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Afac Fbim-Manual v3
Afac Fbim-Manual v3
Model Manual
GUIDELINE
Version 3.0
14 April 2020
PROCEDURAL Doctrine ID 3068
Copyright © 2020, Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council Limited
All rights reserved. Copyright in this publication is subject to the operation of the Copyright Act 1968 and its subsequent
amendments. Any material contained in this document can be reproduced, providing the source is acknowledged and it is
not used for any commercialisation purpose whatsoever without the permission of the copyright owner.
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Level 1, 340 Albert Street
East Melbourne Victoria 3002
Telephone: 03 9419 2388
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Disclaimer
This document has been developed from consultation and research between the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service
Authorities Council Limited (AFAC), its members and stakeholders. It is intended to address matters relevant to fire, land
management and emergency services across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region.
The information in this document is for general purposes only and is not intended to be used by the general public or
untrained persons. Use of this document by AFAC Member agencies, organisations and public bodies does not derogate
from their statutory obligations. It is important that individuals, agencies, organisations and public bodies make their own
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Citation
Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council. (2020) Fire Brigade Intervention Model Manual (AFAC
Publication No. 3068). East Melbourne, Vic: Australia. AFAC Ltd.
Review period
This guideline is part of a five-year review cycle and should be reviewed by the doctrine owner by 30 April, 2025
Section 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................3
Supporting discussion......................................................................................................................................................65
AFAC Doctrine
About this document
AFAC
This publication is technical guideline. It must be used with
The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities the latest AFAC Fire Brigade Intervention Model (FBIM)
Council (AFAC) is the Australian and New Zealand National Dataset which can be found here https://www.afac.com.au/
Council for fire, emergency services and land management. insight/doctrine/article/current/fire-brigade-intervention-
It is a collaborative network of fire, emergency services model-manual.
and land management agencies that supports the sector to
make communities safer and more resilient.
Background
AFAC Doctrine Early in 1995, AFAC convened a committee for the purpose
of coordinating its response to the performance-based
AFAC develops doctrine to support the practice of
building regulations which were undergoing development
emergency management. The information in doctrine
at that time.
publications is evidence based and drawn from academic
research and the collective expert knowledge of member The committee was drawn from fire agencies around
agencies. Doctrine is regularly reviewed and represents the Australia and New Zealand. It is a multi-disciplinary team,
official AFAC view on a range of topics. with members having qualifications and expertise in
disciplines ranging across various branches of engineering,
Doctrine does not mandate action; rather, it sets
applied science, mathematics, building surveying and
aspirational measures. Publishing nationally agreed views,
business administration. Combined, the committee had
shared approaches and common terminology enhances
more than 80 years of firefighting experience to draw upon.
cooperation and collaboration within and between
agencies and jurisdictions. One of the main functions of this committee was to
formulate a quantitative model of fire brigade operations
Types of AFAC Doctrine that would be suitable for use in conjunction with the new
performance-based building code. After assessing the
situation and the context of application, the committee
AFAC Doctrine is classified as follows:
set about developing a framework for quantitatively
Capstone doctrine – includes publications, such as determining the time for fire brigade operations. This
'strategic intents', that are high-level accounts of the was developed for use at the design stage of building
concepts of emergency management operations and development. The framework needed to be augmented by
service delivery. They describe the principles of what is data covering the range of fire brigade activities identified,
practical, realistic and possible in terms of protecting life, so a process of data acquisition was designed and
property and the environment. implemented.
Fundamental doctrine – includes 'positions', which AFAC National and international studies were undertaken to
members are expected to support, as well as 'approaches' determine if such a methodology already existed. This
and some 'frameworks'. Fundamental doctrine may consisted of an extensive literature review and a research
become agency or jurisdictional policy on a matter if tour to explore in more detail the possible options that
adopted by individual services or jurisdictions. were identified. This research tour also included interviews
with fire brigades, regulatory authorities, industry
Procedural doctrine – includes 'guidelines', some
organisations, and educational and research institutions
'frameworks' and 'specifications'. AFAC members are
to identify and discuss issues or findings in relation to the
expected to be aware of procedural doctrine. A guideline
role of fire brigade intervention in the fire engineering
is an advisable course of action; a framework provides a
environment. Special attention was paid to the New
linking of elements to create a supporting structure to a
Zealand experience as a performance-based code had
system, and specifications are a detailed description of a
already been introduced there. This was more than just
precise requirement to do something or build something.
a case study, as the then draft Building Code of Australia
Technical doctrine – includes 'technical notes', 'training 1996 (BCA) drew heavily on the New Zealand document.
material' and the Australasian Inter-Service Incident
Management System (AIIMS). Technical doctrine provides
A summary for the remaining contents of this guideline The accompanying document FBIM Scenarios provides an
follows. example of, and commentary on, the application of the
model. The simplified example is aimed at reinforcing the
Section 2 addresses structural firefighting operations and logic of the model and its application.
consists of an operational overview of Australasian region
fire brigades. A review was undertaken of all AFAC member
fire services to establish areas of uniformity and highlight
areas of divergence. This enabled the committee to give
the model a regional perspective.
2.1. Introduction •
•
personnel training
notification that a fire has occurred
Whenever a fire occurs in a building, the fire brigade • the capability to respond to the fire
undertakes a particular series of intervention activities that • actions taken to investigate the reason for notification
will endeavour to achieve the overall fire brigade objective: • strategies employed to tackle the incident
'to protect life, property and the environment'.1 This series
• lifesaving issues such as rescue
of activities follows a logical sequence throughout the cycle
of a fire incident. If the series of activities is analysed, it • tactics used to attack the fire
can be seen that the control and extinguishment of the fire • methods used to control the fire
cannot result from chance, but only as a consequence of • control and extinguishment.
planned strategies.
Somewhere in the lifecycle of the incident a time must
The probability of a well-managed incident resulting from be specified when all rescues have been completed, the
a planned strategy increases as each component of that fire is controlled and the likelihood of further damage is
strategy is improved. It is these components that need to minimised. From this point onwards the urgency of the
be addressed. incident is dictated by other issues such as possibility
The components that comprise a well-managed incident of collapse, environmental concerns, public amenity,
can be categorised into three phases: economic loss and criminal investigation.
2.2.7. Actions taken to investigate • Administrative organisation – indicating the type of fire
brigade and the area of responsibility.
the reason for alarm • What response should be activated – to guide the
Once a fire brigade has been notified that a fire is occurring responding organisation as to the type of equipment,
in a building, it will supply personnel and resources to support and minimum number of resources
the site in order to determine the validity of the alarm. appropriate to the type of incident.
Confirmation that a fire is occurring can be made by • What actions should be taken strategically – the most
a reliable report from an authenticated source or by appropriate strategy to tackle the type of incident so
witnessing the incident. When responding to the site of the that a coordinated attack is made.
alarm, a fire crew will gain information about the incident • Individual aspects of a firefighting operation – such as
as they approach the scene. This information may be visual, lawful breaking and entering, searching and rescue.
such as a smoke plume, flames evident at windows or the
reaction of people in the immediate proximity. It may be SOPs aim to ensure all actions related to an incident are
sensory, such as the smell from a smouldering fire or a door consistent and can be readily adapted by support brigades.
that is hot to the touch, or it may be detected by electronic They detail a safe methodology that has been tested in
means and confirmed by the fire crew. a less dangerous environment and found to be the best
approach.
The fire brigade may already have a general knowledge
of the building, and/or the area, the known risks and
occupant characteristics. Pre-fire planning is undertaken 2.2.9. Lifesaving issues such as
by many brigades and this type of information is sought rescue
and stored and made ready for retrieval during a fire. This
information is general and may or may not be accurate at The principal objective at any fire is to save life. This may
the specific time of the fire. Fire brigades cannot assume not be achieved easily and may require that the fire be
that a building is unoccupied or that a full evacuation has tackled first in order to control the situation and allow
successfully been undertaken. the rescue to occur. It may also require the use of ladders
and platforms to gain access to upper floors to effect any
Certain investigations must be made in order to determine rescue. It is not expected that the life of a firefighter be
the severity of the situation. This could mean determining needlessly endangered in a rescue attempt. Because of the
if occupants are involved and rescuing them if required, emotive nature of fire rescues and the need to make split-
gaining access to the actual site of the fire, determining the second decisions before it becomes too dangerous, there is
extent of the fire and predicting the most likely exposures no true way to define the point at which a rescue attempt
that may be in danger. This information will help to build a can be guaranteed of success.
picture of the incident in the mind of the crew fighting the
fire and enable adequate resources and tactics to be used. Searching for occupants in a building on fire may
necessitate a complete search of the building in order to
locate the occupants, or the fire brigade may be directed
2.2.8. Strategies employed to to the precise location by other occupants. There are two
tackle the incident stages; locating the victim, then removing them to safety.
The task of searching and the time to perform the search
Once a basic picture of the extent of the fire is created, will impact on the fire brigade's resources as well as the
then strategies can be employed to bring the fire victim's chances of survival.
under control. This may necessitate more resources,
concentrating on life rescue or deploying crews to prevent A primary search involves an immediate and systematic
extension of the fire to other buildings. The strategies are search for any occupants in the immediate vicinity of the
the overall plan to deal with the fire, not the individual fire. This generally occurs in smaller compartments in
Ventilation controlled
Decay
Heat output
Flashover
Extinguishment
Time
Figure 3.2 A typical design fire
PBCA
- objectives
-functional
- performance Undertake analysis of each sub system:
• Fire initiation and growth
• Smoke development and management
• Fire spread and management
• Detection and suppression
• Occupancy characteristics
Building and
occupant • Fire brigade intervention
characteristics • Building occupancy characteristics
defined
Results
Acceptance
Modify design No criteria
achieved?
Acceptance and
PBDB
Proceed with
design
Fire safety
consequences
defined Verification
criteria No
achieved?
Yes
2 It may seem pedantic to work with variances in this way, why not just add the standard deviations directly? But consider this simple example; 2 + 2 = 4, however, the
square root of 22 + 22 is √8 = 2.828.. which clearly is not 4!
model
modelling decision-based actions cover a broad spectrum
of possibilities, personalities, culture, management
techniques, training, resources and crisis situations. For this
reason, activities and consequences have been simplified to
FBIM complements the performance based regulatory
ensure practical and reasonable results are attainable.
framework of Australia and New Zealand. Therefore,
relevant building codes and the associated fire engineering The charts contained within Section 6 outline the
guidelines form the basis for its adoption and use. methodology used in each module associated with FBIM.
The main factors that contribute to fire brigade operational
A fire brigade’s involvement in the building regulatory
and fire ground tactics for each system of FBIM are
environment may be limited to life safety and adjoining
summarised below. Each fire brigade task is considered
property protection. In reality, the brigade has extended
with due regard to health and safety issues to ensure the
roles that may not be specifically recognised in the
safety of firefighters.
regulations. These include fire control, extinguishment
and overhaul, property protection (distinct from adjoining
property protection) and environmental protection.
4.1. Fire initiation and
For the purposes of the building legislation, life safety
and adjoining property protection form the basis of FBIM.
growth
Those extended roles specified in the relevant fire brigade • Fire size at time of call
Acts may form part of the strategy process employed at the
discretion of the user. • Fire size at time of arrival on scene
• Fire size at time when fire ground tactics begin
FBIM has been developed to determine the time required
to allow for the following fire brigade tasks: The outcome of the impact of the design fire is considered:
determination •
•
Training
Source and exposed building characteristics
• Fire characteristics • Pre-fire planning
• Pre-fire planning • Water supply
• Occupant and brigade training
• Resources 4.8. Fire control and
•
•
Installed fire safety systems
Occupancy characteristics
extinguishment
• Building characteristics • Occupant and brigade training
• Building exposures • Fire characteristics
• Environment exposures • Building characteristics
• Brigade resources
4.6. Search and rescue associated with each system of FBIM has been developed
to incorporate those activities that contribute to the time
for the fire brigade to undertake duly required tasks. It
• Occupant and brigade training
should be emphasised that many fire brigade actions
• Occupancy characteristics are undertaken concurrently, and the total time is not
• Brigade access necessarily the successive addition of individual task and
• Fire characteristics activity times.
• Building characteristics
• Brigade resources
• Building management systems
• Installed fire safety systems
• Water supply
1. the development of the fire-induced environment, • Does the applied fire suppression control or extinguish
which will be determined by such factors as fire the fire, thereby modifying the design fire growth curve?
growth rate, smoke spread and the impact upon • Will the threat to adjoining property be curtailed by
the building as determined by its construction and the application of water by the available resources, or
compartmentation will the fire have grown beyond the capability of the
firefighters and water to prevent such fire spread?
2. the effects of fire brigade intervention in terms
of limiting the impact of the fire upon occupants, For the purpose of the model, unless sufficient suppression is
adjoining property and, as appropriate, the building, available to either control or extinguish the fire, suppression
its contents and the environment. activities will not impact upon the fire growth rate.
The first set is beyond the direct control of the fire brigade and As is the case with real fires, the tactical components of
so is an externally generated status of the fire and building. likely strategies will be concurrently implemented. For
example, the simultaneous implementation of suppression
The second set is directly within fire brigade control and to reduce fire growth and increase available time for search
so constitutes an internally generated status of fire brigade and rescue to take place.
resources available to deal with the situation.
At various times within the selected strategy, its effect will
Together, the fire and building status, and available fire need to be assessed in terms of the condition of the design
brigade resources, constitute a fire ground status that fire which itself may be revised due to the strategy and its
is a workable synopsis of the situation that would be impact upon evacuating occupants, firefighters and adjoining
determined by an officer in charge and provide the basis property. Where such strategies fail, then other solutions will
upon which intervention strategies are formulated. need to be found by the designer.
The mobilisation and deployment of resources dictates the Where damage to the environment or the building structure
nature of fire brigade intervention. The strategy for control and contents (asset protection) are factored into the design,
of these resources depends on the external factors that then special attention to these needs can be catered for
comprise the fire ground status. using this methodology, provided that at crucial times, as
Once the time of the first arriving appliance has been determined by fire brigade strategy, the impact of the fire on
determined, the size of the design fire must be assessed: those particular elements can be quantified by the designer.
• Is the fire at post-flashover conditions with failed glass Although the steps undertaken in particular activities are
and flames projecting out from the window and visible covered by the flow charts, the determination of which chart
to the attending firefighters, or is the fire area simply is to be invoked, and at what stage during the development
smoke-logged? of a scenario, is a matter for strategy determination. This
strategy is determined in light of information provided by
• Will firefighters need to investigate the fire or is the
the fire ground status, and is constantly reviewed as the fire
size of the fire likely to be evident?
ground status is itself updated.
• What impact will this have on adjoining property?
While a strategy gives the overall approach to a scenario, the
• Have all the occupants evacuated the building or
individual components of its implementation are in practice
will they still be evacuating and therefore hindering
far too numerous to deal with. Fortunately, many of the
firefighters?
activities involved are undertaken concurrently and since
As with a real fire, a strategy determination will need the fundamental goal of applying this model is to determine
to be made as to how FBIM will be applied. Upgrade the critical time path for fire brigade operations, these
the fire alarm and call for more resources or investigate relatively minor (in a time sense) activities can be ignored.
the location of the fire? Once the fire location has been Only that subset of activities undertaken at a fire that lead to
Resource mobilisation
FIRE ENGINEERING ANALYSIS
Time to dispatch
resources
CHARTS 2 AND 3
Strategy determination involves the allocation of available The diagrammatic representation of Figure 5.1 illustrates
firefighting resources and the assessment of whether or the interdependent nature of all activities after the
not those resources are sufficient to carry out all required arrival at kerb side. Up until this time, the flow of events
tasks. is sequential. Dealing with the potentially concurrent
nature of activities requires an overall coordination. This
Available, in the sense used here, means available at the is why all the flow chart groups are embedded in the fire
fire scene. There may be other broader availability issues ground status. This status must be examined to determine
with regard to the overall capacity of the organisation a strategy which guides the user through the appropriate
having responsibility to dedicate sufficient resources to flow charts.
the incident. This could be the case in rural areas. This
organisational total resource availability constitutes an The interrelationship across charts and the central role of
the fire ground status is illustrated in Figure 5.2.
Chart events
Decision
Time activities
activities
Sequential Concurrent
Fire ground status
This diagram represents the different possibilities available encountered in reality, expert judgment is employed to
in the use of the flow charts. The chart events are divided decide on a course of action. This judgment is augmented
into time activities and decision activities. Time activities where possible with globally definable criteria, for example,
can be sequential or concurrent. Decision activities can when the tenability criteria for firefighters is exceeded in a
affect the direction of the assessment by either adding compartment, a mandatory evacuation is required.
to the fire ground status or dictating the direction of the
The fire ground status consists of the internally generated
process.
available firefighting resources and externally generated
Strategy options can only be decided in conjunction variables that describe the fire induced environment.
with the fire brigade representative of the PBDB team or This status needs to be known at critical points in any
equivalent. To make an appropriate choice, the nature calculation so that a strategy can be either determined
of the fire environment needs to be assessed and this is or reassessed. Table 5.1 summarises the critical strategy
achieved in the model by examining the fire ground status. determination points at which the fire ground status should
Armed with this model representation of what would be be interrogated.
Managing the necessary information that comprises the The criteria for more resources include occupants, fire and
fire ground status can be done in many ways but must smoke spread, as well as number and size of enclosures
include the level of available resources and how they are threatened. Fire size in terms of heat release rate
deployed. This ensures no duplication of tasks occurs and determines the required water quantity for control and
allows resources that become available after completion of extinguishment.
a task can be redirected.
As the charts are worked through, decisions are arrived at
The fire ground status also includes the salient features of by consulting the fire ground status table, and assessing
the fire and building obtained from the other subsystems. the necessary resources against the available resources to
An example of fire ground status management could be as ascertain if additional resources are required. For example,
simple as a table format as shown in Table 5.2. Therefore, before proceeding with search and rescue, the enclosure
the table is developed for each critical time in the analysis. temperature is confirmed from the fire ground status table
The officer in charge will only be able to request more to determine if threshold limits for firefighters have been
resources at and after the time of their strategic inspection exceeded.
of the fire site, unless the fire is visible on arrival.
5.3. The critical path The duration of the activity as calculated from the available
data is similarly recorded. In this way, an overall picture
of the inter-relationship and overlapping of times can be
The final phase in bringing together the many disparate
immediately seen. Such a procedure is standard in many
activities associated with firefighting operations is
project management areas and software is available to
determining the critical time path for the overall operation
assist in this function. An illustration of the process is
appropriate to the scenario. An effective and visually
provided in Figure 5.3.
revealing way of accomplishing this is to form a Gantt chart
of all activities that are undertaken as determined by the
strategy. Such a chart is simply an overlay of individual
times against a principal time axis. As each activity is
commenced, its starting time is logged on the time axis.
Key: Time
Critical path
Other activities
BA controls procedure
Time for search and rescue
CHART 12
Undertake search and rescue
A
Letter/s in corner
reference appropriate
table for calculation
SUB CHART
Completion of another chart
is required for calculation
1
Begin
2 3 4
Is an automatic detection Detection via
No No Other means of No
or suppression system occupant cues? detection?
installed?
Yes Yes
5 Possible
Time to activate 9 B
loss of life or
automatic detection or Time to verify fire property
suppression system
6
Suppression No
system?
Yes
7 A B
8
Time to depressurise Time delay for alarm
system and activate verification
alarm
10 11
Automatic, direct 12
Intermediate
uninterrupted No No Telephone No
monitoring
connection to fire notification?
organisation?
brigade?
Yes Yes
Yes B B B
13 14 15
Time delay until Time delay for Time for special
notification of fire access, dial and option of contact
brigade connection fire brigade
16
Time to transmit information to fire
brigade = sum of times in shaded boxes
along chosen path
1 – Time for initial brigade notification 7 – Time to depressurise system and activate alarm
This flow chart determines the time to notify the fire If notification is made via a suppression system, then the
brigade after the fire has been detected. This detection can pressure in the piping must drop before either the alarm
occur automatically by activation of a sprinkler or smoke valve opens or the pressure switch operates and the alarm
detector, or manually via other means. Notification is only is transmitted to the fire brigade. Similarly, a deluge valve
considered complete when the message has been received has a timelag between detection and suppression due to
and understood by the relevant fire brigade. The time the operation of the deluge valve. These delays affect the
for notification should be provided by the applicant after alarm time, not the time that water is put on the fire. These
discussion with the relevant brigade. The process outlined times must be added onto the calculated detector response
here is used as a guide to integrate the notification method time which will delay fire brigade notification. Guidance
with the appropriate brigade system. for typical values are given in Table A of the accompanying
dataset.
2 – Time from fire initiation to occurrence of detection
8 – Time delay for alarm verification
The time for detection of a fire should be calculated for
the scenario being analysed relevant to the time of the fire Irrespective of whether the system is primarily detection or
starting. This should be based on the time of activation of suppression, it will likely incorporate an alarm verification
the relevant sprinkler head, smoke detector, heat detector, period which must be added on to the depressurisation or
etc. based on accepted methodologies for calculating detector activation time.
such times. For detection via occupant cues, this may be
For addressable systems, the scan time and any permitted
the time for a smoke layer or other visual cues to occur
delay time must be added to the total time. In some cases,
for occupants. Similarly, for other means of detection, the
scanning requires verification by an additional scan once
time from fire initiation to the receipt of detection or a cue
the detection device has registered an alarm. For example,
appropriate to the means of detection should be included.
where it is usually a 5 second scan time, 10 seconds will
need to be added to calculation. This considers that the
3 – Is an automatic detection or suppression system alarm has activated immediately after the initial system
installed? scan.
An automatic detection or suppression system may, besides Some systems may also incorporate a delay for alarm
alerting building occupants of a fire, also perform the verification due to occupant safety or security reasons; eg.
task of automatically notifying the relevant fire brigade where a hazardous extinguishing agent may be released
where a permanent connection is provided. This module in occupied areas, or where the alarm is connected to a
recognises the signal output of automatic fire alarm central monitoring watch. Particular attention is drawn to
detection or suppression systems. If the detection system management strategies employed in some custodial care
is not connected to the brigade, the installed system may institutions such as prisons and care residences. In many
alert occupants (this is defined as cue type A) who then cases, a fire alarm is intercepted by staff who investigate
manually notify the brigade via direct brigade alarm or the situation before calling the fire brigade.
phone (box 11).
9 – Time to verify fire
4 – Is detection via occupant cues?
Occupant cues, such as sensory or visual, are generally
unreliable for evacuation. Therefore the time to notify the
5 – Are there other means of detection?
brigade is increased when using this method. The time to
Other means of detection allows for alternative design evacuate, which is used with these cues, is not necessarily
methods such as a watchman alarm, passer-by or sirens the time of brigade notification, and care must be used
and flashing lights at an army base. if this method is to be employed. Box 9 is necessary to
ensure there is appropriate time to verify the fire before
6 – Is a suppression system installed? manual notification of the brigade occurs.
It is necessary to ascertain if a suppression system is used
for brigade notification because additional, system-specific
alarm delays will usually occur with deluge systems, dry
pipe systems and wet pipe sprinkler systems.
12 – Telephone notification?
1
Begin
2
Is call via telephone, No
radio or passer by?
Yes
3
C
Time to receive
and take down
verbal information
4
Time to relay
dispatch
information
5
Time to respond = sum of times in shaded
boxes along chosen path
1
Begin
3 E
2 Time to travel to fire
Is the fire station No station, dress, assemble,
staffed full time? assimilate information
and leave station
Yes
4
Are firefighters in the No
station?
Yes
5 E
Time to dress, 6 E
assimilate information Time to make up and
and leave station become mobile
7
Time to respond and depart fire station = sum
of times in shaded boxes along chosen path
1 – Time for firefighters to respond to dispatch call have the appliance and hoses set up for activities other
than emergency response functions. In such cases, the
This chart determines the time for firefighters to respond firefighters are not considered in the fire station but should
to the dispatch signal (turn out signal). It is the time from be within their turnout area. The crew have to make up and
activation of the turn out signal to the time when the become mobile before responding (box 6).
appliance proceeds to the fire scene.
5 – Time to dress, assimilate information and leave
2 – Is the fire station staffed full time?
station
In this chart, the only distinction necessary for the brigade
When located at the fire station, firefighters only don fire
type is whether the fire station is permanently staffed.
apparel when notification occurs. At the same time as
If the fire station is not staffed on a permanent basis, it
dressing, information regarding the call is assessed before
is assumed that the firefighters are not located at the
they enter the appliance and leave the station. The station
station at the time of the call. This assumption simplifies
must also be made secure before departing. Typical times
the process and ignores possible complicated scenarios
are provided in Table E of the accompanying dataset.
produced by part-time, auxiliary or volunteer fire brigades.
1
Begin
2 F
Travel time
3
Is another appliance
responding from Yes
another location?
No
4
For each appliance, total appliance travel
time = design speed (box 2)
1 – Time to reach fire scene (kerb side) if so, the local fire brigade must be consulted to
determine the most appropriate fire station to be
This module calculates the time from when the first used.
appliance becomes mobile to the time it reaches the street
• Sample times must be taken for different days and
address. This is the time to reach the kerb side and does
times of the week. These days should include Tuesday,
not include any travel within the site. The designer must
Friday and Saturday and the times should include
consult with the relevant fire brigade to agree on the
08:30, 12:00, 17:00 and 23:00. See Table 5.3 for an
appropriate responding stations.
example.
2 – Travel time • The travel time should be the median taken from the
slowest time in the sample. In Table 5.3, the final travel
This is the travel time of the fire appliance using complex time should be 10 minutes.
digital mapping systems.
• Use Table 5.3 as a template to demonstrate a range of
In some cases, the appropriate fire brigade may have days and times have been considered.
accurate and up-to-date records for appliance travel • A table must be produced for each responding location
speeds. In this instance, consultation with the fire service is so that a chronological sequence of the different
recommended. resources arriving at the fire scene can be established.
The method for identifying the travel speed for each
responding appliance is through digital mapping software 3 – Is another appliance responding from another
such as Google Maps™. In order to achieve the most location?
appropriate time the following approach must be used and
Where other fire appliances respond from other locations
documented:
(multiple response), then the time for each appliance
• Times must be collected from the second closest response must be calculated so that a chronological
fire station. This allows for the possibility that the sequence of the different resources arriving at the fire
appliances at the closest station may already be in use. scene can be established.
In some cases, the closest station may be occupied,
Table 5.3 Example of determining appliance travel times using digital mapping
No
4
No Is fire visible on Yes
5 arrival?
Are premises Yes
occupied?
6 7
CHART 6 Adjust time
Time to don for hindrance
No safety equipment factor
11
Is forced entry Yes
required?
12
CHART 6
8 G
Time to don safety
No Time for
equipment and gather
necessary tools any security
procedure
14
CHART 6
Time to don safety
equipment
J 13
I
15
Time to force entry = 9
Time to gain entry
number of entries X Is an accredited
= number of doors Yes
entry type X time per fire warden
or gates X time per
door or gate type present?
gate
No
16
17 H
Is fire brigade 10
CHART 9
pre-fire planning Yes Time to
Time for internal
documented? communicate
travel to primary
with fire warden
information target
No
19 L
Time for
K information
18
gathering
Time resolved
way finding
20
Total time taken to determine fire
location = sum of times in shaded
boxes along chosen path
1 – Time for initial determination of fire location prioritise any fire ground tactics and the assessment of fire
location may become of secondary importance.
This chart calculates the elapsed time to access the
building and reach a primary information target, if The purpose of this box is to determine if security
required, and includes any time to move the fire appliances procedures are applicable or if an accredited fire warden is
from the kerb side location. The initial target to access is present to assist the brigade to determine the fire location.
the primary information target. This includes such items Prior to entry to the building, firefighters will don safety
as the fire indicator panel, fire control room, etc. The equipment, as per chart 6.
information provided by these primary sources is then used
by the officer in charge to establish an initial assessment of 7 – Time for any security procedure at site perimeter
the fire location and modify fire ground tactics, depending
Security procedures will be relevant for a number
on the information gained.
of building types including prisons, banks, casinos,
department stores, etc. It is necessary to ensure these
2 – Is road travel within the site necessary? procedures are allocated the necessary time component.
It is usually expected that where security procedures are
3 – Time to travel through site = travel distance divided applicable, fire wardens will also be present.
by travel speed
If the building is part of a complex within a site, or a large 8 – Is a fire warden present?
site with fire brigade access provided, then road travel Fire wardens will reduce brigade time spent determining
within the site is normally undertaken. This is calculated by the fire location. However, it is expected that any benefit
measuring the distance from the kerb side arrival position gained using this approach will require the building
to the location where the appliance will stop to begin management fire warden system to be appropriately
investigation, and dividing this by the travel speed. It is implemented and maintained since it must remain for the
expected that the travel speed will be very slow due to life of the building.
traffic, pedestrians, speed humps, etc. A value of 8 km/h
should be adopted. 9 – Time to communicate with fire warden
4 – CHART 6 -Time to don safety equipment This time will only be significant when the building is
overly complex and firefighters are likely to require specific
instructions to reach the fire area.
5 – Is the fire location visible on arrival?
If the fire has developed to a stage that it is visible on 10 – Is forced entry required?
brigade arrival at kerb side, an initial assessment may
be undertaken by visual means. This will not necessarily If the premises are unoccupied and the fire brigade does
negate the need to investigate the primary source (e.g. not carry keys to access the property, then forced entry will
fire detection control and indicating equipment (FDCIE)) be necessary. Either option will require safety equipment
in due course, since information is continually sought for firefighters and, in some instances, entry tools will be
by the fire officer to enhance any visual observations. used.
However, if the fire location is apparent upon arrival, the
time for this initial assessment of fire location is reduced. 11 – Time to force entry
For estimation purposes, this time will be assumed as This can vary from the time to cut a chain with bolt cutters
zero in this situation. Should the fire reach flashover in to the time to saw through a steel roller door using a
a single compartment building, then access to a primary friction cutter. If the premises is a complex, then the time
information source such as FDCIE may not be possible and to force entry may be two-fold, being the sum of the time
a visual inspection will have to be relied upon as the sole to force an entry through the main factory gate and the
determination of fire location. The criteria for visible fire time to force an entry into the building where the fire is
should initially be considered as flame extension out of located, for example.
windows.
12 – Time to gain entry
6 – Are premises occupied?
When keys are required to access the building, time will be
If the premises are occupied at the time of brigade arrival, taken to gain entry. This is a function of the door type and
access into the building should be relatively easy. However, number of doors. If the premises are occupied and open,
brigade personnel may be hampered by those occupants or security staff are present, there is no additional time to
still evacuating. In addition, ensuring occupant safety will force or gain entry and boxes 11 and 12 are bypassed.
2 M
1
Time to dismount fire
Begin
appliance and don BA
3 N
Is other safety 4
equipment Yes Time to remove and don
necessary? safety equipment
No
5 O
Time to conduct safety
procedures
6 7 P
Are tools necessary Time to remove
for initial access
Yes
necessary tools from
and set up? appliance
No
8
Time to don safety equipment and gather
necessary tools = sum of times in shaded
boxes along chosen path
1 – Time to don safety equipment and gather necessary hazardous incident suits. These times may vary depending
tools on the availability of full hazardous incident equipment and
whether temporary measures are needed in the interim.
For firefighter safety reasons, breathing apparatus (BA) will
always be worn prior to entering the building. While the Any safety equipment will require final safety checks and
BA may not yet be operating, ie. the face mask attached procedures. For BA, a control point is established to ensure
and the air cylinder turned on, it will be strapped to the each firefighter lodges a tally and each individual time of
firefighter in a condition ready for use. entry to the building can be recorded. This is an integral
part of the safety procedures.
Depending on the building type and size, necessary
equipment for access and for firefighter safety may include 3 – Time to remove necessary tools from appliance
forced entry equipment, small bore hose, or an operational
kit. Initial access tools may be necessary, particularly where
forced entry is required. This may include items such as
2 – Time to dismount fire appliance, don BA, don safety bolt cutters or a crowbar. Normally, hose lengths will also
be removed at this time. Depending upon the building type
equipment
and size, operational kits will also be used by firefighters.
If BA equipment is located within the appliance locker, For example, a high rise kit contains essential equipment
upon reaching kerb side, firefighters will dismount and items specifically selected for use in high rise incidents. This
proceed directly to remove this equipment. Each firefighter, kit will automatically be gathered if the fire incident occurs
after donning the BA (but not the face mask), will test the in a multi-storey building.
equipment to ensure it is operating satisfactorily and the
Depending on the equipment necessary, the time for it to
air cylinder is fully charged. It should be noted that on
be removed from the appliance is calculated here. While
some fire appliances, BA equipment is worn in the crew
the time alloted to equipment removal is generally minor,
compartment and firefighters dismount at the fire scene
this item may be significant if specialised equipment is
with their BA equipment donned.
used or the quantity of equipment used is extensive. For
Other safety equipment may require donning depending example, some dangerous goods safety equipment will
on the fire situation and the building contents and necessitate a significant time period, as will the removal of
condition. The time required for this activity must be long lengths of hose should a water relay be necessary.
discussed with the relevant brigade. However, Table N of
the accompanying dataset provides guidance on the use of
2
Is the fire location
1 and extent
obvious without
Yes
Begin
reconnaissance?
No
Q
4
3 Time for OIC to walk
Is building greater perimeter of fire affected
than three storeys in
No
area, to and from set up
height? area
Yes
Q,R,T
Q,R,T 6 Q,R,T
5 7
Time for OIC to walk from 1
Time for OIC to walk from Time for OIC
floor below fire compartment
set up area to 1 floor to walk back to
to 1 floor above fire
below fire compartment set up area
compartment and survey floor
9
8
CHART 2
Are additional
Yes Time to notify
resources
dispatch for additional
required?
resources
No
10
Time for fire assessment = sum of
times in shaded boxes along chosen
path
2 3 G
1 Is road travel within Time for
Yes
Begin the site necessary? any security
procedures
No
F
6 4
5
CHART 6 Time to travel through
No Is safety equipment
site = travel distance
Don safety equipment donned?
and gather necessary divided by travel
tools
Yes
7
Is set up area inside No
the building?
Yes
9 G
8
CHART 9
Time for
Time for internal
any security
travel with
procedure
necessary tools
11 S
10
Adjust internal
Is building No
travel time for
evacuated?
hindrance factor
Yes
12
Time taken to travel to set up area =
sum of times in shaded boxes along
chosen path
2
1 Are doors to be Yes
Begin negotiated?
No
I, J
3
Time to gain
entry
5 Q
4 Horizontal travel time = travel
Is horizontal travel Yes distance X speed X factor for smoke
required? obscuration X factor for necessary
tools carried
No
No
6 7 8
Is vertical travel Yes Are fire lifts Are stairs available No
required? available for use? for use?
No Yes Yes
9 R T
10
Lift travel time
Stair travel time =
= lift speed X
number of steps up
vertical height +
or down X time per
time for loading
step up or down X
necessary tools
factor for smoke
in lift
obscuration X factor
for necessary tools
carried.
12
Are stairs also to be Yes
negotiated?
11
No Internal access not
13
available - possible
Total time to travel internally = sum of times
loss of life or
in shaded boxes along chosen path = road
property
travel + door entry + horizontal travel +
vertical travel
1
Begin
3 U 4 Q,T,V
2
Will fire attack Time to position Time to lay and
occur from the fire Yes appliance at charge necessary
appliance? appropriate hose from
entrance appliance
No
Yes
5
7 6 Is additional
CHART 11 Is the water water necessary
No supply from fire Yes
Time to set up water for firefighter
requirements appliance? protection?
No
8
CHART 9
Time to travel from
set up area to fire
area
9
Time to set up water for initial
firefighter protection = sum of times
in shaded boxes along chosen path
2
Is hydrant system
1 flow and pressure
Begin
Yes
adequate for initial
firefighting?
No
3 4 W 5
Is adequate water Time taken to
No Is adequate water No
volume available to search for external volume available on
the site? water source site?
Yes 7
Yes 6 X,V
Possible loss
Time to establish
of life or
water supply on
property
site
X,V
10
8 9
Time taken to
Are hydrants Yes Are boosters Yes connect and charge
provided on site? provided?
hoses for boosting
No
11 X,V 12 V
Time taken to Time taken to connect and
connect and charge charge hoses from on site
hoses to the fire hydrants to the fire area
13 14
Are additional CHARTS 2-4, 11, 13 15
resources and Time taken to set up water requirements
Yes Time taken for additional
equipment resources and equipment to = sum of times in shaded boxes along
needed? arrive and set up chosen path
No
1 – Time to set up water supply requirements 5 – Is an adequate water volume available remote from
The time to set up water requirements is that which is the site?
necessary to establish a sufficient quantity of water at If an adequate water supply is unavailable on site, water
the required pressure to undertake prolonged search must be sourced remote from the site. If an adequate
and rescue, fire control, exposure protection, and fire water supply is also unavailable off site, the brigade cannot
extinguishment. This will also be required if the high undertake the necessary firefighting tasks and possible loss
pressure hose reel is unavailable or insufficient for initial of life and property may result.
protection provisions.
Note: This chart is currently designed for charged wet 7 – Are boosters on site?
hydrant systems. If dry systems are planned please consult Boosters enable firefighters to use on site hydrants and
with the appropriate fire brigade. to regulate the pressure necessary for brigade tasks. If
boosters are not provided, the on site hydrants can only
2 – Is hydrant system flow and pressure adequate for be used as a water source (provided adequate flow is
attack hydrant? available). This reduces on site options since the hydrant
must be accessible to an appliance and in a position which
Hydrant systems installed within building allotments that
does not endanger firefighters or the appliance.
can supply adequate pressures and flows will automatically
be used without further intervention by the brigade.
This significantly reduces the time to achieve water set 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 – Time to connect and charge hoses
up. If adequate flow and pressure is not available within Depending on the fire hydrant system on the site, a number
the building allotment, an assessment is undertaken to of hoses will need to be connected between a number of
establish the connection of a suitable water supply to the sources, including the fire appliance, water source, feed
site. hydrants and attack hydrants. Discussion with the fire
brigade should be undertaken to determine what strategy
3 – Is adequate water volume available on site? and associated resources would be necessary.
If the hydrant reticulation is unsuitable for direct
firefighting use, it must be determined if an adequate 10 – CHART 9 – Time to travel from set up area to
flow capacity exists to the site. This may be in the form booster
of a static water supply, or town main connection with
an adequate flow to the site, but the fire brigade must 14 – Can we progress without additional resources and
increase the pressure so it is suitable for firefighting needs. equipment required?
Additional resources and equipment for water supply
4 – Is adequate water available off site?
may be necessary for firefighter safety or fire control.
If an adequate water supply cannot be sourced off site, For example, additional long hose lengths and pumping
then there would be possible loss of life and property. appliances may be necessary to obtain a suitable water
supply for firefighter set up. While available resources
6 – Time to search for external water source will be utilised immediately, additional resources may be
necessary before firefighters enter the fire area.
If insufficient water is available at the site to cope with
the firefighting needs as determined by fire size, then
15 – Time for additional resources and equipment to
an allowance must be made for firefighters to locate
supplementary water sources, which may be difficult arrive and set up
to find, especially at night. Where pre-fire planning has This time will also involve charts 2-4, 11 and 13 for the
been undertaken, this can minimise delays in accessing arrival kerb side of any additional resources. The set up
necessary water resources. Confirm the pre-fire planning time will follow a similar methodology to this chart.
with the appropriate fire brigade and how this can be
incorporated in the times.
1
Begin
2 3
Have firefighter Search cannot be undertaken
safety limits been Yes in that enclosure, possible
exceeded in the loss of life or property.
enclosure? Proceed to chart 13
No
4 Y
How many 6 Q,R,S,T,Y
5
search teams are Time to search internal places of
Are there any places
available with a of internal safety in
Yes safety using half the number of
charged line of search teams with a charged line
the building?
hose? of hose (from 6)
No
7 Y
Time to search
required areas using
half the number of
search teams
8
Have firefighter
safety levels been Yes
exceeded during
search time?
No
9 10
Are any other areas CHART 9
11
now requiring Time for reconnaissance of
Search completed
search and rescue? adjacent enclosures = time for
search of adjacent enclosures
Consultation with the relevant fire authority is essential These conditions would be encountered in a snatch rescue
to determine the appropriate search and rescue strategy situation or a retreat from a flashover.
relevant to the fire scenario being assessed. This will Maximum time: 1 minute
include items such as the size of the search and rescue
teams, the conditions under which search and rescue will Maximum air temperature: 160oC (in lower layer)
be undertaken, the areas requiring search and rescue to be Maximum air temperature: 280oC (in upper layer)
undertaken, etc.
Maximum radiation: 4 - 4.5 kW/m2
2 and 8 – Have firefighter safety limits been exceeded?
Search and rescue functions will cease if the limits of safety Critical conditions
for firefighters have been exceeded. The critical factors
Firefighters would not be expected to operate in these
of the environment which affect firefighters and their
conditions, but could be encountered. Considered to be life
equipment are:
threatening.
• air temperature
Time: < 1 minute
• visibility
Air temperature: > 235oC (in lower layer)
• humidity
• incident thermal radiation Radiation: > 10 kW/m2
• air flow past the firefighter
• time for which they are exposed. While firefighters can search under fire conditions which
For the purpose of this model the following criteria have are untenable to building occupants, it is unlikely that
been provided in terms of time, temperature, thermal the occupants will survive in this atmosphere, therefore
radiation and humidity. The final factor of visibility should these conditions are not a satisfactory design criteria for
be determined in consultation with the relevant fire occupant safety. Search and rescue cannot be undertaken
authority, taking into consideration site specific hazards and in a compartment which has reached flashover, and it
probable intervention requirements. is not expected that occupants will survive in such an
environment.
The following results, relative to height of 1500mm above
floor level, apply (Foster & Roberts, 1994): When the smoke layer is less than 1000 mm above floor
level, search speed becomes hampered and time to
undertake this task increases.
Routine condition
4 – How many search teams are available with a
Elevated temperatures, but not direct thermal radiation
charged line of hose?
Maximum time: 25 minutes
The number of people in a search team should be
Maximum air temperature: 100oC (in lower layer) discussed with the relevant fire brigade. Each search team
Maximum radiation: 1kW/m2 should have a charged line of hose set up using previous
charts 10 and 11.
The number of search teams available will depend on the
Hazardous condition number of initial responding appliances and firefighters
Where firefighters would be expected to operate for a and on the availability of additional resources as requested
short period of time in high temperatures in combination by the officer in charge. Obviously, the greater the number
with direct thermal radiation. of search teams, the quicker the relevant areas can be
searched.
Maximum time: 10 minutes
Maximum air temperature: 120oC (in lower layer)
Maximum radiation: 3 kW/m2
2
3
Is prevention of
1 CHART 14
fire spread the only No Time to protect
Begin
consideration?
uninvolved contents
(salvage operations)
4 Yes
CHART 9
Time to travel from set up area
to area of exposure hazard
5 6
Is radiation a No exposure
No
threat to adjoining protection required
property?
Yes
8
7
Water required = 10L/s for
Determine area of
each 200m2 of exposure or
exposure risk
part thereof
9
10
Is sufficient water
CHARTS 2-11
available on site to No
Time to obtain
protect exposures?
additional water
Yes
12 Z
11
Time to set up
Is aerial equipment Yes
aerial equipment
required?
No
13 14
Is hose stream CHART 11
Yes
needed? Time to set up hose
stream
No
16
15 Is exposure 17
Begin exposure successful and fire Yes Time for exposure
protection growth stemmed? protection
The potential radiant heat flux received by adjoining 13 – Is hose stream needed?
properties should be assessed to determine whether there
is the potential for piloted or non-piloted ignition. If there is
14 – Time to set up hose stream
the potential for ignition to occur in an adjoining property,
then exposure protection would need to commence. The protection of the exposure may include hose line
teams operating from the ground. The time for these
Please Note:
teams to be established, including water supply, is to be
Legislation in some jurisdictions may specify particular determined.
values, however the values used must be agreed with the
stakeholders as part of the PBDB. 15 – Begin exposure protection
Exposure protection is maintained until either the water
7 – Determine area of exposure risk
is spent, or the radiation received is reduced to less than
The area (m2) which requires exposure protection will be that required for ignition or continuation of fire spread.
dependant on the threat determined in box 5. This should Consideration should be given to the critical radiant heat
also be discussed with the relevant fire brigade to ensure flux under piloted and non-piloted ignition conditions.
consistency with operational strategies. If the threshold is reached, it can be assumed that the
exposed property is now on fire. The fire engineering
8 – Water required = 10 L/s for each 200 m2 of analysis should justify the values used and be agreed upon
exposure or part thereof by the stakeholders.
When the area of exposure is determined, the amount Note: Legislation in some jurisdictions may specify
of water required to protect the exposure has been particular values, however the values used must be agreed
estimated. It is assumed that 10 L/s will provide one with the stakeholders as part of the PBDB.
firefighting hose line, and sufficient firefighters (at least two
firefighters per hose line) must be available to operate each 16 – Is exposure protection successful and fire growth
required hose line. stemmed?
For a growing fire, the resources mobilised within the
9 – Is sufficient water and resources available on site to available time may not immediately deal with the threat.
protect exposures? A catch up situation may arise with the whole process
It must be determined if there is sufficient water available needing recalculation at different points in time as extra
on site to provide for exposure protection considering the resources become available to deal with the situation.
water being used for other tasks. An assessment is made
of the resources that are present on scene, eg. firefighters,
equipment, water supply, and the tasks allocated to each
of them.
1
Begin
2
Time required
to survey those 3 4
parts of the Time to Are sufficient
building and determine resources available No
other premises equipment at the fire scene?
subject to fire, and personnel
smoke and water required
damage
Yes
5
6 CHARTS 2-4
CHARTS 6 AND 7 Time to notify
Time to don BA and communications,
travel to location dispatch resources
and travel to scene
7
Time to carry
out tasks
8
Is the heat release Yes
rate reducing over
time?
No
9
10
Does the strategy
Yes No Total time to cover equipment with tarpaulins,
need reassessment?
redirect water flow, cut holes etc
1 – Time to protect uninvolved contents (salvage 8 – Is the heat release rate reducing over time?
operations) If, during this work, the heat release rate of the fire is
This work involves the protection of building contents, increasing, then close attention will need to be paid to the
usually outside the fire compartment, from the effects of impact of the fire on these remote locations (including
fire and in particular firefighting operations. Much water structural deformation). In such instances, the fire will need
will permeate through a building fabric while firefighting to be monitored and the strategy adjusted as necessary to
operations are under way. An immediate need may be to ensure that firefighters are not exposed to unnecessary life
cover valuable items of plant and equipment to protect safety threat.
them from the dirty acidic water which may drip from
above. Other salvage operations may involve the physical
removal of valuable items and the channelling of water
run off from the fire so that minimal damage occurs. These
activities are generally labour intensive and will require
large numbers of personnel, some needing the protection
of breathing apparatus.
1
Begin
2
4
CHART 11
3 Assess heat release
Time required to set up
Determine fire size rate over time based
hose streams and apply
on water application
water
5 6
Is the heat release Time to extinguish
rate reducing over
Yes
fire and control
time? smoke spread
No
7
8
Is sufficient water
CHART 11
available on site
for fire control and
No Time to obtain
sufficient water
exinguishment?
Yes
9
Time to extinguish fire = times in
shaded boxes along chosen path
1 – Time to control and extinguish the fire Assuming water is at an initial temperature of 10oC,
The time to control and extinguish a fire, while not a Energy input required to heat water from 10oC to 100oC:
building code objective, has been included to provide the = (100 – 10) x 0.00418 MJ/kgoC
designer with an option to factor this requirement into the
design process if applicable. This activity, or part thereof, = 0.38 MJ/kg
may also be necessary to ensure life safety (ie. to control
To vaporise water at 100oC:
the fire while search and rescue is undertaken) or to ensure
other property is protected (ie. to prevent fire growth so = 2.26 MJ/kg
exposures are protected).
To heat the steam further:
2 – Time required to set up hose streams and apply = (T – 100) x 0.00201 MJ/kgoC
water where T is steam temperature
The time required to prepare for fire control and
If we assume that flashover has occurred in an enclosure,
extinguishment is a function of the availability of water, the
the temperature within that enclosure can be taken as
availability of resources, and the time to set up equipment,
between 500oC and 600oC. In this case, the energy to heat
run hoses and apply water. These issues are addressed in
the steam from 100oC to 550oC:
chart 11.
= (550 – 100) x 0.00201
3 – Determine fire size = 0.9 MJ/kg
4 – Assess heat release rate over time based on water Within the enclosure of the fire, the energy input necessary
application to transform 1 kg of water at 10oC to 550oC:
At this time, the fire size is determined from the fire = 0.38 + 2.26 + 0.9
development sub-model. The applied water, as determined = 3.5 MJ/kg
from the available water supply and equipment, may then
have an impact on the heat release rate in three ways: If we assume the density of water as 1000 kg/m3, 1 kg = 1
litre, and the application of water in L/s can be assumed to
• it has no effect on the fire, ie. the fire continues to
have the following cooling capacity:
grow unimpeded
• it controls the fire, ie. results in a constant heat release For firefighting purposes every L/s of water can
rate at the time of application theoretically cool 3.5 MW.
• it extinguishes the fire, ie. results in fire decay at the For extinction of diffusion flames, this theoretical absorption
time of application. capacity should be multiplied by a factor of 3 because it is
sufficient to only remove 30% to 35% of the released energy
The effect of hand-held hose streams on the heat
from diffusion flames to gain extinguishment (Rasbach,
release rate has been estimated from literature obtained
1986). This results in a theoretical extinguishing capacity of
internationally, including experimental tests. While
10.5 MW for each L/s.
the results are not conclusive, they are believed to be
reasonable approximations. Actual performance of hand- For practical purposes, the minimum flowrate necessary
held hose in extinguishing fires is very dependent on the for application is 5 L/s for interior hose lines and 10 L/s for
operator: skill, equipment, conditions, danger, fatigue, exterior hose lines. The firefighter tenability criteria (chart
strength, experience, etc. These attributes cannot be easily 12) determines whether or not hose lines are internal or
modelled individually, so an efficiency factor has been external. The efficiency of water applied varies greatly
introduced. This also takes into account the amount of with firefighting skill, equipment type, fire size, enclosure
water which will not actually reach the fire target area. dimensions, water droplet size, etc. Research has shown
the efficiency of water applied is in the order of 5% to 30%.
The basis for determination of the fire extinguishment
capability can be estimated theoretically by the heat There are numerous scenarios likely to be encountered
absorption capacity of water applied to the fire, taking into in respect of the variations which influence the efficiency
account the efficiency of application (Särdqvist, 1996). of water applied. A simplification is necessary, based on
firefighting within the enclosure of fire, and external to the
5 – Is the heat release rate reducing over time? 7 – Is sufficient water available for fire control and
If the fire continues to grow, either more water must be extinguishment?
sourced (chart 11) or the brigade must retreat and attempt If the fire continues to grow or cannot be brought under
to prevent spread by protecting adjacent exposures (chart 13). control, more water is requested. This is either available, in
which case time is necessary to set up, or additional water
6 – Time to extinguish fire and control smoke spread sources must be found (chart 11).
The application of water will continue until the fire is under
control or burns out. The time that this occurs is important
should search and rescue be required, or where property
damage is required to be assessed.
1
Begin
2
Time to determine 4
what is burning and Does water run off
the likely impact have the greatest
Yes
this will have upon impact?
the environment
No
3
Does the fire impact
on both atmosphere
Yes
and water?
No
6
5
CHART 11
Does fire only
Yes Time to mobilise
impact on the
necessary resources to
atmosphere?
fight the fire
No
7
Can the fire be
allowed to burn
out?
9
CHARTS 2-8
Time to mobilise necessary
resources to prevent
8 firefighting water run off
No action necessary entering the environment
(eg. water table, rivers,
storm water etc.)
1 – Time to protect the environment 7 – Can the fire be allowed to burn out?
The time to protect the environment, while not a building
code objective, has been included to provide the designer 8 – Time to mobilise necessary resources to prevent
with an option to factor this requirement into the design firefighting water run off contaminating the
process if applicable. Consideration of this activity may be environment
necessary to comply with the requirements of legislation
If firefighting water run off will damage the environment
other than that applicable to building construction.
without a significant effect upon the atmosphere, then
the first option is to allow the fire to burn itself out. If
2 – Time to determine what is burning and the likely this option is not viable, for example, due to the threat to
impact this will have upon the environment adjoining property, then time will be required to mobilise
This is the time by the firefighters to determine the additional resources to contain water run off and prevent
contents of the building, including the reading of water course and water table contamination.
emergency information manifests, the assimilation of Generally, water run off will have the most serious short-
information on displayed notices such as ‘Hazchem’, and term impact upon the environment. Where this is the case,
the necessary communications with specialist services to minimum quantities of water will be used, and water ways
determine the likely environmental impact of the materials and the like will need to be dammed with earth or sand.
involved in the fire.
An example of serious environmental damage due to water
run off occurred during a fire in a chemical storage building
3 – Does the fire impact on both atmosphere and
in Switzerland. The Rhine River and its associated water
water? table through many European countries was seriously
polluted as a result of the fire.
4 – Does water run off have the greatest impact?
If the contents of the building have an adverse
environmental impact on both the atmosphere and water
courses and water tables, then a decision will have to be
made as to which impact is the greater.