This paper provides a comprehensive overview of code-required fire protection systems as mandated by building and fire codes. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of installing such systems, surveys the major types of fire detection and alarm systems — including ionization, photoelectric, and heat detectors — and explains how heat and smoke control systems can both assist and hinder fire emergency response. The paper compares sprinkler and special suppression systems, discusses the challenges of determining adequate water supply, reviews the four classes of fire extinguishers, and closes with a summary of public attitudes toward mandatory fire protection requirements.
Fire protection systems, as required by locally adopted building and fire codes, carry both advantages and disadvantages that are worth examining carefully. This paper presents an overview of the different types of fire detection and alarm systems, explains how heat and smoke control systems may assist or hinder the control of a fire emergency inside a protected property, and compares the different types of special and sprinkler systems along with the advantages and disadvantages of each. It also addresses the problems encountered in determining the amount of water required on premises and how that water can be provided, surveys the various types of fire extinguishers available, and closes with an overview of the public's reaction to the mandatory installation of these systems.
Although fire protection systems have been around for more than a century, code-required fire protection systems first made an appearance in the 1960s. Fire protection systems go beyond the benefits of alert systems such as smoke alarms. Although alert systems are important for warning building occupants, the primary benefit of a fire protection system is early fire suppression. This may eliminate a fire altogether, or at the very least help contain it until professional help arrives. The two primary disadvantages of installing fire protection are aesthetics and cost (Fischer). Although there are now systems that fit flush with a building's ceiling, they remain detectable. In addition, despite the variety of reasonably priced systems available, this requirement still represents an additional building cost that must be taken into consideration.
Fire detection systems are early warning systems that serve as the first line of defense in the event of a fire, triggering an alarm to alert occupants to the presence of fire or smoke. Ionization and photoelectric smoke detectors are two primary types of fire detection systems. Ionization smoke detectors use "a small amount of radioactive material which ionizes the air in the sensing chamber, thus rendering it conductive and permitting a current flow through the air between two charged electrodes" ("Chapter 31" 31-1). When the circuit is completed, an alarm sounds.
Photoelectric fire detection systems use the scattering of light on a photosensitive cell to trigger an alarm. Heat detectors are a third type of detection system, which use heat to signal an alarm. This can occur either through a pre-determined temperature rating — where the alarm is triggered when the sensor reaches a specific temperature — or through a rate-of-rise mechanism. In the latter case, the alarm is triggered when the rate of temperature increase exceeds a predetermined threshold.
The primary goal of heat and smoke control systems is to minimize the effects of fire as occupants exit the building or to aid firefighters in their response. Smoke control systems influence airflow direction, which increases ventilation during a fire emergency. However, there are disadvantages to these systems as well. Smoke could be redirected into firefighter access and escape routes, and heat control systems may similarly divert heat into these critical pathways. In addition, the movement of air could negatively affect fire suppression systems such as sprinkler systems.
"Wet, dry, alternate, deluge, and CO2 systems compared"
"Factors affecting water pressure and supply methods"
"Class A, B, C, and D extinguisher uses and limits"
"Public concerns, myths, and acceptance of mandates"
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