Response to Terror Threats
Fire protective system designers are increasingly
aware of external hazards such as terrorist threats,
therefore systems that can only indicate an emergency
with a horn & strobe are being replaced by systems
designed to pass actual information.
Managing Smoke in Open Areas
Open interior areas, such as indoor stadiums, covered
malls, and atriums that connect two or more levels are
vulnerable to smoke that endangers occupants even remote
from the origin, making smoke control systems necessary:
»» To cause smoke to fill the volume at the same rate, either
with or without exhausting, to create tenable conditions
for evacuation
»» To maintain a smoke layer at a constant, safe elevation
for a predetermined time to permit evacuation
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Fire Protection
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Do You Have the
Right Protection
for Your Building?
Keep In Mind
The practice of reducing fire risk in large commercial
facilities for decades has proven to reduce the number
of deaths, injuries & property loss from fires.
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COMMERCIAL
Wayne D. Moore, Hughes Associates, Inc.
Recipient of the Standards Medal from the National
Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA), the highest award
presented by NFPA’s Standards Council for outstanding
contributions to fire safety in the development of codes
and standards.
Talk to a Certified
Fire Professional
Lawrence (Larry) Wenzel, Hughes Associates, Inc.
Larry is a Senior Fire Protection Engineer with Hughes
Associates, Inc. He is a veteran Professional Engineer (PE)
and Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS) and serves
on a number of NFPA committees, including the Technical
Committee on Protected Premises Signaling; the NFPA
Technical Committee on Initiating Devices; and, The NFPA
101: Life Safety Committee.
Fire Protection Trends & Issues
for Large Commercial Occupancies
The practice of reducing fire risk in large commercial
facilities for decades has proven to reduce the number
of deaths, injuries & property loss from fires. Today, the
use of fire protective systems is much greater in high-rise
office buildings than in smaller structures. This prevalence
of robust fire protection is credited
with the lower rate of fire deaths
& property damage in high-rises
than in smaller structures.
Large commercial spaces can
house a variety of operations
& occupancies:
»» High rise office & residential buildings
»» Large multi-screen movie theaters
»» Warehouses for non-public storage uses such as groceries
»» Leasable spaces for non-specified occupancies
»» Data centers
»» Business parks with shared spaces
»» Repurposed industrial sites, such as old mill buildings
converted to open, shared retail spaces
»» Research & technology centers for industries such as drug
or weapons development
Much of the challenge of providing fire protection
to these locations lies in understanding the occupants
& their behavior as they go about their work.
»» How does the occupants’ work affect their response
to an emergency?
»» How many occupants can be in the space at a given time?
»» What should occupants be expected to know in an emergency?
»» Are transient combustibles or other hazards present
that may not be noticed?
Structure & Tenant Considerations
One of the biggest challenges of commercial
occupancies, such as industrial parks, is that
the type of prospective tenants is usually
not known at the time of construction. When
the building has no specific tenant in mind,
several questions need to be considered:
»» What types of occupancies does
the owner allow?
»» Are automatic sprinklers needed?
If so, what design?
»» Will a protective signaling system be required?
»» What will need to be included
in the design?
»» What will be universal enough to fit any anticipated occupancy?
Is the building’s structure suitable for commerce
that will take place in the space?
»» For example, a paper manufacturing or storage
operation can’t be located in a wooden structure
Simplicity is Key
Fire protection features must match the characteristics
of the larger commercial spaces. Because of the varying
nature of the occupancies, and the fact that many
locations will have constant changes in tenancy,
keeping fire protection as simple as possible is key.
However, this may be extremely difficult to accomplish
with the following considerations: expectations of
occupants and the future possibility of building &
occupancy modifications. With a lease or rental, how
does the lease assign responsibility for fire protection,
such as inspections, changes to installations, and
equipment testing?
Protective Signaling Systems
One vital component of fire protection is
protective signaling systems. For these systems
to suit their space and occupancy, these
questions must be answered:
Do all occupants need to be notified, or can
the system be zoned?
»» Can the form of notification be as simple as a system
of horns & strobes, or must it be capable of passing
information through speakers?
»» What type of detection best fits the occupancy?
»» Will the building be protected by automatic sprinklers?
»» What other fire protection features or equipment
will be used?
»» Can the protective signaling system interface
with other fire protection equipment?
Risk Analysis
Designers experienced in mass notification
should analyze the risks in large commercial
facilities, taking into account the wide variation
in the characteristics of commercial occupancies.
An objective risk analysis must include:
»» Size of the structure
»» Locations for “areas
of refuge”
»» Protection of circuits
& pathways that
transmit signals
»» Message content
»» Message intelligibility
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