Human Behaviour in Fire Engineering:The North American Experience

Guylène Proulx, Ph.D.

Slide 2

Outline

My objective: Human behaviour is an essential part of fire safety engineering. Any fire protection system that would not consider human behaviour is deemed to fail.

• Background on human behaviour• North-American approach• Three new technologies are introduced

Slide 3

Background

• Having good code requirements, passive and active fire protections in buildings are not enough

• There are fires and loss of life in code compliant buildings

• Learning the lessons from past events is a must

Slide 4

People contribute to fires

• It is people who usually starts fires:– Cooking – Cigarette– Welding

• Behaviour of people may increase the danger:– Breaking a window for fresh air– Re-entering a home to save others– Shutting off water supply

Slide 5

Traditional response

• More systems to control situation– Detect– Notify– Control fire– Control smoke

�������������� �

��������������� ��

Slide 6

A new approach

• Study what are the most common occupant responses• Forget about panic, as this type of behaviour does not

happen often enough• Consider that occupants are intelligent and rational, they

can think for themselves – they will not follow directives blindly

• Understand the reasons behind of actions taken by occupants

• Changing behaviour and attitude is extremely difficult• Adapt our systems to the reality and capacity of the

occupants

Slide 7

Fire safety as a whole

• Develop means to incorporate occupants’ actions into the design of fire protection engineered systems

• Shift the objective from control to management• Use a multi-disciplined approach to develop solutions

Slide 8

Occupants need information

• Training prior to an event

• Information during the event

• Debriefing after an event

Slide 9

Building Emergency Action Plan – BEAP

• Description of occupants:– Age, limitation, familiarity with building, alert/asleep, etc.

• Description of building:– # of floors, # of stairs, wayfinding, fire safety features, etc.

• Description of emergencies:– Fire, power failure, hurricane, flood, bio-hazard, etc.

• Actions to be taken by:– Building management, emergency team, floor warden,

occupants, fire department, etc.

Slide 10

Tackling fatal fires

Cigarettes are the #1 cause of fatal fires

in the United States and Canada

Slide 11

Reduced ignition propensity - RIP cigarette

• New standard that manufacturers need to meet

• All the cigarettes in Canada are RIP since October 2005

• USA adoption state by state– 14 states have adopted

the standard

Slide 12

Rationale of the RIP or fire-safe cigarette

• A cigarette that has reduced ignition propensity will not burn the full length of the tobacco column if left unattended

• Tobacco column must burn long enough and intensely enough for the upholstery fabric or bedding to begin smouldering

• A cigarette with reduced ignition propensity has too little energy to raise the fabric temperature high enough to catch on fire

Slide 13

RIP cigarette

• It is a “performance”standard that leaves manufacturers free to use the design of their choice

• Most manufacturers achieve the reduced ignition propensity by changing the paper porosity

Slide 14

WTC bombing of 1993

• Explosion in the underground garage

• Fire confined to 25-30 vehicles

• Emergency communication systems damaged

• Power interrupted• Smoke and dust migration

to all floors• Total evacuation in

complete darkness

Slide 15

Among the recommendations - PLM

Application of photoluminescent paint on steps, landings and handrails. To be used as a wayguidance system by occupants.

Took 3 years to complete the entire WTC complex.

Slide 16

WTC before and after PLM installation

Slide 17

NIST Study on the WTC Sept. 11 2001 Evacuation

• Full lighting in most areas• Survivors who noticed and

found photoluminescent paint and signs to be useful in their evacuation– WTC 1 33%– WTC 2 17%

http://wtc.nist.gov/oct05NCSTAR1-7index.htm Picture by John Labriola

Slide 18

New York City Local Law 26

• Following the WTC evacuation of Sept 11 2001 and the blackout of August 2003

• Requirements for all new and existing high rise office buildings to install photoluminescent marking in stairwells

• Had to comply by July 1, 2006

Slide 19

New requirement

• International Building Code IBC-2009

• National Building Code of Canada NBC-2010

Slide 20

New demographics and anthropometrics

• Occupants with mobility impairments

• Elderly• Overweight and obesity• Out of shape• Health issues

Slide 21

Traditional solutions

Slide 22

Safe elevators

• Technical considerations:

– smoke, heat, water, fire,

power failure, etc.

• Management considerations:

– Elevator functionality

– Organization of egress

Slide 23

Conclusions

• Investigate more closely the reality of human response to fires and other emergencies– There is more than cause and origin

• Integrating occupant response into a more global approach to fire safety engineering

• Multi-disciplinary work helps find innovative solutions– Reduced ignition propensity cigarettes– Photoluminescent wayguidance in stairwells– Elevators for egress

• Contribute to a safer built environment while considering the reality of human behaviour during emergencies

Slide 24

More information

• The National Research Council Canada publication website:

http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/index_e.html