FIRE PROTECTION IN HOTELS

 

Hotel fires represent a major risk to people’s safety, the hotel property and business continuity.

Fire incidents not only result in financial losses, but they can also severely damage a hotel’s reputation.

The main causes of fire outbreaks in general areas are the following:

• Malfunctions in electrical equipment (e.g., electrical distribution systems, motors, transformers, ventilators, electrical     heaters and lighting systems) leading to short circuits, overloads, discharges, etc.

•  Maintenance work such as welding or soldering.

•  Carelessness such as negligence in turning off electrical equipment, use of combustible materials and liquids (cleaning, painting, etc.), and smoking.

•    Temporary decorations for festivities and functions.

•    Spontaneous combustion of cleaning rags, cotton waste, etc.

•    Arson and sabotage acts also remain a very serious fire risk. The main causes of fire outbreaks in guest rooms are the following:

•    Smoking, especially in bed and under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

•    Use of faulty electrical equipment, such as electric blankets, kettles, cookers, irons, razors, heaters, hair driers and radios, which are possibly not suited to the hotel`s outlets and voltage.

•    Carelessness with electrical equipment, especially negligence in turning off equipment at night or when leaving the room.

 

Organizational measures

The advantage of many hotels is that they can summon professional help

relatively quickly in emergency situations. Despite this fact, all hotels should aim

at achieving a high level of competence in dealing with emergencies and in

recognizing potential sources of danger, independent of outside assistance.

Organizational measures include: 

• Staff training (prevention and intervention).

• Provision of alarm and emergency plans.

• Periodic maintenance and checking of fire-fighting equipment.

• Keeping escape routes accessible and unobstructed.

• Use of fire-resistant decorations, furniture and furnishings.

Detection measures                  

The main tasks of an automated fire protection system are to detect (an incipient stage) fire, sound an acoustic alarm, notify the fire service and activate the pre- programmed control functions. Such a system consists of a control unit with peripheral input devices (such as manual call points and automatic fire

detectors), output devices (such as sounders and beacons) and output contacts to control other systems (such as smoke control systems, HVAC systems, elevators, automated extinguishing systems, etc.).

To minimize the danger to life and the damage to property, it is important to detect a fire as early as possible. Optimal product selection combined with the appropriate knowledge make it possible to design a fire detection system capable of detecting a fire extremely early and virtually eliminate any danger of false alarms.

Alarm and evacuation measures

When a fire breaks out prompt warning is essential, and buildings must be evacuated within minutes to protect people’s lives. Buildings with large numbers of occupants, such as hotels, therefore, have special requirements regarding alarming and evacuation.

The purpose of a (acoustic) fire alarm is to warn people of the potential hazard. In the case of a hotel three distinct target groups are addressed:

•    Hotel guests for whom a hazardous situation has been detected.

•    Hotel staff who should coordinate the evacuation.

•    The people who should deal with the fire.

In a basic installation the fire detection system must activate the installed alarm devices and transmit the alarm signal to the fire department.

More sophisticated installations may include a dedicated voice alarm system, which can be instrumental in preventing panic by providing clear information about the danger and any required evacuation procedures through calm and concise announcements.

In addition to the type of alarm and evacuation system provided, evacuation plans, escape route identifications, emergency lighting systems and smoke venting systems are essential to ensure a fast and safe evacuation of all persons.

Each hotel must have a detailed evacuation plan with detailed procedures for the systematic, safe, and orderly evacuation of the building in case of fire or other emergencies. Fire drills should be carried out on a regular basis to ensure that all members of staff are familiar with all aspects of this plan.

If an evacuation of the building becomes necessary, hotel guests, who will normally have little knowledge of the building, must be able to rely on the escape route identification notices to find their way out of the building.

To enable a safe evacuation, the emergency lighting must be turned on in all relevant areas.

Air handling systems remove smoke from a building allowing the escape routes

to be kept clear of smoke which is essential to enable people to leave the hotel in a quick and safe manner.

Intervention measures

To limit the danger to human life and the extent of the damage, it is extremely

important to start intervention and firefighting measures as soon as possible

after the outbreak of fire. All firefighting equipment must always be kept in

perfect working order: this is a prerequisite for any successful intervention.

 

Intervention measures activated by the fire control panel include:

• Automatic closing of fire doors etc.

• Activation of smoke handling systems.

• Automatic alarm transmission to the fire department.

Important firefighting systems include:

• Portable fire extinguishing equipment.

• Hose reel equipment.

• Self-actuated sprinkler systems.

• Dedicated extinguishing systems for high-risk areas.

 

Elements of the fire detection system

 

 

Periphery

Fire-related information is collected from all parts of the building by the input periphery (automatic detectors, manual call points and input contacts) and transmitted to the control unit. The intelligent, automatic fire detectors detect and analyze the different fire phenomena and automatically report the current hazard levels to the control unit. When selecting the correct fire detector for each location (together with its settings and placement), it is also crucial to consider the type of fire to be expected, the room height, ambient conditions such as air changes and possible deceptive phenomena. Manual call points enable direct alarm activation by people who recognize an incipient stage fire or smoke in their vicinity. Contacts (e.g., from the activation of a sprinkler extinguishing system) report a fire alarm indirectly.

Control unit

The system is monitored, controlled and operated by the fire detection control unit, which evaluates the hazard messages from the peripheral devices and activates audible alarm warnings and fire control installations.

Actions

The actions initiated by the control unit include alarming, activating the fire controls and alerting the fire brigade. Optical and acoustic alarm devices warn the people in the building. The activation of the preprogrammed fire controls causes fire doors to be closed, and smoke and heat extraction systems to be activated, in certain cases extinguishing systems may also be activated

Guest Rooms

Typically, the greatest proportion of a hotel’s floor area is occupied by the guest rooms themselves. These are also the least controllable areas since guests cannot be included in the organizational fire protection measures. The large variety of ignition sources, such as overheated electrical devices (fridge, TV) or careless handling of smoking products or candles put hotel guests in great danger, especially when fire starts during the night.

The fire detection system needs to warn people in the guest rooms before a dangerous situation has time to develop due to hazardous smoke.  In addition, unnecessary alarming, triggered by steam or cigarette smoke, must be prevented. Depending on the room dimensions a smoke detector or a multi-sensor fire detector with the combination smoke/heat is recommended for monitoring guest rooms.

 

Kitchens

Large cooking vessels, frying pans and especially deep fryers, present a very serious fire hazard in hotel kitchens. This is mainly due to the strong possibility of fire breaking out due to overheating as well as the local high fire load.

Multi-sensor fire detector with the combination smoke/heat and a sophisticated signal processing are recommended for monitoring these areas. Avoiding unwanted alarms due to the inevitable presence of deceptive phenomena, such as fumes or steam, requires in-depth knowledge and experience in positioning the detectors in such applications.

Laundries

These areas must be considered as relatively critical zones in a hotel.  Firstly, they may have a very high fire load (e.g., amount of dirty linen) and secondly, they provide a high risk due to the possibility of overheated electrical installations.

Due to the many deceptive phenomena in such an environment, like steam or dust,  fire detectors are recommended which guarantee an early alarm in case of fire and at the same  time offer a high robustness against deceptive phenomena.

Restaurants

These areas must be considered as relatively critical zones in a hotel, due to the variety of ignition sources such as candles or cooking and frying at the table and the number of guests in the room.

Depending on the room dimensions and the expected deceptive phenomena smoke detectors or multi-sensor fire detectors with the combination smoke/heat are recommended for monitoring restaurant areas.

Stairways

Because elevators must not be used in case of fire, staircases play an important role as the primary escape routes in hotel buildings.

As a rule, a single smoke detector should not monitor more than three floors on a staircase and one detector is required on the top floor ceiling. In addition, several manual call points must be placed throughout the escape route.

 

Parking garages

 

A fire in an enclosed garage can very quickly create a dangerous situation for all people in that area.  Due to the significant fire load of the parked cars, a fire which is not detected and suppressed early, can develop into a fire

that will be very difficult to extinguish and may threaten the stability of the building.

Deceptive phenomena such as exhaust emissions and the harsh environmental conditions not only affect early and reliable fire detection but also affect the service life of ordinary fire detectors. For this reason, only fire detectors which respond appropriately to such deceptive phenomena, and which were developed especially for harsh environments are installed in parking garages.

 Plant rooms

Plant rooms, in which power supply, control systems, security systems and IT infrastructure are    accommodated, are risk areas that need to be especially protected. This applies particularly to fire safety in these areas.

Aspirating smoke detection systems (ASD) can detect even the smallest aerosol concentrations. They can detect extremely low smoke concentrations which may be caused, for example, by a malfunction of an electrical or electronic component. It is possible to prevent fire developing simply by removing the power from the unit.