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High rise fire?????

sergoodo said:
Read that the BBC interviewed someone saying the building just had new gas lines installed...and ran the lines up the stairwell. Any lack of attention to the penetrations would turn that exit stair into a stovepipe.

...and highly flammable rainscreen, this is criminally awful
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Nothing that isn't egress/life safety should be in the exit enclosures.....

(Amd) 1022.5 Penetrations. Penetrations into and openings through interior exit stairways and
ramps are prohibited except for required exit doors, equipment and ductwork necessary for
independent ventilation or pressurization, sprinkler piping, standpipes, electrical raceway for fire
department communication and security systems and electrical raceway serving the interior exit
stairway and ramp and terminating at a steel box not exceeding 16 square inches (0.010 m²).
Such penetrations shall be protected in accordance with Section 714. There shall be no
penetrations or communicating openings, whether protected or not, between adjacent interior exit
stairways and ramps.
 
mark handler said:
Risk of high-rise fire deaths in U.S. has dropped
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...hs-in-u-s-has-dropped/?utm_term=.f64e520da3e4
If you live in a high rise and want to know your own risk, Robert Solomon has a simple answer for you. Does it have a modern automatic sprinkler system? If so, you should be safe.
“We have a really good track record with our high-rise buildings in the last 20 to 25 years,” said Solomon, head of the Building and Life Safety Codes division at NFPA.
[London high-rise apartment fire death toll rising]
Activists in London complained that the safety standards for the building were low because the tenants were lower income. Solomon said that poverty could be a factor in the higher fire rates in the southern United States. Black children and seniors have greater risk of dying in fires, according to a 2010 NFPA report that gathered together various demographic studies of fire risk, but that risk evens out in wealthier areas.
The disparity in fire rates in the south could potentially come from weaker enforcement of fire codes, according to Solomon, as well as poorer quality housing. However, resistance to retrofitting older buildings with better fire protection, he said, happens in expensive developments as much as in affordable housing.
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Now that is a real encouragement, especially considering the number of line-of-duty fire fatalities. The study conducted by a news site says that the risk of high-rise fire deaths in the US has declined.
High-rise apartments should ensure if they have got an automatic sprinkler system.
The first requirement for sprinklers went into effect in the mid-1970s. Over time, the rules enforced better systems and there have been very less deaths in a building with a sprinkler.
Fire alarm system monitoring ensures that the sprinkler will set itself in action in case of an emergency and alerts the system and notifies you if there is a problem with the sprinkler system.
Today 85% of fires happen in apartments or buildings without automatic sprinklers.
 
emy said:
Today 85% of fires happen in apartments or buildings without automatic sprinklers.
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I wonder what percentage of buildings are sprinklered...15%? Logic would state that whether a building has or does not have sprinklers is irrelevant to the chances of a fire starting...
 
To quote our good friend "Suppression is a failure in prevention"...And fire alarm monitoring has nothing to do with the sprinkler system setting itself into action unless it is in Hollywood....
 
tmurray said:
I wonder what percentage of buildings are sprinklered...15%? Logic would state that whether a building has or does not have sprinklers is irrelevant to the chances of a fire starting...
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What I tried to convey is that the combination of automatic sprinklers and early warning systems in all buildings could reduce overall injuries, loss of life and property damage by at least 50%.
Property losses are 85% less in residences with fire sprinklers compared to those without sprinklers.
 
Wonder if the sprinklers went off? Also wonder if this is the one our old buddy Packsaddle inspected? A comment on another forum:

Observation: Looks like someone got a little careless with the inspection process and building code verification.

Reminds me of the movie: TOWERING INFERNO

In that movie, the FIRE SUPPRESSION system was never completely installed and tested. This kind of thing should never happen because there is no way for the firemen to fight this fire. It has to just burn itself out.
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