Firefighting procedures
Fires in high-rise buildings create unique safety challenges for building occupants and firefighters. Smoke and heat spreading through the corridors and the stairs of a building during a fire can limit the building occupants' ability to escape and the firefighters' ability to rescue them. In 2002, there were 7,300 reported fires in high-rise structures (structures seven stories or more). The majority of these high-rise fires occurred in residential occupancies, such as apartment buildings. In fires that originated in apartments, 92 % of the civilian fatalities occurred in incidents where the fire spreads beyond the room of origin.
Changes in the building's ventilation, such as the opening of doors or windows, can increase fire growth and allow it to spread beyond the room of fire origin. This can also increase the spread of fire gases through the building. In some cases, such as the Cook County Administration Building fire in October 2003, the fire flow into the corridors and the stairway prevented firefighters from suppressing the fire from inside the structure. This fire resulted in six building occupant fatalities and several firefighter injuries in the stairway.
The failure of a window in the fire apartment in the presence of an external wind can create significant and rapid increases in the heat production of a fire. Combined with open doors to corridors, stairs, or downwind apartments, many wind-driven fire incidents have resulted in firefighter fatalities and injuries.
What tactics or tools are appropriate for use with a wind-driven fire and how should those tactics or tools be implemented? In order to answer this question, the problem must be fully defined. The wind-driven fire hazard that was examined occurs in a high-rise building of fire-resistive construction with internal corridors and interior stairs. The Vandalia fire incident in which three FDNY firefighters died exemplifies scenarios which result in untenable conditions in a public corridor. The door to the fire apartment was left open. As a result, there was nothing to keep the fire or the smoke contained in the apartment of fire origin. A door to a stair was opened and the stair was vented to the outside, or an apartment on the downwind side of the building was opened. If the fire apartment was on the upwind side of the building and the window failed, a ventilation path would be in place for flames to sweep through the apartment of origin and out into the corridor, making it impossible and untenable for firefighters to approach the fire apartment.
The research experiments conducted in a seven-story building, analyzed the impact of wind on actual structure fires and demonstrated potential tactics for improving firefighter safety and effectiveness. These firefighting procedures are described below:
A. Wind control device deployment