Fire risk in buildings: Awareness seminar on Jan. 29
View(s):The Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka (CCI), the apex representative body of the construction industry, has organised a seminar on “Fire risks in high rise buildings” on January 29 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.
The CCI said it’s a useful seminar for all those concerned as it will involve experts from the UK, India and Sri Lanka to create awareness on the fire hazard in buildings especially high rises.
In a statement, the chamber said that during the past few years many multi storeyed buildings have been constructed in Colombo and other towns.
At present nearly 50 high rise buildings, each over 20 storeys high are under construction in and around Colombo. With the pressure on land use, due to the economic development, increased population density and demand for building spaces, it is inevitable that buildings will have to go higher and higher, in major towns. “But this concentrated vertical development of buildings will also give rise to certain associated risks such as fire, building settlements, water leaks, etc if not designed, constructed and managed properly. Of these the risk of fire is the most critical to human lives,” it said.
In June 2017, there was a major fire disaster in the 24-storeyed Grenfell Tower building in the UK which resulted in 72 dead and 70 injured. This fire disaster occurred in a much developed country where very high safety standards and stringent building regulations are enforced.
“If such a major fire could erupt in a high rise building in a developed country like the UK, needless to say that it is crucially important to critically look at all aspects of fire safety in our high rise and other buildings. As the Colombo Fire Brigade reportedly has only one aerial ladder that can reach up to 18 floors only for evacuation and fire pumps capable of reaching up to seven floors only, our high rise buildings could be much vulnerable. Consequently, this has become the need of the hour as we also witnessed few major fires in buildings during the recent past. With nearly 50 high rise tower buildings under construction in and around Colombo, fire safety is of greater significance now, it said.
“In Sri Lanka which has a poorly equipped fire brigade by international standards and considered somewhat under staffed and lacks quick response, as evidenced in the recent Kandy fire disaster, we could very well be sitting on a major disaster in waiting. Many multi storeyed apartment/ office complexes are using light weight partitions and claddings to reduce weight and thus economise on the structural cost. Some of these materials used for partitions, claddings and ceilings are not conforming to the safety standards and are made out of combustible materials.
Even in the Grenfell Tower in UK the fire spread very fast due to combustible material in insulation panels. In a developed country like UK where the safety standards are very high and monitored stringently if this could happen, can our buildings be assured of fire safety?” the CCI asked.
“Learning from past experience on fire disasters in buildings many countries have imposed several fire safety requirements. These include smoke detectors, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, wet risers, emergency power generators, separate refuge floors, separate storage tank for firefighting, arrangements for quick evacuation, and restriction on use of certain materials, etc. In all major hotels it is a requirement of the International Travel Association to have fire drills periodically. But in how many apartment buildings are these conducted?” the chamber added