Fire Safety in High-Rise
Buildings
Buildings over 75 feet in height represent special problems for
the fire safety of building occupants. Fire fighters cannot reach upper
stories from the building exterior for fighting or rescue operations during
fire incident. Interior fire attacks are hampered by distances which fire
fighters have to climb with heavy breathing apparatus and equipment.
In addition, the size of high-rise buildings and the large number
of people in them make these buildings impractical to immediately evacuate
during an emergency. Fixed fire protection features must be present to
automatically detect and control fires so that occupants can remain in
a building for a period of time, safely remote from a fire.
Don't the building codes require
sprinklers?
For many years, the building codes have required fire sprinkler systems
in all high-rise buildings (commercial and residential) in order to make
them safe. However, these codes only apply to new buildings. Those high-rises
which were built before modern building codes were in effect represent
an extreme danger to their occupants, as well as a physical and financial
burden to local fire fighters and their tax paying citizens.
Why do older high-rises need
sprinklers?
A dramatic example illustrating the danger these older buildings represent
occurred in May of 1988, in the First Interstate Bank Building (FIBB) in
downtown Los Angeles, California. A fire broke out on the 12th floor of
this building around 10:00 in the evening. A security guard reacting to
an automatic smoke alarm took an elevator to the fire floor to investigate.
When the elevator opened, he was immediately overcome with smoke, and died.
Meanwhile, the fire broke through the windows on the 12th floor.
People outside the building noticed the fire and called the fire department.
By the time the fire department arrived (four minutes), the fire had already
spread to the 13th floor. Heat from the fire was breaking glass out of
the windows on upper floors. This glass, falling 150 feet, made it impossible
for firemen to get anywhere close to the building. Entering the building
next door, fire fighters walked through a tunnel into the basement of the
FIBB. From the basement, fire fighters walked up 13 flights carrying all
their fire fighting equipment.
For four hours, 300 fire fighters fought a holding action, finally bringing the fire under control. It
took several more hours to actually extinguish the fire, which caused
$50 million in damage. In its wake, four floors of the FIBB were completely
destroyed. All lower floors suffered extreme water damage, while upper
floors suffered severe smoke damage. Businesses lost valuable documents
and files, as well as their workplace. Recovery took months and millions
of dollars more. Reoccupation of the entire building still wasn't possible
more than one year later.
Because this fire happened at night, while the building was unoccupied,
there was no large loss of life. However, this fire could have started
during the day with thousands of people in the building. How many lives
would have been lost then?
What about the cost to the
taxpayer?
The City of Los Angeles had to pay 300 fire fighters overtime pay for
four to six hours to fight this fire. In addition, more than 80 pieces
of fire apparatus were occupied in fighting this one fire, leaving other
portions of the city sparsely protected. Some fire fighting equipment was
destroyed during the fire, damaged by falling building debris. Fire fighters
had to take time off to physically and emotionally recover from the fire.
Was the LA fire an isolated
incident?
Unfortunately, no. High-rise fires continue to be a problem in unsprinklered
buildings across the country. Just one fire in a city or town has the ability
to completely deplete the resources of the fire department. Often the direct
and indirect fire losses, total in the hundreds of millions of dollars,
far exceed the cost of providing sprinkler protection for all of the high-rises
in town. Here are a few examples of recent devastating fires in high-rises.
MGM Grande Hotel Schomburg Plaza
Las Vegas, Nevada New York, New York
November 21, 1980 March 22, 1987
(85 deaths) (7 deaths)
Westchase Hilton Hotel First Interstate Bank
Houston, Texas Los Angeles, California
March 7, 1982 May 4, 1988
(12 deaths) ($50 million direct loss,
30 injuries)
Dupont Plaza Hotel
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Empire State Building
December 31, 1986 New York, New York
(97 deaths) July 16, 1990
(38 injuries)
Peachtree 25 Building
Atlanta, Georgia
Meridian Plaza
June 30, 1986 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(5 deaths) February 23, 1991
(3 deaths, multi-billion
dollar lawsuit)
What is the solution?
Fire sprinkler systems! A fire sprinkler system will automatically detect
a fire, control it, and sound an alarm while the fire is still small, minimizing
any damage. There has never been a multiple loss of life in a fully sprinklered
building!
Don't sprinkler systems cost
a lot?
Not when compared to the cost of fire. Sprinkler systems in new construction
cost between $0.95 and $1.50 per square foot of building floor space. To
put a sprinkler system in an existing building can cost a little more depending
on building construction, and how many walls and/or ceilings need to be
disturbed.
A recent survey in the Chicago metropolitan area shows fire sprinkler
system installations in existing buildings costing between $0.94 and $2.15
per square foot, with an average of $1.74 per square foot.
What about water damage?
Fire sprinklers are heat activated devices. Only those closest to a
fire will ever open. More than 90% of all fires are controlled by four
sprinklers or less, with each sprinkler flowing about 25 gallons per minute.
Contrast that with the hundreds and even thousands of gallons per minute
which fire fighters would use once they arrive.
Can a sprinkler go off accidentally?
It is possible, but it rarely happens. Unless sprinklers are subjected
to freezing, overheating, or mechanical injury, loss records show that
only once in every 16 million years of service will a sprinkler accidentally
open.
What can I do?
Support legislation which has been introduced in your community to require
existing high-rise buildings to install fire sprinkler systems. Write or
call your city councilmen to let them know that just because a building
was allowed to be built before we knew better, it's no excuse to allow
that building to continue to be a burden to you, the taxpayer.
Let's not wait for a fire to occur here before we do anything about
the situation. Let's act now, in a proactive way, to make all of our lives
safer, rather than wait to react after the fire occurs.
For More Information, Contact:
National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc.
Robin Hill Corporate Park - Route 22
P.O. Box 1000 - Patterson, New York 12563
Telephone: (914) 878-4200
FAX: (914) 878-4215