Principles of Fire Risk Assessment in Buildings

233 Pages·2008·3.371 MB·English

by  David Yung(auth.)

Principles of
Fire Risk Assessment in
Buildings
Principles of Fire Risk Assessment in Buildings David Yung
© 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN: 978-0-470-85402-0
Principles of Fire Risk
Assessment in Buildings
David Yung
Yung& AssociatesInc., Toronto, Canada
A John Wiley and Sons, Ltd, Publication
Thiseditionfirstpublished2008
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Yung,DavidTinLam.
Principlesoffireriskassessmentinbuildings/DavidTinLamYung.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-470-85402-0(cloth)–ISBN978-0-470-85409-9(pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Fireriskassessment. I. Title.
TH9446.3.Y862009
363.37(cid:1)6–dc22
2008043731
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN:978-0-470-85402-0(Hbk)
978-0-470-85409-9(Pbk)
Typesetin10.5/13SabonbyLaserwordsPrivateLimited,Chennai,India
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Contents
AbouttheAuthors ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
ListofSymbols xv
1 Introduction 1
PARTI SimpleApproachtoFireRiskAssessment 5
2 WhatisFireRiskAssessment? 7
2.1 Overview 7
2.2 WhatisFireRiskAssessment? 7
2.3 Summary 15
2.4 Review Questions 16
References 16
3 FireRiskAssessmentBasedonPastFireExperience 17
3.1 Overview 17
3.2 BasedonPastFireExperience 18
3.3 BasedonFireIncidentData 23
3.4 Summary 29
3.5 Review Questions 30
References 30
vi Contents
4 Qualitative FireRiskAssessment 33
4.1 Overview 33
4.2 RiskMatrix 34
4.3 ChecklistMethod 36
4.4 Event-TreeMethod 42
4.5 Summary 46
4.6 Review Questions 47
References 47
5 Quantitative FireRiskAssessment 49
5.1 Overview 49
5.2 RiskIndexing 50
5.3 ChecklistMethod 50
5.4 Event-TreeMethod 55
5.5 Summary 60
5.6 Review Questions 61
References 62
PARTII FundamentalApproachtoFireRiskAssessment 63
6 FundamentalApproachtoFireRiskAssessment 65
7 FireGrowthScenarios 71
7.1 Overview 71
7.2 CompartmentFireCharacteristics 72
7.3 FireModelInputandOutputParameters 76
7.4 DesignFires 80
7.5 AutomaticFireSuppressiontoControlFireGrowth 89
7.6 Summary 91
7.7 Review Questions 92
References 93
8 FireSpreadProbabilities 95
8.1 Overview 95
8.2 FireResistantConstruction 96
8.3 ProbabilityofFailure 100
8.4 FireSpreadProbabilities 106
8.5 Summary 110
8.6 Review Questions 111
References 112
Contents vii
9 SmokeSpreadScenarios 113
9.1 Overview 113
9.2 SmokeSpreadCharacteristics andModelling 114
9.3 SmokeControlSystemstoClearSmokein
Evacuation Routes 124
9.4 Summary 129
9.5 Review Questions 130
References 130
10 OccupantEvacuationScenarios 133
10.1 Overview 133
10.2 OccupantEvacuationCharacteristics andModelling 134
10.3 OccupantSafetyMeasures toExpediteOccupant
ResponseandEvacuation 150
10.4 Summary 157
10.5 Review Questions 157
References 158
11 FireDepartmentResponse 161
11.1 Overview 161
11.2 FireDepartmentResponseTimeandResources 162
11.3 OccupantFatalityandPropertyLossModelling 175
11.4 FireProtectionMeasurestoProvideEffective
OccupantRescueandFireExtinguishmentEfforts 180
11.5 Summary 182
11.6 Review Questions 184
References 185
12 UncertaintyConsiderations 187
12.1 Overview 187
12.2 WhatAretheUncertainties? 188
12.3 TreatmentofUncertainty 190
12.4 Summary 200
12.5 Review Questions 200
References 201
13 FireRiskManagement 203
13.1 Overview 203
13.2 FireRiskManagement 204
13.3 AlternativeFireSafetyDesigns 206
viii Contents
13.4 ImpactofInspectionandMaintenance onSystem
Reliability 213
13.5 ImpactofEvacuationDrillsonEarlyOccupant
ResponseandEvacuation 220
13.6 Summary 220
13.7 Review Questions 222
References 222
Index 225
About the Author
The author is currently the President of his own consulting company,
Yung & Associates Inc. He has worked in fire research and fire risk
assessment for over 20 years. From 2002 to 2006, he was Research
Leader of Fire Science at the Australian national research organization
CSIRO in Sydney, Australia. Before that, he was a Senior Research
Officer and Group Leader of Fire Risk Assessment for 17 years at
the National Research Council Canada (NRCC) in Ottawa. He led a
team that developed one of the world’s comprehensive fire risk-cost
assessment models, called FiRECAM. Before joining the fire research
group at NRCC in 1985, he spent seven years at the Argonne National
Laboratory in the USA, and three years at the Chalk River Nuclear
LaboratoryandNRCC,conductingnuclearandsolarenergyresearch.
Theauthor’sworkismentionedinthebookHistoryofFireProtection
Engineering, published in 2003 by the National Fire Protection Asso-
ciation (NFPA) and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) in
the USA. He is a member of the NFPA Technical Committee on Fire
Risk Assessment Methods. In September 2003, he was given the ‘Hats
Off’ award by SFPE for his service as the Editor-in-Chief ofthe Journal
of Fire Protection Engineering. In May 2001, he was elected a Fellow
of the SFPE for his achievement in fire protection engineering. He has
over100publicationsinfire,nuclearandsolarenergy,anddesalination
andwaterpurification. Heservesontheeditorial boardsofthreemajor
international fire journals and is the past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal
ofFireProtectionEngineering.
x AbouttheAuthor
He holds a B.Eng. from McGill University, an M.A.Sc. from the Uni-
versityofToronto,andaPh.D.fromMIT,allinmechanicalengineering.
In addition, he is a licensed professional engineer in the Province of
Ontario, Canadaand amember oftheAmerican Society ofMechanical
Engineers.
Preface
The concept for this book originated in late 2001 when John Wiley &
Sons Inc. approached me with a proposal to write a book on fire risk
assessment.Atthattime,IwasaSeniorResearchOfficerattheNational
Research Council Canada (NRCC) and had conducted research on fire
risk assessment for 15 years. I was happy to accept the challenge to
writeabookbasedonmyobservationsandresearchfindingsonfirerisk
assessmentovertheyears.
Shortlyafteragreeingtowritethebook,Iacceptedaninvitationfrom
CSIRO in Australia to lead their fire science group. Working in a new
organization and living in a new country, however, did not permit me
much time to work on a book–hence, it wasn’t until I returned to
Canadain2006thatwritingbeganinearnest.
My involvement in fire risk research was preceded by a number of
years in energy research. I had spent time at the Argonne National
Laboratory in Chicago working on thermal hydraulic issues related
to nuclear reactor safety, and heat transfer issues related to Ocean
Thermal Energy Conversion in Hawaii. I also spent time at the Chalk
RiverNuclearLaboratoryworkingonheattransferissuesrelatedtothe
Canadian CANDU reactor; and later at NRCC conducting research in
solar energy. The cessation of government funding for energy research
in1985resultedinacareerchangetofireresearch,inparticularfirerisk
assessmentresearch.
Myinterestinfireriskassessmentresearchwasinfluencedbytwoindi-
viduals.ThefirstwasProfessorVaughnBeckoftheVictoriaUniversityof
TechnologyinAustraliawhospenttimeonsabbaticalatNRCCinearly
1987.His great enthusiasm forthe development ofcomputer-based fire
riskassessmentmodelswascontagious.ThesecondwasKenRichardson
whowas,atthattime,theAssociateHeadofNationalFireLaboratoryat