This week’s issue of Burning Matters undoubtedly hits a little bit close to home – Denmark, to be exact.
If you have read the “About the Author” introduction, you know that I spent seven meaningful years of teaching and mentoring at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). While living in (greater) Copenhagen, I became well-acquainted with the city's numerous architectural landmarks.
Each structure, from historic buildings to modern architectural landmarks, has added to the fairytale-like charm of Copenhagen, with the Børsen building as a notable example. Built in the first half of the 1600s, Børsen, which hosted the Danish stock exchange until 1974, was one of the most distinguished examples of Dutch Renaissance. It was situated near the waterfront of Slotsholmen, next to Christiansborg Palace, which houses the Danish Parliament, the Prime Minister’s office and the Supreme court. Combing this with the fact that it had a remarkable spire, it was a building that was ‘impossible’ to miss for people that visited the Danish capital.
Unfortunately, and despite lessons that could have been learned from the Glasgow School of Art (Mackintosh Building) - which burned down twice! - and the Notre Dame fire in Paris, Børsen also fell victim to a renovation fire that resulted in a significant financial and an irreplaceable cultural loss.
Firefighting continued for a long time after the spire had collapsed. Note all the scaffolding that made the firefighting all the more challenging.
According to NFPA, there are more than 4300 construction site fires per year in USA alone, so clearly such fires do not only occur in heritage buildings like those mentioned above. Recent examples in Europe include the Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden…
The Liseberg fire and explosion had a fatal outcome for one of the workers.
and a construction site of a 750 million GBP high-rise complex in Reading, UK.
The fire in Reading resulted in a very dramatic rescue for one of the workers, who was brought to safety at the very last minute through the heroic efforts of a crane operator.
One common aspect of these fire incidents, is that it is vital to highlight the commendable efforts of the fire service, construction workers, and volunteers who responded promptly and effectively.
For example, in the case of the Børsen fire, the local fire service, assisted by hundreds of volunteers, managed to rescue a very large percentage of the historical paintings and artwork, though not the bust of King Christian IV of Denmark. Video footage of the Børsen fire showed that the fire spread in a matter of minutes, which left the volunteers and employees only a brief window to rescue the art.
In a similar vein, the prompt action of a crane operator led to a heroic rescue during the Reading fire. Amidst flames and smoke, the operator skillfully lifted a construction worker to safety, showcasing remarkable skill and quick thinking.
The actions of those involved in these construction fires stress a core principle of the Burning Matters newsletter:
Fire is a shared responsibility.
Construction fires bring to light a significant question of responsibility for fire safety during these phases. While fire engineers often involve themselves in designing the fire safety features of an operational building, how then do we mitigate fire risks during building construction?
This raises the question…
How do we extend the fire safety responsibility to everyone involved?
1. Managing fire risks from a contractor’s point of view
In the early stages of building construction, a fire prevention plan (ideally coordinated with the local service) must be established and tailored to the construction site. The fire prevention plan should cover, but is not limited to, means of escape and egress routes, fire drills for effective evacuation, availability of basic firefighting tools like fire extinguishers or hose reels and safety trainings in machine handling. Additionally, contractors should ensure that the building site is adequately equipped with alarm and detection systems that provide means of early warning to those present on site. Mobile detection and alarm systems are available from many companies.
2. Taking a step back and reviewing the Fire Triangle
The Fire Triangle represents, in the simplest form, the three elements necessary to initiate a fire:
ignition source (i.e., electric sparks, static electricity, friction and hot surfaces)
fuel (any material that can sustain a fire, i.e., solid fuels like wood or liquid fuels like gasoline)
oxidizing agent (i.e., air/oxygen)
When present and combined in the right amounts, these elements start the combustion process (that also require chemical chain reaction, thus references can also be seen to the fire tetrahedron). Consequently, it should be studied how fire can be prevented by removing or minimizing the presence of one element in the context of construction fires. Classical ignition sources that are identified are hot works (e.g. welding and cutting). It is crucial for the building contractor to establish a comprehensive hot work permit process. This requires solid planning, as some of the eventual 'in-use' fire safety measures are not in place yet. A small note should also be made with respect to avoiding fires due to spontaneous combustion.
Ignition sources is only one aspect of the fire triangle. Material selection is obviously also an important aspect for fire safety. In ensuring that fire does not spread as rapidly as it should before the evacuation of occupants, risk management is effective in first identifying potential fuel hazards. Secondly, and this leads back to the first point of a fire safety plan, building management should practice regular inspections and housekeeping of combustible materials in the vicinity of the construction work.
3. Fire safety for temporary structures
As the flames of the Børsen fire started to subside a few days later, the chief of the Copenhagen fire service paid a visit to the last day of the SFPE Performance-Based Design Conference (coincidentally the fire happened a few blocks away from the conference venue).
In his presentation, he pleaded to the fire engineers and others present to “please make our [read: the fire service] lives easier”. He relayed the importance of access points for fire and rescue services in construction fires. One challenge that the fire service encountered during the firefighting was that there was no access to the building owing to the scaffolding that was erected around the building perimeter.
We conclude this week’s Burning Matters newsletter with the timeless, though often clichéd, safety statement:
Prevention is always better than cure.
Construction fire safety is consistently treated as an afterthought or a secondary concern in the overall scheme of the building process. But we as fire engineers, should be cognizant of the fact that fire can occur at any stage, at any time of the construction phase. While we have been certainly taking better measures in safeguarding an operational building, we must extend the responsibility to all, requiring commitment and cooperation of all stakeholders.
On a final note, those familiar with NFPA standards have pointed out that they are quite surprised that NFPA 241 - Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations (2022 Edition) is not adopted in Europe.
The reader is advised that as part of its commitment to enhancing public safety, NFPA makes its codes and standards available online to the public for free.
Grunde
PS - for those with a deeper interest in learning, you can read a research paper on the Notre Dame fire.
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