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The report, “High-Rise Building Fires,”
cites apartments, hotels, offices, and facilities
that care for the sick as accounting for roughly half
of all high-rise fires.
Dec 07, 2011
According to a new report released by the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA), in 2005-2009,
there was an average of 15,700 reported structure
fires in high-rise buildings per year with an associated
$235 million in direct property damage.
The report, “High-Rise Building Fires,”
cites apartments, hotels, offices, and facilities
that care for the sick as accounting for roughly half
of all high-rise fires. Structure fires in these four
property classes resulted in $99 million in direct
property damage per year.
There is a downward trend in high-rise fires. In
the last few decades, a range of special provisions
have migrated into the codes and standards for tall
buildings. At NFPA’s upcoming Fire & Life
Safety Conference Dec. 12-14, Division Manager of
Building Fire Protection Robert Solomon will explore
code changes related to high-rise building construction,
configuration, systems, planning, and evacuation procedures.
Other findings from the report:
In 2005-2009, high-rise fires claimed the lives
of 53 civilians and injured 546 others, per year.
The risks of fire, fire death, and direct property
damage due to fire tend to be lower in high-rise buildings
than in shorter buildings of the same property use.
An estimated three percent of all 2005-2009 reported
structure fires were in high-rise buildings.
Usage of wet pipe sprinklers and fire detection equipment
is higher in high-rise buildings than in other buildings
of the same property use. Most high-rise building
fires begin on floors no higher than the sixth story.
The risk of a fire is greater on the lower floors
for apartments, hotels and motels, and facilities
that care for the sick, but greater on the upper floors
for office buildings.
Four property classes account for roughly half of
high-rise fires: apartments, hotels,
facilities that care for the sick, and offices. In
2005-2009, in these four property classes
combined, there were 7,800 reported high-rise structure
fires per year and associated
losses of 30 civilian deaths, 352 civilian injuries,
and $99 million in direct property
damage per year. The property damage average is inflated
by the influence of one 2008
hotel fire, whose $100 million loss projected to nearly
$40 million a year in the analysis.
This report emphasizes these four property classes.
Some other property uses – such as
stores and restaurants – may represent only
a single floor in a tall building primarily
devoted to other uses. Some property uses –
such as grain elevators and factories – can
be as tall as a high-rise building but without a large
number of separate floors or stories.
For these reasons, the four property use groups listed
above define most of the buildings
we think of as high-rise buildings, and their fires
come closest to defining what we think
of as the high-rise building fire problem.
By most measures of loss, the risks of fire and of
associated fire loss are lower in high-
rise buildings than in other buildings of the same
property loss. This statement applies to
risk of fire, civilian fire deaths, civilian fire
injuries, and direct property damage due to
fire, relative to housing units, for apartments, and
risk of fire for hotels, offices, and
facilities that care for the sick.
The usage of wet pipe sprinklers and fire detection
equipment is higher in high-rise
buildings than in other buildings, for each property
use group. Even so, considering the
extensive requirements in NFPA 101®, Life Safety
Code, for fire and life safety features
in both new and existing high-rise buildings, it seems
clear that there are still major gaps,
particularly in adoption and enforcement of the provisions
requiring retrofit of automatic
sprinkler systems and other life safety systems in
existing high-rise buildings. NFPA 1®,
Fire Code, has sprinkler retrofit requirements.
This has implications for public officials and ordinary
citizens in any city. Public officials should make
sure that the latest editions of NFPA 1®, Fire
Code, and NFPA 101®,Life Safety Code, are in place
and that the codes they have are supported by effective
code enforcement provisions, including plan review
and inspection .
Most high-rise building fires begin on floors no
higher than the 6th story. The fraction of 2005-
2009 high-rise fires that began on the 7th floor or
higher was 32% for apartments, 22% for hotels
and motels, 21% for facilities that care for the
sick, and 39% for office buildings. The risk of a
fire start is greater on the lower floors for apartments,
hotels and motels, and facilities that care
for the sick, but greater on the upper floors for
office buildings.
High-rise apartments have a slightly larger share
of their fires originating in means of
egress than do their shorter counterparts (4% vs.
3%). The same is true of hotels (7% vs.
5%) and facilities that care for the sick (6% vs.
4%). In offices (4% vs. 6%), the
differences in percentages are in the opposite direction,
which means that high-rise
buildings in those properties have a smaller share
of their fires originating in means of
egress. In all four property classes, the differences
are so small that one can say there is
no evidence that high-rise buildings have a bigger
problem with fires starting in means of
egress. |
