Articles raise questions for “laymen”
Reference is made to two articles in the April 1996 issue. I should qualify my comments by saying that although I have been involved in fire protection engineering and code administration as an employee of the Commonwealth of Virginia for more than 21 years, my only knowledge of firefighting comes from reading articles such as those in Fire Engineering and other fire service publications and the NFPA Fire Protection Handbook.
The first article is Fire Focus: “High-Rise Fire” on page 28. Knowing from looking at the pictures before reading the article that a man was trapped in a room during the fire, I was appalled when I came to the third and fourth paragraphs. It seems to me that if the fire apartment door had not yet been opened when the occupant was discovered, an effort should have been made to get the occupant out of his apartment and into the relative safety of the exit stair (if it was tenable). Perhaps the occupant`s escape could have been accomplished by some firefighter`s sharing his breathing apparatus for the time it took to get the occupant to the stairway. I may be all wet when it comes to firefighting operations, but as a layman I found this disturbing. I`m glad they were able to eventually rescue the occupant, who must have been absolutely scared to death while this was going on.
My second concern was found in “Automatic Fire Alarm Response” under the subhead “To Reset or Not to Reset?” on pages 95 and 96. The “probably not” response to the question appears ill-advised unless additional fire protection measures are taken while the system is left on but silenced. My concerns are as follows:
What happens if there is another alarm (from the same device or another) while the system is silenced? Has some qualified person been assigned to monitor the fire alarm panel for such alarms, and does that person know how to restore the fire alarm audibility and recall the fire department?
What happens regarding a system that is connected to a central station system or that is part of a remote station system or a proprietary system while the system is silenced?
If the event occurs during a power failure, is there actually sufficient backup power to fully maintain the system until the system can be properly checked out and repaired? Although this may not be a problem in most metropolitan areas, some areas might be remote enough for this to be a problem.
What happens to the visual alarms (required by the ADA and most building codes) while the system is silenced? My experience in the field is that although the audible alarms cease, the visual alarms continue. This could have various psychological and physiological effects on the building`s occupants.
While there may be very satisfactory ways of handling the above problems, the article`s simple instructions to silence the audible alarms and leave the system activated could lead to problems. Although most of your readers may be aware of such concerns and know how to handle them, some will not. We all know what can happen when decisions are made by those unqualified to make them. Concerns like these should have been addressed in the article, in my opinion. Perhaps they can be covered in a future issue.
I now feel moved to comment on a brief article that appeared in your magazine a decade or two ago, which I have too long procrastinated in addressing. It was about a firefighter`s concern about stairway fire doors being held open when a fire hose passes from the stairway to the fire location. While I certainly agree that such conditions warrant concern, the author`s solution was to have the fire doors cut to provide a hinged opening whereby the hose could be passed through the door while the fire door itself remained closed. It didn`t appear that the author was aware of the potential effects this modification could have on the integrity of the fire door or the fact that such a modification would void the listing and label of the testing laboratory.
I would like to compliment you on your coverage of the Oklahoma City terrorist atrocity (October and November 1995). In addition, the electrical safety articles in the April 1996 issue should be read by laymen as well as emergency personnel.
John M. M. Whitfield
Richmond, Virginia
