Section 6. Provisions of Facilities for the Fire Service

6.1 General

The guidance within this section is intended to ensure that, in the event of a fire or other emergency, the fire and rescue service:

i) have adequate access to the perimeter of the building, and
ii) have adequate access into and within the building, and
iii) have adequate facilities provided within the building

in order to carry out effectively the fire fighting operations. In addition, consideration should be given to the design of the building, so that heat and smoke can be suitably vented, in particular from any basement area.

It is vital that the owners and managers of food processing and storage buildings consult with their local fire authority, and invite the brigade personnel on familiarisation visits.

Because of the special nature of fighting fires in subzero temperatures, whenever possible the premises should be made available for training exercise and the evaluation of equipment to ensure that it operates in these conditions. An ongoing dialogue concerning familiarisation with the premises, their construction and operation will do much to decrease the hazard and any potential loss.

6.2 Access to Perimeter of the Building

There are essentially two types of fire appliance which may need to gain access to the building, i.e.. pumping appliances and high reach appliances. These differ in size, as fire appliances are not standardised, and so it is important to liase with the local fire service at an early stage when planning to build new facilities or extending existing buildings.

In general the access to the building (as required by the fire service) should be kept free at all times from obstructions, including overhead obstructions. Access requirements are increased for larger buildings.

Recommendations

• Storage buildings should be fitted with either wet or dry fire mains or sufficient locations to enable adequate fire fighting. Note: In cold stores a wet main is not suitable.

• In large, uncompartmented buildings of sandwich panel construction the fire mains should be located externally.

• Where fire mains are external, then the fire brigade should be able to gain access to a proportion of the perimeter of the building, which will increase as the building size increases. For example a building with a total floor area of over 24,000m2 should allow both pump appliances and high reach appliances to have access to 100% of the perimeter, unless otherwise agreed with the fire service.

6.3 Access Within the Building

It is important that fire fighters are able to gain access to the fire affected area of the building and establish a fire fighting bridgehead as soon as possible, after parking the appliance. This would normally take the form of a fire fighting lobby, which in the case of multi-storey facilities, is assessed via a fire fighting shaft. If the fire fighting shaft is not adjacent to the access point into the building, then the route to be followed by the fire fighters needs to be protected with fire resisting construction.

If the building does not permit fire appliances to have adequate access to the perimeter of the building, then fire fighting mains need to be provided within reasonable distance of the parking position of the appliance. Where wet mains are present the maximum distance is 50m (measured both as the sum of horizontal and vertical distance), and where dry mains exist the maximum distance is 30m. In multi-storey buildings, vertical distance may be discounted where a fire fighting lift is provided, and should increase by a factor of 1.5 where no fire fighting lifts exists. Whilst it is unlikely that fire will occur in a cold storage building because of the low risk, should a fire break out in such buildings, they present very special fire fighting problems, especially stores which operate at around -30°C. For example, special breathing apparatus will be required in order to function at these temperatures.

Fighting fires in unfenestrated buildings is difficult, since it is hard to direct water jets onto the fire from outside unless a partial collapse of the building takes place, by which time it is too late. In refrigerated buildings and general storage areas there are unlikely to be windows, and fire fighting could be hampered by the restricted number, and often size, of access points. Consideration should be given in the design of these walls to incorporate removable panels solely for the purpose of allowing hose jet entry.

Note: Such panels may seriously compromise the insulation requirements, security and sterdility if they are not properly designed.

Recommendations

• When designing a new building or extending an existing one, management should contact the Building Control Authority/Fire Service to establish:

- whether there is sufficient access to the perimeter of the building

- whether they will be able to establish a fire fighting bridgehead at sufficient points in the building that are close enough to protected routes, or adjacent to where the appliances would normally park.

• Barriers used to create a fire fighting bridgehead should be of a construction capable of resisting the anticipated fire for a duration sufficient to control and extinguish the fire. This may require localised additional protection rather than replacement of the panels, and the panel manufacturer should be consulted.

• The need to incorporate removable panels in the external walls of an unfenestrated building, should be considered at the design stage.

• Access points in walls are for the use of the local fire services, and are only to be removed by fire brigade personnel involved in fire fighting.

6.4 Venting of Heat and Smoke to Assist Fire Fighting

The smoke control measures required to assist fire fighting may be less stringent than those related to means of escape, because of the protective clothing and breathing apparatus that fire fighters have available, although all practical smoke control measures need to be considered and implemented. The dilution of smoke and venting of heat will assist fire fighters in their task, and are particularly important in basement areas.

Smoke control measures in cold stores/food processing plants may comprise glazed windows, which can be opened (or smashed if necessary) in internal walls, or specially designed panels which can easily be removed by the fire service in unfenestrated walls, (e.g.. in Cold Stores), or mechanically operated vents. The means of ventilation will be located at high points within the room. Where the smoke is to be vented from a basement, it will need to be above the level of escape routes of fire service access points. Provision will also be required for a supply of replacement clean air. It is beneficial if fire-fighters can take over the control of the ventilation system during fire fighting operations. Stand-alone override facilities need to be considered.

The ability to vent smoke in a controlled manner may have major benefits in reducing damage to stock and preventing the spread of fire.

Recommendations

• Smoke control provisions should be do designed that, as in the case of cold stores, the rapid loss of temperature should be taken into account. Expert advice should be sought from fire safety engineers or the Fire Service.

• Where special smoke control panels/windows are installed, these should be clearly marked and have attached a permanent notice indicating which parts of the building they service. They must be operable from outside the building, or from a place which is safe from fire.

• The override controls for use by the fire service should be separate from the main control and easily accessed at all times by the fire services. Advice should be sought from the fire service on this aspect.

• Consideration should be given to the provision of higher levels of smoke control above those required for life safety or fire fighting, and specialist advice should be sought to achieve this.

6.5 Information To The Fire Service

Under fire conditions, sandwich panel construction in buildings can contribute to the spread of flames, and a collapse of panels is likely to promote a rapid spread of fire through the building. Operational procedures will therefore need to take this into account in terms of the additional risk to Fire-fighters. It is imperative, therefore, that the Fire Service are aware of all buildings with this type of construction.

Recommendations

• The Fire Service should be informed of any premises conforming to a type of construction which includes sandwich panels.