces and/or high-voltage equipment and cables. Hydrogen, which is extremely flammable, is also used extensively in power plants (Rasbash, 2004). All of these potential fire sources are often located extremely close to each other, increasing risks even more. Any failure in a containment system can lead to a serious fire. Most often that we see that a fire was caused in a mall either due to a short circuit in the air-condition system or one of the wires for the backup electricity generators got over-heated and hence from there started a spark which lead to a catastrophe of the place causing loss of life and loss of property. The picture shows the different fire fighting stations that we have in the Central London. The high number itself is an indication of the fact that such incidents are not rare and need due attention. PURPOSE OF PAPER In this paper I am going to pick two different hazards that are potential in Leeds City Market and in The train station at Leeds; specifically that have a strong chance of occurring during an emergency in the central city market or shopping mall. I will then describe management techniques for such hazards. Further I will describe the intensity, time frame, frequency, manageability and impact of such fire hazards. BENEFIT ANALYSIS Potential paper objectives results include: Safe fire suppression at the mall and train station at a minimum cost by reducing fuels and converting highly flammable material to fire-resistant city stands on the periphery of identified city areas in Leeds; Reduced number and size of city center fires, lower resource loss, more public involvement, and a well-coordinated network for fire protection (Purkiss, 2001); Well-equipped and -trained firefighting forces. DISCUSSION If a fire does occur, the city market and train station are often more vulnerable than other property types because they are commonly built in the central location and even though they are near from local fire departments, they have a lot of trouble reaching the spot due to congested traffic in the city centers. Thus, they must rely on their own resources and protection systems to control and contain the fire for an extended period of time (Rasbash, 2004). Utilities' hazardous or valuable assets, however, are not just limited to generating plants. There are large main frame computer systems that handle vital data continuously, as well as telecommunication systems for both internal business and for dealing with the public. A loss of either or both of these can greatly disrupt a train station’s day-to-day operations. Fires at office buildings and other support buildings can also wreck havoc on city center operations. The consequences of a fire are as varied as the types of hazards. The most obvious and serious hazard is the possibility of the loss of life. Beyond this, there is physical damage to equipment, which usually results in a monetary loss. Not only are utilities faced with damaged equipment replacement costs, they often are faced with an outage resulting in loss of generation and the revenue (Purkiss, 2001). The physical damage is covered by insurance, less the deductible, but many times generation loss is not covered. Most utilities have fire insurance that will pay for the direct damage, but what about the deductible and lost revenue? That money usually comes from the operating budget, meaning that something else does not get done or the bottom line will be affected. A FEW DREADFUL INCIDENTS FROM THE PAST A small fire is being attended to by several engines. Nine metro buses worth £120,000 each had to be pushed to safety. Charles H Roe's company was formed in 1916. After closure in the 1980's new investment was generated and buses are still being built here under the name of Optare Lted. FIRE PROTECTION PROGRAM A comprehensive fire protection program cannot only reduce the possibility of a fire at the train station and the city market, it can reduce the consequences if a fire does occur (Purkiss, 2001). A fire protection program capable of reducing fire and mitigating damage if one does occur should consist of the following: Good facility market/station design. The foundation of a comprehensive fire protection program is a good fire safe facility design. Local building codes must be followed as a minimum. There are many other codes, standards and guidelines that can be used to help design a fire safe facility at the city market. These publications cover most everything from power plant design to how to build and protect a station room to office building exit widths. Building fire safety into a building in the beginning is a lot cheaper than trying to retrofit later. Fixed fire protection systems at the mall and at the station. Fixed fire protection systems must be installed to protect specific hazards. There are codes, standards and guidelines published on how to protect these individual fire hazards. Insurance companies rely on many of these in addition to having their own standards. These systems can reduce the physical damage caused by a fire, reduce the possibility of personnel injury, reduce outage time and generation, increase reliability and availability and give insurance companies an incentive to lower premiums. Administrative controls. Administrative controls are used to govern the many aspects of the fire protection program. These should include fire prevention controls such as a hot work program. Examples of other controls that should be included are rules covering the inspection, testing and maintenance of fire protection equipment, the storage of compressed gases and flammable liquids, housekeeping standards and training. (Purkiss, 2001) These administrative controls tie the entire fire protection program together and if strictly enforced, reduce the possibility of a fire. Maintenance programs. Maintenance of fire systems and equipment as well as all other equipment is a must. Fire systems sit quietly for years but are expected to work flawlessly when an emergency arises (Rasbash, 2004). A system cannot do this without being maintained. Like any piece of equipment or system, if ignored a fire system will deteriorate and eventually fail when needed. Again, there are many codes, standards and guidelines available thatprovide guidance on how to test, inspect and maintain the systems. Personnel training. Personnel training plays an important role in fire protection. By law, fire brigades must be trained in the roles they are expected to play. The extent of training is determined by individual circumstances. If a generating plant is 30 minutes from the nearest fire department, then it would be wise to train plant personnel in extensive fire fighting techniques. On the other hand, if an office building sits across the street from a fire station, then maybe evacuation-procedure training is all that is necessary (Purkiss, 2001). If personnel are expected to use portable extinguishers then they must be trained in their use. Maintenance personnel must be trained in how to inspect, test and maintain fire equipment. In general, all of the above training is required annually. Fire protection/prevention awareness. Fire protection/prevention awareness among the employees is also important in a fire protection program. It is the employees in their everyday jobs who will discover most fire protection problems. However, for this to happen their awareness of potential problems must be heightened. Regular employee meetings and annual fire drills can help accomplish this (Rasbash, 2004). Also, regular facility inspections can raise awareness. The hazard/risk assessment is an important addition to the analysis toolbox available to city planners and managers today. It recognizes the potential for damage to important resources from large, severe property burning under altered fire regimes, and it acknowledges the large-scale interruption of successional pathways that have helped create uncharacteristic conditions that threaten to disturb the structure and function of an entire nation or community in an area (Rasbash, 2004). Given the potential loss of life and property in the next 20 years, the hazard/risk assessment can be a primary tool for prioritizing areas most at risk. The model's structure, which uses selected criteria to progressively narrow the area of consideration, is particularly well suited to situations where time and resource. Static electricity builds up on the container and then discharges to the fueling dispenser nozzle as it comes in contact with the container, possibly resulting in the ignition of a fire. To prevent these types of fires and/or conditions that could lead to a fire, an approved container should be used. The container should be placed on the ground (never on or in a vehicle), and the nozzle should be kept in contact with the container while filling. The second type of static electricity fire hazard is not as well documented and is less known to the industry, as well as the public. It occurs when static electricity discharges from a person to the nozzle at the fueling point, possibly resulting in ignition of a fire (Purkiss, 2001). Most of these have occurred at locations with no Stage II vapor recovery. Most have also occurred when the temperatures and relative humidity are low. Low relative humidity allows for more static potential buildup, similar to static buildup when a person walks across carpet in the winter. es are limited. The assessment's use of GIS as the modeling medium is especially appropriate for examining landscape conditions, because GIS can analyze large amounts of data and sophisticated relationships across extensive areas. Because GIS is a widely used, state-of-the-art analysis tool, it lends itself to sharing information among resource specialists from different agencies and organizations (Thomson, 2002). GIS therefore allows the hazard/risk assessment to expand across multiple ownerships and boundaries to address resources, resource users, and cross-jurisdictional challenges to ecosystem health at many scales. FIRE PROTECTION ASSISTANCE IN SMALL MALLS There are many organizations that deal with fire protection. Such groups are comprised primarily of city center fire protection engineers and specialists. Insurance and fire protection consulting firms are also represented. The task force works hard to provide optimum fire safety for the member utilities. It represents utilities on various codes and standards making organizations and provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience (Purkiss, 2001). The task force has published many papers dealing with most of the subjects discussed above. Membership is open to any investor-owned city center employee who deals with fire protection. Other organizations, such as the National Fire Protection Association and various insurance organizations, publish various codes, standards and recommended practices dealing with fire protection. Many of these publications deal specifically with fire protection at generating plants or other city center facilities. The Factory Mutual Engineering Corporation Loss Prevention Data Sheets is an example of a guideline issued by an insurance organization. The sheets provide background information and specific guidance for various fire protection problems including those related to utilities (Purkiss, 2001). It is also important for a city center to have a fire protection engineer available. This engineer can put together and administer the type of fire protection program described above. Being in-house, the engineer will know the place well, and, therefore, work to reduce losses and find the best method of providing adequate fire protection. Consulting firms and insurance companies can also provide fire protection expertise and guidance if an in-house expert is not available (Thomson, 2002). CONCLUSION A fire can be a serious problem for a city center, especially if there is no program to deal with it. The consequences are many and varied and can be very expensive. However, if there is a strong fire protection program in place the city center can save money by reducing the frequency of the losses and by reducing the consequences. REFERENCES Purkiss 2001: Fire Safety Engineering Design of Structures Rasbash 2004: Evaluation of Fire Safety, - Technology & Engineering - 2004 - 496 pages Thomson, Norman 2002: Fire hazards in industry, Elsevier, 176 pages Read More