Basements are enclosed places of a building below the ground level. Living in basements presents challenges when dealing with flood and fire situations. The Nayef Building fire case exposed loopholes in dealing with basement fires. Several mistakes were committed in dealing with the fire, and it resulted in the death of two firemen after they inhaled poisonous gases coming from the basement (Case Study). There are several solutions that can be implemented to improve the fire protection and response measures in basements.
Increased fire detection and prevention measures can be executed to increase overall protection against fires in basements. Among the prevention measures is the avoidance of combustible materials and flammable liquids from basements. When stored in basements, combustible materials accelerate the spread of the fire (Abram, 1979). Moreover, if, any heating is to take place in basements combustibles such as plastics should be kept away from all heat producing devices and electrical devices. The National Electrical Code recommends a clearance of 36 inches from all electrical panels (National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 2000). In addition, the height of storage should be moderate. According to the NFPA (2000) the higher things are stored in a building, the easier it becomes for fire to spread.
Detection systems installed in basements reduce chances of fire in those areas. The use of smoke detectors is one of the commonest ways of increasing fire safety in many buildings. The best way to sense fire from the basement is to wire the detectors in the basement with those in other parts of the building (South Holland District Council, 2004). This increases chances of detecting unseen basements fires as it happened in the Nayef Fire disaster. The alarms should be audible enough. In particular, the alarms should be audible even when the bedroom doors are closed. This increases the response of people to fire even when they are sleeping. The detector wires should also be colored accordingly to increase ease of identification. Moreover, routine checks on the condition of the basements detectors should be conducted regularly to ensure that they are always in good working condition.
The placement of carbon monoxide detectors in each level of a building including the basement also increases the fire safety. Fire sprinkler systems also increase protection against fires and prevent total loss in case of fires especially those resulting from combustible materials. Statistics show that people trapped in a building under fire have a 50-66% chance of surviving the fire if the building has sprinklers (Thomas & Bennetts, 1999).
The accessibility of base basements should be adequate. This ensures that in case of a fire break out the occupants can escape fast enough. For instance, the basement should have a special escape stairway (Thomas & Bennetts, 1999). Basements should also have open able doors and windows to allow people more exit routes from the building in case of a fire breakout.
Exit routes such as kitchen doors should be fitted with cold smoke seals, intumescent strips and a self-closing device. In addition, basements should have adequate lighting to increase visibility. It would be easier to respond to fires quickly in a brightly lit room than in a dimly lit one by for instance being able to sight the fire extinguisher faster. Basements should also have adequate ventilation to allow free movement of air. Adequate ventilation also allows smoke to come out of the room faster (Hamilton City Departments, 2012). In case of the Nayef Building, the firemen died because a lot of poisonous fumes were locked up in the basement.
Notices about fire should be adequately provided to increase fire safety. Some of these notices show the directions to the exits while others warn against dangerous habits such as smoking. Other notices show fire response and therefore, ease the response to fires by enabling as well as a “fire door keep shut” notice.
Basements are usually used for the storage of machines such as lawnmowers, propane cylinders and snow blowers that run on petrol-based fuels. The Hamilton Department of emergency services recommends the storage of these machines outside buildings. According to The Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council, (2010), the vapors given off by flammable liquids from machines are heavier than air and can cause fires in basements.
According to The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (1995) if the fire detection extends to the basement, a 30-minutes fire-resistance should be provided between the ground and the basement. In case the fire detection does not extend to the basement, a 60-minutes fire-resistance should be provided between the basement and the ground floor. Where the basement is accessible from within the ground floor, two 30-minute fire doors should be provided (each at the top and bottom of the flight of stairs leading to the basement).
Firemen and the general public should also be adequately trained to handle fires emanating from all the different parts of a building including the basements. The more people are aware of ways to increase fire safety, the lesser will be the cases of fires due to human errors and carelessness.
References
Abrams, M. 1979. Behavior of Inorganic Materials in Fire. Design of buildings for Fire Safety.
ASTM 685, Philadelphia.
Case study : The Nayef Building Fire Case (Kuwait)
Hamilton City Departments. 2012. Fire prevention – Basement Safety. Retrieved from.
http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/EmergencyServices/Fire/Basement+Safety.htm
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 2000. Life Safety Code. Quincy Massachusetts.
Society of Fire Protection Engineers. 1995. The SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection
Engineering 2nd Edition. P. A-43 - A-44, table C-4. NFPA, Quincy MA.
South Holland District Council. 2004. The Housing Act 2004: Standards of Fire Safety in
Houses-in-Multiple Occupation. Fire Safety Information Bulletin. Retrieved
from:http://www.sholland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/64D97D99-B405-4A7D-96D1-
EEEB97BCD91E/0/firesafetystandards.pdf
The Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council. 2010. Fire Safety for Apartments in Houses.
Information for Home Owners and Tenants. Retrieved from.
http://www.firesafetycouncil.com/english/pubsafet/apartments.htm
Thomas, I. & Bennetts, I. 1999. Fires in enclosures with Single ventilation Openings:
Comparison of long and Wide Enclosures. Proceedings of the 6th International
Symposium on Fire Safety Science. University of Portiers, France.
