A Study On High Rise Apartments

At the time of the MGM Grand Fire, it was not required that fire department personnel had to be part of the building construction plan review process. The fire department is now largely involved in the construction and plan review process before a building is built. Also, construction materials used are more fire resistant. Ventilation systems have also been improved, and are very helpful in removing the smoke, rather than allowing it to make its way to upper floors of a high rise structure, which was a large cause of loss of life in the MGM Grand fire due to smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Three stories of a ten-floor building a the corner of Greens Street and Washington Place were burned yesterday, and while the fire was going on 141 young men and women at least 125 of them mere girls were burned to death or killed by jumping to the pavement below. The building was fireproof. The fire except the furniture and 141 of the 600 men and girls that were employed in its upper three stories. The victims were suffocated or burned to death within the building, but some who found their way to the windows and leaped met death as surely, but perhaps more quickly, on the pavements below.

Many fire service personnel that have fifteen or twenty years of service have seem many things change over time. One radical change is the way fires consume structures today when compared structures years ago, these fires have be classified as modern and legacy fires. When responding to a modern construction fire versus a legacy fire, does it change how we fight these fires? Well the answer to that is simply yes! Modern construction physiognomies have greatly changed to accommodate the comfort of the homeowner, which is not firefighter friendly. In modern construction home the floor plans are larger in size to give more living space. As the living spaces grow the footprint of the residence increases as well. As the word modern leads to occupants thinking comfort, when truthfully causes disadvantageous consequences for the fire service with open geometrics, new construction materials, and also include an increased fire load. All these construction advantages only lead to faster propagation of the fire, as well decreases the amount of time for a flashover to occur. Modern construction has led to hasty changes in fire dynamics, which at the same time decreases the amount of time to escape to safety. The structural collapse time is greater since the amount of time as been lessened

The Cedar Fire (2003) was one of the largest and deadliest wildland fires in California history burning nearly 300,000 acres in San Diego County and killing 15, including 1 firefighter. A lost hiker accidently set this fire from survival methods attempted with a flare. It resulted in evacuations of thousands of San Diego residents and destroyed approximately 2400 homes (CALFIRE, 2016). The

“Who you gonna call? Ghost Busters” (Brillstein & Reitman, 1984). In 1984, a very popular comedy movie “Ghostbusters” hit the big screen and this quote from the movie seemed to stick in everyone’s head. Today, the question that seems to be raised when there is a crisis or emergency situation is “Who you gonna call? The fire department”. In today’s society, the fire service has become the “catchall” for every kind of emergency. Do you agree? Fighting fire is still a big part of the fire service, “in 2015, every twenty-three seconds a fire department was responding to a fire” (NFPA (Ed.), 2015). However, the fire service has evolved from just “putting the wet stuff on the red stuff” mentality, to a profession of highly trained and skilled firefighters. Ever since the discovery of fire there has been a need for methods to manage it if, and when, it gets out of control. Throughout history, to keep up with the changing environment in which we live, civilization and the fire service have made numerous changes. With fewer fires, and more products being manufactured from plastics and other dangerous chemicals, the fire service must be vigilant in developing new methods to keep firefighters safe and justify their job while providing the most efficient service for the citizens.

Four years ago, the city had an arsonist that would burn vacant houses. Correctly sizing up the structure that was on fire and analyzing it as a vacant house, was very important during this period. Vacant houses pose many dangers,

Through the Federal Emergency Management Agency-United States Fire Administration, Office of Reports and Data, the latest report showed a nationwide trend for the period of 2012-2016 that the number of structure fires with civilian fire related fatalities has declined overall 6.8% from 2012-2016 and the total number of fire related injuries increased slightly, 1.3%, for the same period. The Estiville Fire Department’s own data shows that in the same period our department had an increase from one (1) civilian fatality and ten (10) injuries requiring medical treatment in 2012 to four (4)

I choose this article because this is happening today. In this article the fire is spreading in San Simeon, California, (in the west area), Washington, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Palm Springs, and San Francisco. All of these states were on fire either today or few days ago. In San Simeon about 16 homes were burned in the northwest. California’s wildfire destroyed 34 house and 14 other building. Washington, Washington, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Palm Springs, and San Francisco house, land, and other building were burned down and many people tried to help to stop the wild fire.

Fatal fires usually began before the actual fire ever starts. On February 20, 2003 The Station Night Club had a tragic fire. In this case, it started when the co-manager of the Station Night Club purchased cheap sound proof foam which was not fire retardant. The fire retardant, sound proof foam would have been very expensive to purchase and install. The Night Club main frame was primarily wood which fed most of the fire. The pyrotechnics that the band “Great White” used is what ignited the foam which then moved to the wood paneling. This fire took the lives of 100 people. Building a structure safely is the first step in preventing fires. Suppression and detection systems are the next. The Night Club did not have either one.

Fire sprinklers have been around since the late 19th century yet the technology has been slow to be adopted in residential construction. The main reason for the slow adoption is due to strong resistance from homebuilders

The city is most vulnerable to urban fire, storm-water flooding, dam flooding, and extreme cold. However, extreme heat and cold are the city’s immediate concerns due to its concentrated urbanized population and measurable homeless. With extreme heat during the summer and cold during the winter being of significant concerns to the city, it is notable to highlight that the risk of urban fire ranks number one for several reasons. For instance, “In 2004-2009, the last year for which data was available, The Massachusetts Fire Incident Report System reported a total of 815 fires in Worcester. There were 4 deaths resulting from these fires, and a total of $35,370,024 in property loss” (CMRPC, 2012). Using these numbers as evidence, one can certainly confirm that urban fire is the top hazardous risk the city of Worcester faces in regards to economic risk factors. These fires pose an immediate threat to life, property and overall functionality of local

Within the United States there are five different types of construction. Firefighters need to know and understand each of them. Every construction type have fire resistant weaknesses, these weaknesses will result in fire spreading in the building. If firefighters understand how the fire will spread, then understand how to extinguish the fire faster and more importantly firefighters are better protected from injuries or worse. In America all buildings are associated with one of the types of construction, identified by Roman number. The building codes are, fire resistant (type I), combustible (type II), ordinary construction (type III), heavy-timber construction (type IV) and wood-frame construction (type V). It is important to remember that all buildings are not the same. Each different building construction type will burn much differently than the others do. In order to be able to size-up a building 's fire hazard, firefighters need to be able to understand a buildings contents and construction. Materials that are stored inside of the building and also materials used to construct the building will both fuel the fire. Also know that if a structure is vacant or if the contents in the building are not combustible, the main fire hazard is the building. The scale of the construction types are scaled according to the fire load of combustible material that was used for its construction. A fire resistant building is constructed with least amount of combustible materials, and a

Recently Northern California had deadly wildfires that caused homes to be destroyed. The rebuild could take years and there will be many difficulties along the way. There is a shortage of skilled labors who can help rebuild the homes and the materials needed to rebuild could rise. There is also concern that a shortage of supplies may occur. Northern California has very strict environmental and building regulations, but the governor has lessened these regulations in order to make the rebuild easier. Homes are being built in wildfire-prone areas, but are going to use new construction methods that are ignition resistant and resistant to embers. Builders want to build houses close together so construction can speed up by utilizing the

Wildfires are a major issue across the world but especially in California. It affects millions of people every year including burning down thousands of houses. California has been in the biggest drought ever recorded the past two years 2015 & 2016. Extreme drought means extreme wildfires because of the lack of water and the very dry environment. Wildfires don’t only affect the environment but all residents, firefighters, firefighter’s families, and community members that are involved with a wildfire. The one way to help with wildfires is to make all people aware on how to prevent wildfires and or be prepared for wildfires. Some interdisciplinary that are involved with wildfires are Public Service and Public Policy, Communication, Emergency

In order to evaluate common fire hazards within a building and the risks presented by these, it is essential to have an understanding of where fires start, and what causes them in varying occupancy types. The best process to fulfil this aim is to review existing statistical data. Existing data is a vital tool in analysing areas or functions of a building which have the greatest risk to occupants. In particular, those functions or areas of a building having higher fatality rates historically in buildings of a similar type should be treated with special consideration (i.e. Class 2, Kitchen). It is important to be familiar with these statistics as they play a key role in predicting outcomes of future fires. Using this knowledge, fire safety engineers can identify patterns and high risk factors; and apply appropriate building fire safety systems in an attempt to reduce fire