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In building safety and construction, a smokeproof enclosure is a type of exit stairwell that has been designed to keep out smoke (and other combustion products) in the event of a fire, so that building occupants may more safely exit the building. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Rather than entering the stairwell directly from the building interior, one enters a smokeproof enclosure by means of an open-air balcony or alternatively, a so-called open vestibule, and proceeds thence, to the stairwell itself. [1] The way that the balcony or vestibule is ventilated divides smokeproof enclosures into two basic types: mechanically ventilated which is not actually a smokeproof enclosures, where the vestibule and stairwell are ventilated by mechanical equipment, and naturally ventilated open air smokeproof enclosures where the open balcony or vestibule [or the stairwell] has openings directly to the outside of the building. This is the only type of the original concept of a smokeproof tower (i.e.: smokeproof enclosure). [6] [3]
Under United States building codes, the stairwell of a smokeproof enclosure must have walls with a 2-hour fire resistance rating and vestibule doors (if provided) with a 1.5 hour fire resistance rating. [7] The Life Safety Code states that such stairwells be "approved systems with a design pressure difference across the barrier of not less than 0.05 in. water column (12.5 Pa) in sprinkled buildings and 0.10 in. water column (25 Pa) in non-sprinkled buildings". [4] Approved, in the Life Safety Code, means the committee didn't want to 'decide' so, left it up to someone else to decide a particular issue.
In the so-called mechanically ventilated smokeproof enclosures, the stairwell is positively pressurized relative to the rest of the building. [6] [8] This ensures that even when access doors are opened, smoke will not enter the stairwell. [8] [4] Of course, a higher pressure within a stairwell makes it harder to open doors from the building interior to the enclosed vestibules and to the enclosed stairwell. [9] The Life Safety Code requires that the pressure differential across the barrier not be so great as to prevent the door from opening with a force of 30 lbf (133 N) at the door knob or handle. [4] These 'pressurization' problems are, of course, non-existent with naturally ventilated smokeproof enclosures.
The fans and air ducts used to pressurize the stairwell are life-critical systems, and are required to be enclosed in non-combustible, likewise two hour rated, construction. [4] (For fully sprinkled buildings, the required rating is just one hour.) [4] The fans must be connected to an emergency power supply, and capable of both automatic activation by various fire and smoke detectors, and of manual activation by a central command post or by the actuation of a general fire alarm. [4]
Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage to the other level by stepping from one to another step in turn. Steps are very typically rectangular. Stairs may be straight, round, or may consist of two or more straight pieces connected at angles.
The MGM Grand fire occurred on Friday, November 21, 1980 at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The fire killed 85 people, most through smoke inhalation. The fire began from a refrigerated pastry display case in one of the restaurants, located on the first floor. Fire engulfed the resort's casino, and smoke travelled into the hotel tower.
The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky, is the seventh deadliest nightclub fire in history. It occurred on the night of May 28, 1977, during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A total of 165 people died and more than 200 were injured as a result of the blaze.
A backdraft or backdraught is the abrupt burning of superheated gasses in a fire, caused when oxygen rapidly enters a hot, oxygen-depleted environment; for example, when a window or door to an enclosed space is opened or broken. Backdrafts present a serious threat to firefighters. There is some debate concerning whether backdrafts should be considered a type of flashover.
On Monday, December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois, shortly before classes were to be dismissed for the day. The fire originated in the basement near the foot of a stairway. The elementary school was operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago and had an enrollment of approximately 1600 students. A total of 92 pupils and 3 nuns ultimately died when smoke, heat, fire, and toxic gases cut off their normal means of egress through corridors and stairways. Many more were injured when they jumped from second-floor windows which, because the building had a raised basement, were nearly as high as a third floor would be on level ground.
The Iroquois Theatre fire occurred on December 30, 1903, at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago. It is one of the deadliest single-building fires in U.S. history, resulting in 602 deaths.
A crash bar is a type of door opening mechanism which allows users to open a door by pushing a bar. While originally conceived as a way to prevent crowd crushing in an emergency, crash bars are now used as the primary door opening mechanism in many commercial buildings.
An emergency exit in a structure is a special exit for emergencies such as a fire; the combined use of regular and special exits allows for faster evacuation, while it also provides an alternative if the route to the regular exit is blocked.
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible. Fire escapes are most often found on multiple-story residential buildings, such as apartment buildings.
A fire alarm system warns people when smoke, fire, carbon monoxide, or other fire-related or general notification emergencies are detected. These alarms may be activated automatically from smoke detectors and heat detectors or may also be activated via manual fire alarm activation devices such as manual call points or pull stations.
Ventilation is a part of structural firefighting tactics, and involves the expulsion of heat and smoke from a burning building, permitting the firefighters to more easily and safely find trapped individuals and attack the fire. If a large fire is not properly ventilated, it is much harder to fight, and can build up enough poorly burned smoke to create a smoke explosion or enough heat to create a flashover. Poorly placed or timed ventilation can increase the fire's air supply, causing it to grow and spread rapidly. Flashover from inadequate ventilation can cause the temperature inside the building to peak at over 1,000 °C (1,830 °F).
The Kader Toy Factory fire occurred on 10 May 1993 at a factory in Thailand. It is considered the worst industrial factory fire in history, killing 188 persons, and injuring 469. Most of the victims were young female workers from rural families.
Edifício Praça da Bandeira, formerly known as the Joelma Building, is a 25-story building in downtown São Paulo, Brazil, completed in 1971, located at Avenida 9 de Julho, 225. On 1 February 1974, an air conditioning unit on the twelfth floor overheated, starting a fire. Because flammable materials had been used to furnish the interior, the entire building was engulfed in flames within twenty minutes. Of the 756 people occupying the building at the time, 179 were killed and 300 injured.
An electrical room is a room or space in a building dedicated to electrical equipment. Its size is usually proportional to the size of the building; large buildings may have a main electrical room and subsidiary electrical rooms. Electrical equipment may be for power distribution equipment, or for communications equipment.
Air showers are specialized enclosed antechambers which are incorporated as entryways of cleanrooms and other controlled environments to reduce particle contamination. Air showers utilize high-pressure, HEPA- or ULPA-filtered air to remove dust, fibrous lint and other contaminants from personnel or object surfaces. The forceful "cleansing" of surfaces prior to entering clean environments reduces the number of airborne particulates introduced.
A vestibule is a small room leading into a larger space such as a lobby, entrance hall or passage, for the purpose of waiting, withholding the larger space view, reducing heat loss, providing storage space for outdoor clothing, etc. The term applies to structures in both modern and classical architecture since ancient times. In modern architecture, a vestibule is typically a small room next to the outer door and connecting it with the interior of the building. In ancient Roman architecture, a vestibule was a partially enclosed area between the interior of the house and the street.
The Brown Building is a ten-story building that is part of the campus of New York University (NYU), which owns it. It is located at 23–29 Washington Place, between Greene Street and Washington Square East in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, and is best known as the location of the March 25, 1911, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed 146 people.
The Suntop Homes, also known under the early name of The Ardmore Experiment, were quadruple residences located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and based largely upon the 1935 conceptual Broadacre City model of the minimum houses. The design was commissioned by Otto Tod Mallery of the Tod Company in 1938 in an attempt to set a new standard for the entry-level housing market in the United States and to increase single-family dwelling density in the suburbs. In cooperation with Frank Lloyd Wright, the Tod Company secured a patent for the unique design, intending to sell development rights for Suntops across the country.
The Winecoff Hotel fire of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in American history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. Located at 176 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, the Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof". While the hotel's steel structure was indeed protected against the effects of fire, its interior finishes were combustible and the building's exit arrangements consisted of a single stairway serving all fifteen floors. All of the hotel's occupants above the fire's origin on the third floor were trapped, and the fire's survivors either were rescued from upper-story windows or jumped into nets held by firemen.
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