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THE NATIONAL Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has issued a new statistical report on fires in high-rise buildings in the USA. Authored by John Hall Jr. of the Fire Analysis and Research Division, the study explores trends in high-rise fire incidents during the period 2003 to 2006.
According to the NFPA, there is a declining trend in the number of high-rise fires and associated losses. The report says an estimated 13,400 high-rise structure fires were reported each year – representing only 3% of all structure fires over the period.
These high-rise incidents resulted in 62 civilian deaths, 490 injuries and US$179m in direct property damage per year, with most incidents occurring in apartments, hotels, healthcare facilities and offices.
Most tall building fires begin on floors no higher than the 6th storey, explains the report. The proportion of 2003-2006 high-rise fires that started on the 7th floor or higher was 27% for apartments, 22% for hotels and motels, 13% for facilities that care for the sick, and 30% for offices.
The report says that wet-pipe sprinkler systems and fire detection equipment are more common in high-rise buildings than other buildings. However, it raises concerns that, even considering the extensive fire and life safety requirements for high-rises, set out in NFPA 101: Life Safety Code, ‘there are still major gaps, particularly in the adoption and enforcement of provisions requiring the retrofit of automatic sprinkler systems and other life safety systems in existing high-rise buildings’.
The report, High-Rise Building Fires, is available at www.nfpa.org
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