Part 1 – Post Fire Damage Decontamination PETER STEPHENSON, Associate Director, BuroHappold Engineering As professionals in the fire industry we can influence fire safety in the built environment in many ways including building design, product specification & performance, system commissioning & testing, management systems &...
What do data centres, clean rooms, manufacturing centres and hospitals have in common? They are critical facilities, where the financial and operational repercussions of equipment-related damages and downtime can be devastating and they all present their own challenges in terms of fire suppression, with the...
This article explores the challenge of effectively marking evacuation routes, particularly vertical escape routes in high-rise buildings. Those responsible for fire safety management face many challenges while developing the emergency plans for the buildings they take under their responsibility to ensure the safety of the building’s...
Forming a vital role in the fire strategy for a building, the fire door will provide and maintain an effective fire separating function between the building compartments, minimising the fire spread within the room of origin and restricting the passage of smoke in the event...
Even the shortest period of downtime can damage the reputation of a data centre or enterprise, resulting in the loss of customer trust and subsequent business. Alan Elder, Fellow Engineer, Tyco Systems examines a research study on the impact of sound on computer hard disk...
Whether fighting petrochemical fires, or undertaking technical rescue operations in confined spaces, having the right PPE for the job in hand is crucial for firefighters across the region. Gone are the days of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to PPE. Instead, PPE must be tailored to suit...
As the preparations for Expo 2020 continue to gain momentum the remarkable achievements in the transportation sector across the region still amaze, writes Peter Stephenson, Associate Director Buro Happold Engineering. With multiple infrastructure projects improving the connectivity across the region and future projects coming on-line, it...
Paul Duffy, technical support manager at global fire systems business Advanced, discusses what makes the fire panel business key for specifiers and engineers from today’s basics to the future of the industry. The humble fire panel is usually the only electronic system that must be installed...
Having developed specialist skills, experience and knowledge gained from working in difficult and potentially dangerous confined spaces, Senior Consultant with MRS Training & Rescue (formerly known as Mines Rescue Service), Captain Michael Lloyd, RD**, MNM, FNI., shares experiences and observations with FME readers. Over 100 years...
In the short term suppliers of fire safety equipment to the mining and ore processing industries in the Middle East could see their markets grow. Analysts are forecasting a huge expansion in the extraction of underground resources in Iran and Saudi Arabia over the next five...
21st century firefighter helmets are a blend of centuries old practical styling and modern materials and technologies. European fire helmets have moved further away from the classic look which is still favoured in the USA but, around the world, manufacturers strive to produce headgear which...
Search & Rescue is a misnomer when relating it to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle as, in reality, it can currently only perform the Search role - not the Rescue nor Recovery – yet. So really its Search & Rescue mission should be described as Search and...
Design fires have great influences on the fire safety concepts and safety measures, and are the basis for any assessment and calculation in tunnel fire safety design. However, the costs of full scale carriage fire tests are large and the number is typically limited. Ying...
We all know how vital it is that electrical cables meet the correct criteria for all construction projects. Now Jonathan Rawlinson, Technical Manager of Prysmian UK takes a look at the importance of reducing the risk in building design with fire resistant cable fixings. Lives and...
Offshore platform managers are now engaged in radical cost-cutting exercises, but even the most insignificant shortcut on procedures can result in disaster. When it comes to fire safety, full functionality is non-negotiable writes Simon Rooks, Operations Director oil and gas, Tyco Fire & Integrated Solutions. The...
The humble warehouse has gone through many changes in the past 20 years; some obvious and others more subtle, yet more profound, in terms of the risk to a business operation. It is perhaps time that as fire professionals we stop to take another look...
A report produced in November 2016 by a group of fire resistant glazing experts looks at the current state of play in the way glass is used in fire-sensitive areas of buildings and questions whether the current regulations are fit for purpose. A major trend in...
To ensure a successful fire safety regime is implemented within a shopping mall it is vital to develop a sound understanding of the key elements that provide the basis to develop and implement a successful fire strategy. Regular contributor to FME and Associate Director of...
It is essential that a public address system delivers announcements which can be comfortably heard by all people with normal hearing in all parts of the area which it is intended to cover. alison cousins, of Baldwin Boxall explores how clarity and quality of sound...
Do you know the protection level of the buildings within your response area? Do you know which structures present the greatest risk of fire incident or safety to life? Are your tenants, employees and customers really safe, or are they truly at risk, with just...
Ray McCormack, Lieutenant Ladder 28 with the New York Fire Department has attended several high rise fires and spoken about his experiences at the HROC High Rise Operations Conference. Here Ray shares his thoughts with FME readers regarding fighting balcony fires in high rise buildings. Balcony...
BuroHappold Engineering has been involved in major rail and aviation projects in the region including KAFD and Olaya Metro stations in Riyadh KSA in which evacuation modelling has helped develop fluid, functional designs. Sophie Washington is a BuroHappold Senior Fire Engineer based in Dubai where...
Attempts by America’s NASA Space agency to design and use fireproof craft have not always proved to be successful. Nearly 50 years ago in February 1967 three astronauts were killed when a cabin fire broke out during a launch rehearsal for the Apollo 1 rocket....
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” The above quote is attributed to Henry Ford who, as most readers will know, became quite successful in the motor industry during the 20th century. He knew a thing or two about bringing people...
Due to many associated risks, safe evacuation from offshore installations has been of significant concern between stakeholders and emergency professionals. Evacuation from offshore installation may become necessary due to various reasons such as a gas leak, fire and explosion, blow out, structural failure, adverse weather conditions such...
Healthcare, food, microelectronics: how smart a cleanroom is equipped and managed is key to a product’s time-to-market. Meticulously designed cleanroom-related contingency and fire safety plans are critical to protecting staff and to avoiding any kind of disruption in the production process. In particular, the ability...
In the past decades, research on tunnel fire has mainly focused on design fires and smoke control in longitudinally ventilated tunnels. There is a clear lack of research on detailed ceiling jet characteristics in tunnel fires. This investigation, conducted by Ying Zhen Li and Haukur...
Flame detectors use optical sensors to detect flames due to fire and are key components of a fire detection system in for example, the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. A variety of sensor technologies are available. In this article Dr. Daniel Waldron, Research Engineer with...
No structure best depicts affluence and wealth more than the Dubai Mall which is the latest addition to a development set to have a huge impact on the infrastructure of Dubai City with an additional 12 million sq feet of high end retail fashion space....
By Ian Dunbar, Rescue Consultant at Holmatro and regular contributor to FME. Before joining Holmatro he was a Training Officer in the UK fire & rescue service with a background in both technical as well as medical rescue. Ian provides Consultation & Training to emergency...
Although Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been variously adopted in the Fire Engineering sector, most of the BIM-related activities are still focused on stand-alone, contractor-owned models. At BuroHappold, explains Peter Stephenson, Associate Director, our designers use BIM to shape smart integrated environments. One key benefit...
Fighting fires anywhere presents firefighters with a level of unpredictability but as Paul Gibson, International Sales Manager, Bristol Uniforms explains, at sea, the level of unpredictability is substantially greater. Every fire is different with the risks and hazards very much dependent on a range of factors including...
Modern mass transportation hubs, including railway stations and airports, form part of a progressive infrastructure network often encompassing contemporary retail and leisure facilities thus creating a unique passenger experience. This coming together of a mixed occupancy environment provides particular challenges to the design team, including...