Evacuation Strategies of High-Rise Buildings - Case Study Example

Evacuation Strategies Name Institution Professor Subject Date Introduction High-rise buildings characterize countries like USA, Britain and China. One major challenge in these countries is how to evacuate people from such buildings in the event of a disaster or specifically fire outbreaks. The kind of preparation made ahead of such disasters in these countries determines how well each country will successfully rescue the occupants in such buildings. The strategies should be such that all numbers are taken care of. The evacuation strategies also do depend on the nature of the emergency, which presents more profound challenges when it comes to high-rise buildings. The strategies should always be determined from the beginning as the building is being constructed. The National Fire Protection Association normally presents the standards that should be met when constructing a building. It goes further to recommend evacuation strategies that ought to be used in the event of a disaster occurring. It is therefore upon the contractors to meet these standards. For example, at one time in history, a very big inferno was witnessed in the Shanghai town in China claiming many lives; the same nightmare was witnesses in USA when two of its important and historic buildings were brought down through a suicide attack using airlines; the MGM hotel went on fire not forgetting the Lakalan House which was seen in flames such that even a renowned designer Catherine died in it. A case study of these instances would show the evacuation strategies that were used in the rescue process. This paper is thus focussed on using the details of each case study to do a SWOT analyses on their evacuation strategies, that is, focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities that are present in the strategies. Evacuation Strategies The evacuation of people from high-rise buildings should always follow certain strategies. For example, the National Fire protection Association recommends one of the strategies to be Defend-in-place or shelter-in-place. This strategy requires that the occupants remain in the place of fire but in protected zones of the building other than leaving the building (Craighead, 2012). At most times, this strategy is always used in the event of a chemical or biological incident or an explosion. The emergency in this case must have occurred outside the building. Another strategy involves delayed evacuation. This strategy takes care of the advantages of temporary holding places or areas of refuge / assistance. As much as it is near the fire area, the area must always remain safe for the occupants and emergency responders should always be there to assist them (Craighead, 2012). The strategy is normally used to evacuate the disabled. As well, evacuation of individuals with disabilities can take another dimension other than the one presented above. This is because of the special considerations that people with disabilities need. People with disabilities in this case involve, persons confined to wheel-chairs; persons dependent on crutches, canes, walkers, and so on; persons recovering from surgery; pregnant women; persons with significant hearing or sight impairment; extremely overweight persons; elderly persons; children; persons with mental impairments; and persons who may have become incapacitated as a result of the emergency (Craighead, 2012). This therefore requires that owners of every high-rise building should have a record of regular building occupants' names, locations within the building, telephone numbers, and type of disability and the names of assigned assistance monitors (Craighead, 2012). This kind of information normally assists in the evacuation process during emergency cases and therefore should always be the most current. The area should always be an area with a direct access to the exit. Another strategy is Partial or zoned evacuation. This kind of strategy does present immediate and general evacuation from the areas that are nearer to the fire incident and works well when there is an assurance that the occupants away from the evacuation zone are well protected for a good period of time (Peacock, 2011, p. 288). After relocation, it is upon the fire department to decide on whether to evacuate them further or not (Craighead, 2012). Thus, strategy recommends that downward evacuation is the best in high-rise buildings when fire incident occurs (Craighead, 2012). In addition to the above strategies, total evacuation is another strategy. This requires that the fire department personnel evacuate everyone from the building under fire to an area, which is safer (Furness & Muckett, 2007, p. 190). However, a major challenge does present itself when it comes to using this strategy because of the large number of people that normally occupy high-rise buildings and the limited number of elevators and stairwells (Furness & Muckett, 2007, p. 190). These factors make it impractical to implement such a strategy although the evacuation process can be done in phases (Furness & Muckett, 2007, p. 190). In such a case, elevators are normally meant to evacuate people from the highest floors but give no priority to people with disability because all occupants are normally accommodated equally in the system (Furness & Muckett, 2007, p. 190). The process takes long depending on the size of the building, its population at the time and nature of the event that has caused the evacuation (Furness & Muckett, 2007, p. 190). Lastly, occupants of a building can also evacuate themselves from the building using any available means (Craighead, 2012). With the discussion of such strategies, the next step would be to find out whether the instances of fire in the case studies that have been mentioned have employed the strategies; the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in each case study. Shanghai Apartment Fire: Strategies Used and a SWOT Analyses The Shanghai Fire occurred in a building at the junction of Jiaozhou and Yuyao road at a time when the building was under construction. This happened on 15th November 2010. The 28 storey high building was reportedly known to be housing 440 by the time the fire. At the end of the fire, people who were reported as casualties were averagely 50 years of age. Precisely and concisely, the fire was speculated to have been caused by an ignition of polyurethane foam insulation used on the building’s outer walls. The blame for the fire was put on the negligence of unlicensed welders on the tenth floor. The fire spread so fast and some workers could be seen climbing towards the roof of the building in an attempt to escape the fire. The question that presents itself is the strategies that were used to evacuate the workers and any other person who was in the building since 50 people were reported to have died in the fire. According to the CBC news in November (2010), 80 fire trucks were used to fight the blaze as the building was almost fully gutted by the time they arrived. Men could be seen climbing to the roof as bodies were being removed from the scene; some were hanging on the scaffolding waiting for help. The families that had sensed the fire earlier were among the ones that were rescued first. At one point, the fire fighters tried the use of helicopters in the rescue mission and managed to rescue a few individuals. The process was later hampered by huge smoke that later came from the building and the use of helicopters ended. The rescue mission was later hampered by thick smoke from the building and so they could no longer be used. From the reports gathered on the fire in Shanghai, the fire fighters went for a total evacuation when they arrived in the scene. They adopted the downward evacuation strategy and at some point tried the use of helicopters to rescue those who were rushing to the upper floors to get a safer zone. The major strength that this strategy presented to the fire fighter is that they managed to evict a large number of the occupants. One weakness was that their automated ladders were not long enough to reach some floors and fight the fire. The fact that most of the workers and occupants were moving to the upper floors and others hanging on the scaffolding, presented a big threat to the fire fighters. A good opportunity was there for them to evacuate a large number since they had so many fire fighting machines and the lower floors were not greatly affected. It was not advisable for the occupants to move upward the building unless the lower floors are engulfed in smoke and heat. This is because; the upper floors rarely have enough space to accommodate for all the occupants. If the building has heliport, it would be advisable since a helicopter can be used but this was the major weakness in this case. Mgm Grand Hotel Fire Las Vegas: Strategies Used and SWOT Analyses The Mgm Grand Hotel Fire in Las Vegas left an unforgotten history in the USA as it killed 85 people and left over 700 people injured in November 21, 1980 (US Fire Department, 2012). In the hotel was a refrigerator that was powered to the wall. It is the vibration the refrigerator that led to the rubbing of wires against each other causing an electrical fault in the wall soffit. The friction exposed the nakedness of the wires and thus caused the fire (NFPA Report, 2012). The fault that caused the fire was first noticed by an employee who saw a flicker light and a flame moving to the countertop and to the ceiling (NFPA Report, 2012). His several attempts to put out the fire failed and thus notified the security personnel. With the fire spreading fast towards the Casino area, The Clark County received calls and managed to arrive in the scene within the first five minutes. There was use of fire engines that was situated at the North Entrance. Similarly, the fire department in this case opted for the total evacuation. With their timely arrival, the major strength was seen as the first phase of evacuation was successfully. A major threat presented itself at the heights of evacuation. This was faster rate at which the fire spread into the casino and the level of smoke volumes increased after there was a ground fault at the Delhi. This made any efforts to evacuate the building difficult as smoke had spread into the stairways, exit passageways and corridors. One weakness was that the high-rise tower evacuation system did not sound and air conditioning units on the roof were not equipped with smoke detectors, making most of the occupants to be stuck inside (LRC Staff, 1994). The occupants resolved to self-evacuation from the building. Most of them were able to evacuate the building through the stairways but unassisted by the fire personnel (Thompson, 2012). Some tried to evacuate by climbing windows; others making their way to the roof and being rescued by the Air Force helicopters. One weakness was that the ladders used by Fire fighters could only reach 9th floor. Fire at Lakanal House in London's Camberwell The 14 storey building that forms part of the Sceaux Gardens Estate in Camberwell caught fire on 3 July 2009. The fire was reported to have started in the ninth floor. However, the building lacked communal fire alarms in the building and this made it impossible for the occupants to inform each other on the fire outbreak. This presented a major threat for the occupants who could not learn of the fire in time. The fire brigade arrived nine minutes after the start of the fire with eighteen fire engines and resolved to the use of total evacuation in phases. In addition, partial evacuation was used for those who were on the upper floors. At this time, the central staircases, which were the only ones that could be used in exiting the building, were already filled with black smoke. An operational command centre was thus put on the seventh floor and there was an encouragement for occupants to call 9999 to report their location in the building in order to be rescued. The building that had uPVC frames caught more fire because of the molten materials that fell on the curtains; a threat in itself. The thick smoke in the building made evacuation most difficult even though most floors were not on fire. The operational command centre was relocated to the third floor as the fire spread out more and more. The fire brigade thus dispatched nine fire rescue units that totalled to 18 fire engines being used and over 100 fire fighters taking part in the rescue mission. The fire fighters as well used extended engines ladders to fight the fire although they were too short to reach some floors. The fire crews also went floor to floor upwards ensuring that every flat was safe; in the course; more than 40 residents were rescued. The evacuation in phases gave a good opportunity for the fire fighters, thus were able to meet such results. At one point, there was fear that large gas pipes had exploded from inside the building and fire fighters were barred from reaching the floors above 11th floor Case Study 4: 9/11 In America, partial or zoned is normally preferred as the strategy to be used for evacuation from high-rise buildings. They do take the fire floors and the floors above the fire point as the most crucial that need a speedy evacuation. This is what was used in the 9/11 disaster that occurred on September 2001 after 19 Al-Qaeda militants hijacked four US airliners and attacked the country. At the World Trade Centre in New York, two planes were rammed and the third plane at Pentagon. The jets that were fully fuelled rammed into the buildings causing a hole in the 80th floor of the 110-storey skyscraper. So many people were killed instantly and other was trapped in the higher floors. The death toll reached 3000 including 400 police officers and fire fighters. The jets were fully fuelled. Once they rammed into the building, a gaping hole was created in the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper. This was the major threat that presented itself as the people in the higher floors were at risk the moment the building collapsed. So many people were thus killed and others trapped in the higher floors. Evacuation procedures started immediately, but several other attacks were witnessed. Just 18 minutes after the first attack, another airline sharply turned into the World Trade Centre and sliced the 60th floor. The collision caused fire all over up to the streets. This called for evacuation of individuals in the surrounding. The worst happened 15 minutes later when the south tower of the World Trade Centre collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. Even though the building was structured in such a way that it could withstand winds and large conventional fires, a factor was strength on its own, it could not manage to withstand the fire that came from the jet fuel. Later the other Trade Centre tower collapsed. 343 fire fighters and paramedics, 23 New York City Police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers who were helping in the evacuation process died when the building collapsed (A&E Television Networks, 2012). Over 10,000 were treated of severe injuries. Conclusion The American and Chinese cities are examples of areas responding to the pressure of globalisation with high-rise buildings coming up all over (Yuen, 2011, p. 144). One major challenge is fire fighting and evacuation of people from such tall buildings. The buildings pose a challenge because of their heights, the number of occupants, which sometimes goes to over 5000, and the nature of risks associated with such buildings like fire. The examples of case studies discussed above shows how different strategies have been used like total evacuation, self-evacuation and partial or zoned evacuation strategies. The biggest strength is that all the countries were well equipped with enough personnel and machines to help curb the disasters and this could be seen in their timely response when alarm was raised. Unfortunately, their ladders were too short to reach some floors and fight the fire. A good opportunity to save lives was seen in how the occupants co-operated with the fire department to provide information that could ease their eviction. A major threat was the kind of materials that the buildings were made of since they catalysed the spread of fire. References ‘In Depth: Mgm Grand Hotel Fire: 25 Years Later’. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 – 2012. Web, 2012 < http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Nov-20-Sun-2005/news/4366590.html> Accessed on 30th December 2012. A&E Television Networks, LLC. (2012). 9/11 Attacks. (Online). Available from (Accessed 1st October 2012). Craighead, Geoff. (2012). Evacuation Strategies for High-Rise Office Buildings. Web, 1996-2012 Accessed on 30th December 2012. NFPA Report. (2012). Clark County Fire Department Report/Summary: 30 Years-Ago: Mgm Grand Fire in Las Vegas Kills 85 People & Injures 700.(Online) Available from (Accessed 31st October, 2012). Peacock, Richard. (2011). Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics. New York: Springer. US Fire Department. (8/1/2011). The MGM Grand Fire. (Online) Available from (Accessed 31st October, 2012). Yuen, Belinda. (2011). High-Rise Building Living in Asian Cities. London: Springer. Read More