Dave and everyone,
Some good points on a subject that has been bothering me and my Fire Dept
colleagues for years.I'd like to add some personal thoughts, though they
may not prove popular.Bear in mind that the ultimate responsibility for
Fire Safety rests with the Occupier.
1.There are limits to what Building Control and Fire Brigade Consultations
can insist on in terms of design for disabled evacuation.
2.There are practical limits to what designers can achieve: Fire-fighting
lifts are beyond the budget of anything but very large projects.Sure, you
can design massive refuges,compartments or plan phased evacuation such as
in Residential Care Homes but you need a very large space and an awful lot
of fit staff to assist with the evacuation of a lot of non-ambulant
people. Again, bear in mind that the Fire Brigade have no obligation to
assist people from refuges.
3.Passenger lifts are normally designed for easy access, i.e. not in fire
protected areas that lead outside. Therefore, although in theory, with a
separate power supply, they can be designed to take people down to the
ground floor in case of fire, they are often likely drop them out
precisely where the fire may be.
4. It is a fact that numbers of people are often restricted in different
types of buildings according to usage, stair widths etc. In private, the
majority of Fire professionals that I know believe it is madness not to
restrict the number of people who would require assisted escape to the
number that management know they can safely handle.This is not out of Ryan
Airish ignorance but because they know fire and have a healthy fear of it.
From the Great Fire of London to the present day it has often been
terrible tragedies that have driven Fire and Building Regs. Occupiers in
a sense will be damned if they do, damned if they don't - or perhaps a
frying pan and fire analogy might suit better.In the meantime, I think we
should all be writing to ODPM and the Chief Fire Officers Association to
get it top of the agenda. Sorry to be so long-winded.
Terry Warren
Inclusive Design Manager
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