Fire suppression systems are mechanisms for controlling and extinguishing the fire. They could be manual or automatic for instance, condensed aerosol fire suppression and Fire sprinkler systems. Fire damages cause havoc and result in loss of millions of shillings annually. Hence, it is advisable and necessary to take precaution prior while making construction plans. The installation of fire suppression and detection systems should comply with the ISO 9001 standards in addition to construction design and management regulations.
In development programs, fire alarms can be used as a heat detector. It operates by closing a circuit to sound the alarm in case temperatures rose beyond the set limit. We have prescribed standards in place that give direction about installation and suppression systems. From the MGM case study, smoke and fire spread through the MGM Grand Hotel and caused major havoc besides incurrence of heavy losses. Reasons of the fire was an electrical ground fault inside a wall in the restaurant. The fire was fueled by the presence of combustible furnishing, interior finishes, foam padding and moldings. Heavy smoke and fire spread was catalyzed by the major part of the casino being undivided besides limited air supply. Toxic smoke found its way in the entire building through worn out smoke dampers, openings in the elevator hoistway, staircase. Moreover, vertical and seismic joints in the hotel allowed the spread of fire to the top floor of the building.
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The fire could not have happened/ could have been prevented if the owners of the hotel did not compromise their integrity and quality. They resisted installing fire sprinklers in the hotel despite getting a recommendation from their engineering consultants. The fire sprinkler would have cost them $192,000 against the construction cost of the hotel which was deemed to be $106M.
The hotel owners had violated 83 building code violations when constructing the hotel; the building had installation errors and design flaws. Failure to comply with this requirements led to the cause of fire (Clark County, 2016).
Fire break out has detrimental outcomes such as loss of money, property and even life. Prevention is better than cure. Hence it is worth taking safety measures to prevent fire. There are different means of fire suppression and detection used in the construction plan. Fire protection systems include automatic fire detection, fire alarms and fire suppression systems.
Fire Alarms: High – rise buildings use sophisticated fire detection to protect occupants and control spread of smoke and fire. Fire alarm system is made up of alarm notification device which is audible, a control panel and alarm initiation device that is visible.
Fire detection systems: There are two categories of fire detectors namely: ionization detectors which use radioactive material within the instrument to identify unseen products emanating from combustion. Secondly, there is a photoelectric sensor that uses a light beam to sense if there is the presence of visible smoke particles.
Alarm Initiation devices: They perform either automatically or manually whereby automatic initiation devices detect fire via ionization detectors or photoelectric chamber. Once they detect products of combustion, they trigger a loud alarm. Examples of alarm initiation devices are smoke detectors which sense the presence of smoke and heat detectors whose function is to sense when there is an over limit of smoke. Gas sensors detect the presence of an individual gas that results from combustion or gas that is used within that particular building.
Carbon monoxide detectors: They are made in a certain way such that they sound a visual / audible alarm whenever there is a high concentration of carbon monoxide that poses a danger to occupants of a building (NEDCC, n.d.).
Smoke management systems are mechanisms that are meant to modify, dilute, redirect or influence the circulation of smoke in a building under fire. The advantage of smoke control is to limit and control the movement of smoke during a fire. It comprises pressurizing areas along the building where there is fire and exhausting the particular field. The methodology works on the basis of creating pressure that pushes air and smoke out of the protected area towards the fire and at the same time, forces smoke out of the fire area.
Additionally, smoke systems control and fire management provide protection along staircases and elevators at a reasonable price which proves to be cost effective. They prevent smoke and fire from spreading through constructions for example by using fire partitions which are not heavy and do not need reinforcement of structures when installing (Smoke Guard, 2016). Special kind of extinguishing system are connected in constructions and have the advantage of protecting areas where water is not appropriate to use for instance computer rooms.
Last but not least, smoke control and management has an advantage of creating a safe environment in which to live. They protect the occupiers by keeping escape and access routes free from smoke thereby reducing the risk of damage to the building and prevents flashovers.
References
Clark County. (2016, Jan 9). MGM Fire Investigation Report- Clark County . Retrieved from clarkcountynv.gov: http://www.clarkcountynv.govfire
NEDCC. (n.d.). An introduction to fire detection, alarm, and automatic fire sprinkler . Retrieved from nedcc.orgh: https;//www.nedcc.org
Smoke Guard. (2016, Aug 18). A dvantages of Deployable Fire Partitions . Retrieved from smokeguard.com2: http://www.smokeguard.com
