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Reducing environmental impact of fire |
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Seminar Report by Andrew Lynch &Tony Prosser The effect of fire on the environment was the theme of last month’s National Fire Sprinkler Network House of Commons seminar sponsored by the All-Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group. Speakers pointed to climate change as the ultimate cross-cutting problem of our time
FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE IMPACT on reducing carbon footprints was addressed by CFO Barry Dixon and Stn Cmdr Dr Jim Marsden, Greater Manchester. CFO Dixon pointed to the increasing risks from storms, droughts and flooding and the on-going battle to reduce the carbon footprint. Thousands of metric tonnes of CO2were released during the Buncefield blaze, he remarked, as with European wildfires. Californian wildfires released 7.9 million tonnes of CO2 in one week, CFO Dixon reported, which amounted to 25 per cent of the total annual fossil fuel burning in California.
Carbon Footprints
Dr Marsden said proactive measures were now needed from the Fire and Rescue Service, especially for commercial premises. “All fires start small,” he told delegates. “The key to a small carbon footprint is to keep fires small.” At present the Service carbon footprint is two million tonnes of CO2 per year, but the FRS is contributing as part of the government’s targets to reduce emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. Key to continuing reduction, he emphasised, is partnership with key stakeholders, developing sustainable policies and influencing the building construction industry. At the moment, he said that the Building Regulations do not consider the effects of fire on the environment within building design.
The real carbon footprint of a building is much larger than current considerations, he suggested, pointing to the CO2 from construction materials, the embedded CO2 released in a fire, the demolition and construction of new buildings, and the recycling fire damaged materials. The solution for “keeping fires small” is to be found in water suppression systems, Dr Marsden said, an essential part of a fire engineered solution, combined with fire resistant features.
Cross-Cutting Crisis
CFOA President Steve McGuirk offered his association’s perspective on fire’s impact on the environment. He described it as the “ultimate cross-cutting problem”. Reacting after the impact of climate change fully hits, he stated, would be five to 20 times as worse as acting now. Painting a particularly stark picture, CFO McGuirk said that we are currently using three times the world’s resources and we must begin to live within our means. The effects are tangible, he said, as we experience wetter winters, drier summers and visa versa. Further, as the Arctic summer ice disappears there will be an increase in heat waves and extreme weather events, he insisted. Individual and organisational responsibility is key, he said, pointing to a need for clear operational policies and procedures across local and national boundaries. During last summer’s flooding 31 fire and rescue services were present at the Toll Bar reservoir in South Yorkshire and over 20 attended Gloucestershire’s emergency. He also remarked that we can no longer assume that events that occur regularly overseas will not happen here, such as tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis.
“The Fire and Rescue Service must adapt to mobilise to operate across boundaries,” he told delegates. “We need national command systems and policies, continued investment in technology and new governance arrangements to help us do this.”
Sprinkler Requirements in Warehouses
The requirements for sprinklers in large warehouses and factories in Europe was the topic of Bob Whiteley’s presentation. Mr Whiteley, Engineering and Standards Manager, Tyco Fire and Integrated Solutions, said that whilst the number of fires is decreasing slightly, the cost is still increasing and warehouse fires are the single largest cost element. Mr Whitely stated that as the demand for larger warehouses increases, so does the fire loads, hazards and potential losses with greater fires and bigger demands on FRS resources, whilst putting firefighters and employees at risk. Currently, UK sprinkler protection is required for warehouses above 20,000 sq m – way behind our European counterparts. The benefit of an early response of fast repression sprinklers has been well proven, he stated, and he emphasised that the UK should not “choose to lose one per cent of GDP through fire every year”.
When asked how we can persuade the powers that be to change regulations, CFO McGuirk suggested that there is no real clamour, or lobbying force to central government. “The odd councillor, fire officers and odd insurer” have tried, he said, but much more could be done. He said CFOA has asked for the working group on Approved Document B to be reformed following the Warwickshire warehouse fire. Tellingly, NFSN Vice Chair Ronnie King said that DEFRA had declined to attend, never mind provide a speaker; a move that he said was “unacceptable” given the importance of the issue.
Firefighter Safety
FBU Assistant General Secretary Andy Dark spoke on why the safety of firefighters should be a specific requirement of UK Building Regulations, as elsewhere in Europe. Mr Dark pointed to recent events inWarwickshire, which raised a series of “what ifs?” He asked: “What if staff had been inside? What if the collapse had occurred at a different time? What if more firefighters had been committed?What if sprinklers had been fitted?” Sprinklers assist egress and help keep firefighters safe by keeping the fire small, he said, commending theWelsh Assembly’s Ann Jones’ move to introduce the compulsory fitting of sprinklers in all new buildings. Mr Dark bemoaned the “notable absence” on the safety of firefighters in Approved Document B of the Building Regulations. “Firefighter safety consideration does not stand in contradiction to public and environmental concerns,” he stated. He pressed for the work done at the ODPM by the Building Disaster Assessment Group to be given more attention. He also called for building controllers to take the advice of experts on firefighter safety and for building contents and fittings to be given greater consideration, pointing to the Stevenage flat fire in which two firefighters died. In debate CFO Frank Sheehan,West Midlands, answered a range of concerns, stressing that the Service is now in a much stronger position. “Eight years ago there was a paucity of information on environmental damage and the impact of sprinklers.We need to ensure we continue to have the data systems and can provide information on the economic, environmental and social impact of fire.”
CFO Sheehan reminded delegates that we have the RRO and fire and rescue services can improve safety using current resources. “We can inform building occupiers that as use changes, so does the risk.We need to enforce and we need ownership of fire safety.We have the tools – a risk-based inspection process.”
Full Impact of Fire Loss
Kenneth Davey from the insurers Factory Mutual Global pointed out the societal impact of fire was like an iceberg. The property in business interruption costs and supply chain costs were easy to quantify, he said, but it is less easy to determine the impact “below the water line” such as community costs, environmental costs, loss of sustainability, loss of life safety and the macroeconomic effects, which “tend not to be accounted for”. One per cent of gross domestic product in the UK is currently lost as a result of fires, he informed, although some studies suggest it may be two per cent of gross domestic product – up to 14 billion per year. He emphasised that building codes should require automatic sprinklers for smaller buildings. Dr Jurgen Wiese, German Fire Regulations expert, said that German building codes have their compartment sizes determined by sprinklers and boundary conditions. They are complex but require minimum levels which include compartment sizes of 1,600 sq m or 40m by 40m.
In terms of compartmentation, there are four safety categories in Germany – K1 to K4. K1 has no automatic fire detection and relies on the public fire brigades to attend incidents. K2 requires automatic fire detection and public fire brigade attendance. K3 – a higher risk of fires – requires a works fire brigade to be on site, and K4 requires automatic sprinklers.
Buncefield and the Environment
Mike Penning, former Essex firefighter and now MP for Hemel Hempstead, identified the environmental issues associated with the Buncefield incident. He also emphasised that no building is worth the life of a firefighter. He said that most contingency planning for tank farms is to consider one tank on fire. At Buncefield 20 tanks were on fire simultaneously and caused major problems for the firefighting operations. The environmental damage included large amounts of spill off. One and a half kilometres away from the site bore holes have now identified P Phos, oil, etc contamination. Much of the foam which was widely criticised did not contain P-Phos. He emphasised though that P Phos has been used in pesticides and fertilisers for 40 years now in agriculture so it is not necessarily related specifically to the incident at Buncefield, although this is likely. He reported that there have been a number of cattle which have had deformed calves born in recent months.
Welsh Success
At the concluding question and answer session, Gary Whitworth, former CFO of Kent expressed concern about the continual negative image of sprinklers on TV and films including adverts where whole sprinkler systems actuate on the use of one head. This gives a false impression to which industry and building owners are susceptible, he said. Ken Davey from the Fire Protection Association identified that the problem was the same in the US in the 1960s and 70s. Steve Mills, West Midlands Fire Service, said that a lot of the issues that need to be addressed are related to marketing and providing the right cost for suitable premises. Dr Bryan from Royal Berkshire identified an issue whereby sprinklers were banned from being used in the heritage project for the damage they may cause to the fabric of the building. This indicates the ignorance amongst other organisations, not just the public, regarding sprinklers. Finally Ann Jones, Welsh Assembly member, identified the success in Wales of installing sprinklers in all schools and recent commitment to fit sprinklers to all of the new schools, which has become law. “We will have sprinklers in all new builds in Wales” and she identified the campaign used in Wales to emphasise the fact that installing sprinklers was the same as “having instant firefighters available 24/7”.
The question of installation costs of sprinklers was not determined at the time. Mike Penning stated that ultimately it will be firefighters who are the people who will force legislation of sprinklers through, not politicians and local governments and not the industry.
Rounding up FOBFO Chair Dennis Davies said it was important that attendees at the meeting were not blinded by the light. All those attending were converts to the benefits of sprinklers, and did not necessarily understand the perception of others who are less favourably disposed to sprinklers. See forthcoming issues for special reports on changes to Scottish sprinkler legislation and sprinklers in hotels. |
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