Fire and Building Systems

Construction Systems and Fire Behavior

The fire destruction menace is an accident that lives with the societies on a daily basis and as long as there are activities within any building, there are predispositions to fire accidents without exclusion. This comprises the domestic buildings, high commercial buildings and even the office blocks within the city. There are procedures that can be followed while putting up a building or renovating a building that will ensure there are enough measures that help in the eradication of fires or at least suppression of fires when one breaks out.

One such system is the general rule of having effective fire separation within the building which could be between one floor and another or even within the same floor. This is rarely the case since even where such systems are put in place, they are often imperfect in nature and inmost cases not existing at the attics hence compromising the fire suppression capability. Whenever there is need for renovation, many taek the easiest way of lowering the ceiling by creating a false ceiling underneath the original ceiling and carrying out the pipework and electrical works between these two ceilings and in most cases the fire suppression is non-existent. This creates a honeycomb of voids that are non-fire suppressive hence the great potential of smoke travelling in these combs and also a deadly fire resulting in bursts.

There have been cases of fire and bursts emanating from accumulated gases within the voids in the building. There is need hence to identify the voids and provide ventilation through which the gases and smoke filter through out of the building. This will help avoid accumulation of highly combustible gases like carbon monoxide that may result in unforeseen fires (Gregory Havel, 2013).

There is need also to have the hood systems constructed according to the mechanical code systems since this will help in proper direction of smoke and suppressing the fire within the hood hence avoiding possible fires from spilling over and causing a catastrophe (CFBT-U.S., 2014).

There is need for the construction team and the occupants to know the fire classification that the building they are occupying is under. There is the fire resistive building, noncombustible material of the building, heavy timber and the wood-frame buildings (Frassetto R., 2012). This will help in putting in place the right fire suppression systems and also the right equipment for fighting the fire incase there is a fire breakout. The kind of material used will influence the fire behavior since it can act as a source of fuel for the fire or suppress the spreading of the fire from one location to another. The kind of material used will also enable the fire fighters know the safest way to fight the fire even as they conduct occupant evacuation. The fire fighters will be able to determine the time frame that they have to carry out their operations before the ultimate collapse of the building and that way ensuring the safety of the crew and the people trapped by the fire.

The placement of the ventilation is also significant in a building since it is the presence of air full of oxygen that will exacerbate the spreading of the fire. Ventilations should hence not be placed low within the building since in the event of fire it will act as a source of oxygen for the fire and consume everything within the house but should be placed high up to first minimize the intake of oxygen by the fire and secondly and equally important to allow for directing the flow of the smoke within the building to the outer part of the building. This is possible since the burnout air that has no oxygen will be lighter than unburnt air. The burn air comprises the smoke hence will be lifted out of the building through the high in structure ventilation systems to allow for the safer escape of anyone trapped in the building. This is the same reasoning that firefighters use when they create ventilation high on buildings or on the roof directly above the fire in their fire fighting expeditions enabling safe occupant removal.