The term “passive fire protection” is used to describe a number of materials and systems of construction intended to delay the passage of fire from one part of a building to another. It is also true to say that it tends to be a “fit and forget” issue – largely because the occupiers and users of the building don’t fully appreciate its importance to the overall fire protection of the structure, its contents and its occupants.

Much has been written and reported about the effects of fire water run-off from large scale fire incidents. The problem isn’t new and there have been several landmark fires over the years to remind us that without careful planning disaster can strike – Allied Colloids, Bradford 1992, Sandoz, Basel 1986 and Buncefield, 2005 are seen as the worst case benchmarks for such incidents. Of course, Buncefield didn’t just force a reappraisal of groundwater contamination, it also highlighted the need to reappraise the risk assessments underpinning the approach to firefighting in storage depots. This article will focus on how foam proportioning itself can become part of the review process so that foam discharge is kept to the minimum whilst maximizing firefighting capability and cost effectiveness.

Brian Jones, UK manager for Norwegian fire detection company Autronica has noticed that the trend within the offshore industry has moved from infrared point gas detectors towards open path detectors.

High-pressure water mist systems are now widely accepted as an excellent alternative to the controversial CO2 or other gas-based systems for fire fighting in engine rooms, including total flooding and local application systems.

There are many factors which should be taken into consideration when determining the most suitable location for sensors, and site location is one of them. Indoor and outdoor site monitoring present different problems due to mechanical ventilation, building structure or the wind direction/speed.

There are many factors which should be taken into consideration when determining the most suitable location for sensors, and site location is one of them. Indoor and outdoor site monitoring present different problems due to mechanical ventilation, building structure or the wind direction/speed.

According to David Owen of Firemain Engineering, a fire engineering company based in St Helens UK, the Hi Ex Foam system is used for special applications such as aircraft hangars and warehouses. The company recently designed, supplied and commissioned the low expansion foam systems for Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A380 hangar at Heathrow. Its High Expansion systems were also installed by Argus Fire at RAF Fairford.

Expectations from safety design engineers and operators for technology to increase not only the safety of a facility but also design and installation has lead to several new developments from manufacturers such as Tyco Safety Products.

While water mist continues to find new industrial applications it still faces a safety culture reluctant to change.
Dan Worth reports.

Specifying fire resistant glazing systems can be an opaque process, Ann-Marie Knegt learned. A long list of requirements have to be fulfilled before achieving safety and fire

It is a pleasure to visit an industrial facility and find an emergency response team that is utterly convinced that its level of readiness for the unexpected is world class – and after visiting SembCorp Utilities’ 2000-acre facilities in Teesside, northeast UK, it is possible to see where this confidence comes from.

In one of Europe’s most prestigious airport glazing contracts, leading vertical access equipment manufacturer, Hek Manufacturing BV and a glass specialist, Lindner-Schmidlin Facade Ltd, have provided specialist fire - and in some sensitive areas ‘blast-resistant’ - glazing for London Heathrow Airport’s major Terminal 5 structure.

Fire is just one of the possible service interruptions which can affect a data or communications network. However, the consequences - such as material damage or, more importantly, human loss of life - can be extremely dire.

In such a hostile and challenging climate as the marine environment, it is imperative that the most appropriate fire detection system is chosen and that it is fit for purpose. 

President of Durasystems Barriers Inc, Craig Pickering, definitely feels his company has the answer with DuraSteel.

Insulfrax Blanket products manufactured by the Unifrax Corporation have been designed to provide passive fire protection, reports IFJ.

Protective coatings are designed to provide a degree of tolerance of tolerance to the steelwork of industrial structures whilst a fire is brought under control.

There are many reasons why fire departments maintain pre-plans for commercial buildings.  Firefighter safety, building familiarisation, code compliance, and regulatory requirements are some of the most common reasons pre-plans are completed.  While each of these reasons is important on their own merit, one question begs to be asked.  If a pre-plan can address all these issues, why isn’t every fire department completing them?

London Fire Brigade is investing £1.7 million in additional training resources for its operational staff over the next two years. Sir Ken Knight, Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, believes that the traditional role of firefighters has changed and has become even more challenging. Because of this the LFB is making the major investment to counteract the increasing pressures on personnel.

Lithuania, October 12th, 2006: Like blasts from giant cannons a series of huge explosions shattered the peace of Lithuania’s coastal city, Mazeikiu.

The first section of the A86 West tunnel, the missing link in the Paris ‘super-ringroad’ is to be opened in October 2007. Built, financed and operated by Cofiroute, this 10km tunnel linking Rueil-Malmaison and Versailles will revolutionise traffic flow in the West Paris region.

Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions is promoting three major products as environmentally-friendly alternatives for Halon, as Industrial Fire Journal noted when its team visited ExpoProtection in Paris. At the show, Yann Boutin, Communication and IT Infrastructure Director for the company in France, took the time to explain more about these special products.

Relative to other sectors, for example, commercial office developments, the basis for industrial design with respect to fire safety tends to be  far more exacting. Here, severe fires occur in surroundings where continuous operations, and possibly a high level of cleanliness, is absolutely essential.

Safety Managers in high-risk locations have wide-ranging responsibilities,” points out Steve Taylor. “In relation to fire protection, they need to understand not only the principles and technologies associated with fire detection, explosion protection and fire extinguishing, but also the vital role that portable fire extinguishers continue to play in preventing a ‘small’ fire from becoming a major conflagration.

President of Durasystems Barriers Inc, Craig Pickering, definitely feels his company has the answer to fire  blast resistance problems with a material called DuraSteel. He spoke to Aidan Turnbull while exhibiting this key product at the NFPA Show in Orlando, Florida in June:

Brian Cummins is the MD of Proline, a company which has developed its UK manufactured range of FM-approved and UL listed linear detection cables, accessories -including optional interface units - which can be simply integrated with all central fire alarm control panels and building management systems.

In use for well over a century now, sprinklers are required in all new highrise and underground buildings generally 75 feet (23 m) above or below fire department access, where the ability of firefighters to provide adequate hose streams to fires is limited.

Whichever way you look at it, the A380 is huge. The structural dimensions surpass those of all previous commercial aircraft. With two levels inside, the wide-bodied aircraft can accommodate an incredible 555 passengers in the standard seating configuration.

Virtual reality can create tension and immersion levels that accurately mimic real life. Many Municipal Fire Services are already deploying synthetic environments for training purposes, but now the industry as a whole is realising the advantages of training in a synthetic environment.

In the USA, New York’s Freedom Tower is set to rise 1,776 feet from ashes of the World Trade Center now that the final designs have been agreed and the ‘ground breaking’ inauguration ceremony is over.

X-Suppress is a new concept in explosion protection and is the first passive system using water mist at ambient temperature and pressure, says Graeme Hitchen, Business Manager for UK-based Sheffield University Enterprises Limited.

Let’s begin with a brief look at the role of the Angus Fire Emergency Service which swung into action after being notified by Hertfordshire F&RS at 07.05am on Sunday, December 11. Within a few hours the company despatched emergency foam stocks from its facility at Bentham, North Yorkshire, by road tanker under full police escort.

Current road tunnel safety is seriously limited by the traditional approach to risk assessment and intervention that are not in actual time, non-dynamic and non interactive.

Jan Crucq comments: “Since halon-based systems have been decommissioned, the shipping industry has been looking at suitable alternatives. At the moment there are several replacement systems that have worldwide recognition within the maritime sector.

Serious petrochemical incidents are a rare occurrence; even those brigades who provide cover for fire and emergencies within the petrochemical industry have a limited opportunity to build up experience of such incidents.

From the fire detection point of view, a high risk environment such as an oil or gas plant provides a number of different challenges.  Such facilities are generally large and spread out, with both internal and external areas requiring fire detection and protection.

Semco Maritime’s Pelle Madspjerg told IFJ: “The risk of fire in wind turbines has always been considered very small but now there have been several cases fire protection has become more relevant through increased demands from authorities, insurance companies and owners, “ he comments.

In July 2002 AQUASYS from Linz, Austria, developed Europe’s first Tunnel Fire Suppression System  based on watermist technology.  A relatively new, efficient firefighting technology involving minimal water use, water mist increases the surface area of water more than 1000 times, giving an enormous cooling effect and producing a highly-efficient oxygen depletion effect.

Virtually every industrial or commercial building contains rooms classified as machinery spaces. These may contain machinery as diverse as generators, pumps, hydraulic power packs, incinerators or transformers, writes Jukka Nieminen.

With the deregulation of the airline industry, outsourcing of aircraft maintenance and an aging aircraft fleet, there are very real concerns about international aviation safety, especially in less developed countries.

Explains Arnie Arnold: “Firewater is the key to what can be done and it depends on the supply available. At Coryton the resource is sufficient for the worst case scenario but is continually seeking to improve.

The new PDX Firemist technology is most certainly in the ‘exciting innovation’ category and one could argue that such advances in the field of fire suppression, brought by Pursuit Dynamics plc, will finally establish water-mist as the obvious and natural replacement for the now ‘outlawed’ Halon systems.

Once upon a time, the halon gases used to knock out fires in computer rooms were equally hazardous to any human beings exposed to the extinguishing atmosphere. Almost 20 years on, however, a solution has been developed which offers an environment in which people can work and in which it is impossible for a fire to burn.