Emergency Procedures Manual Update

Thu, 05 May 2011 11:38:59 -0500

Although extremely rare, in the event of an actual fire emergency the Philadelphia Fire Department will designate one or more of the fire exit stairways as the “Fire Attack Stair”.

This is the stairwell where firefighters advance their hose onto the fire floor. The door must be propped open to protect the hose line (which is stretched from the floor below), thus compromising the stair shaft as it rapidly fills with smoke and fire gases. As a result, this stairwell cannot be used to evacuate building tenants due to smoke conditions. Tenants descending from the building's upper floors suddenly will find themselves in a potentially life-threatening situation, if they remain in this stairwell.

It is therefore extremely important that tenants follow the instructions that are provided over the public address system during the course of an emergency. BUILDING STAFF, WORKING UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE PHILADELPHIA FIRE DEPARTMENT WILL INSTRUCT TENANTS WHICH FIRE EXIT STAIRWAY IS SAFE FOR USE TO EVACUATE THE BUILDING. .

Key Concepts:

In a major fire, smoke will migrate for at least several floors. It will rise until it cools, stratifies and levels off, or it may rise to the top of the shaft by way of the building's natural vertical draft.
The most common gases in any fire are carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO). CO is the gas that causes most fatalities in fires. It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, flammable, toxic and also is lighter than air. There are numerous other toxic gases given off by burning plastics and foams that are even more deadly, but CO is the most common killer.
In addition to smoke impeding the evacuation of building tenants, there also is a significant amount of congestion at the stair landing where the fire is being attacked. Firefighters, their tools and long hoses make that area nearly impassible. Tenants will be re-routed to the opposite stair for safe evacuation or relocation.

Fire on the 16th Floor

Thu, 05 May 2011 11:05:25 -0500

It’s Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. and the call goes out to the Philadelphia Fire Department:

The fire alarm system has been activated on the 16th floor of the east tower at Centre Square. A pull station and multiple smoke detectors on the floor have reported back to the Fire Command Center as active. To add to the problems, part of the floor is under construction so the fire sprinkler system has been shut down for the day. In addition to the aforementioned contractors there are also some tenants working on the floor. The building staff prepares for the arrival of the fire department with critical elevator and building master keys at hand, elevators standing by, and the building’s emergency plans and floor plans laid out for ready reference.

All this occurs under the watchful eye and guidance of Curtis Massey. A retired Fire Officer with over 20 years of fire fighting experience; Curtis is the president and CEO of Massey Enterprises. In addition to disaster planning services Curtis Massey is also actively involved in providing advanced high-rise fire department operations training to major city fire departments throughout the U.S. and Canada. During the months of March and April Curtis Massey conducted classroom training for the Philadelphia Fire Department and as a follow up to each session there was a live high rise drill at Centre Square’s East Tower. With fog machines simulating dense smoke conditions, bright red lights marking the seat of the fire, and building staff helping out as mock victims, the conditions gave all those participating in the drills a sobering sense of what could happen during a high-rise office fire.

It’s not often that drills such as these occur which is why Reit Management & Research LLC and the Centre Square Operations Team welcomed the opportunity to host the high-rise drills. Taking place on scheduled Saturdays, a total of 8 drills were conducted with approximately 350 firefighters participating. Also playing a role in each of the drills were the building’s security, engineering, management office, and cleaning supervisory staff.

From the perspective of the Centre Square Operations Team this was an invaluable opportunity to test and refine our emergency response procedures. Furthermore, since we had the chance to participate in all eight drills we were able to learn from each session and our response improved each time as we received welcome feedback from Curtis Massey and the Philadelphia Fire Department. One of the most important aspects learned was that in order to be properly prepared we must have a basic understanding of how the fire department will respond to an emergency. First In Companies, Lobby Control, Reflex Time, Incident Command, Major Incident Response Assignment (MIRA), were all new to the building staff, however, with each drill we came to better understand the significance of these terms.

During the course of the drills the Philadelphia Fire Department was also evaluating and refining their policies and procedures. Rapid Ascent Teams, Portable Stair Pressurization, and the need to communicate the fire attack stair to building personnel, were all incorporated in the drills. During the post op evaluations Operational Procedure #33 (OP33), High Rise Firefighting was also discussed and how it could be improved.

While certainly not a new concept one of the most important aspects of participating in these drills that was emphasized for our staff was the dangers of the “fire attack stair”. Between 2003 and 2008 seventeen victims died in stairwells well above floors that were engulfed in flames. While many articles have been written on this subject it is an important topic that can sometimes be overlooked when a property management team is developing emergency procedures for the building. Keeping in mind that firefighters will designate the fire attack stair early on in the process it is vital that the building staff obtain this information and begin making the appropriate announcements to help ensure that only the evacuation stairs are used to exit the building. As a result of the training that took place during these drills Centre Square has implemented policies and procedures that take into account the designation of a fire attack stair and an evacuation stair(s). Announcements made from the Fire Command Center will advise tenants which stairwells are safe to use for evacuation in the event of a fire. Tenant emergency procedure manuals have been updated and tenant safety warden training will cover this topic as well.

Another important aspect of emergency response that was covered by Curtis Massey was identification vests for key personnel such as the Chief Engineer, Building Engineer, Security Manager, and Building Manager. These vests, typically called incident command vests, are readily available and play an important role in allowing emergency responders to pick out key personnel in a crowd. Their effectiveness was immediately apparent during the drills and fire department personnel remarked favorably on how helpful the vests were in coordinating with the building operations team when arriving on the scene.

When all was said and done the one overriding theme voiced by everyone involved with the exercises was how helpful they were with many of the firefighters personally thanking us for the opportunity to practice high rise operations in the building. From climbing stairs and carrying down victims in full Turnout Gear to searching large floors in near zero visibility the conditions offered many realistic challenges. For the building staff we now better understand the implications of the fire attack stair. Stack effect and the negative consequences of propping lobby doors open is also an important consideration that the building staff can address. Additional details such as having enough elevator fire service keys for the Lobby Control Firefighters and separate master keys for the companies heading up to the floors is also important. The drills also drove home the importance of our ongoing staff training and tenant fire drills.

In closing, the opportunity to train with the Philadelphia Fire Department gave us all a new found appreciation for the dangers and challenges that Fire Fighters face on a regular basis. We extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all the brave men and women of the Philadelphia Fire Department for their ongoing dedication and commitment to service. We would also like to thank Curtis Massey for his continuing efforts in fire emergency response training.

Massey Enterprises Inc. – www.disasterplanning.com

Incident Command Vests – www.safetygearonline.com

Emergency Egress Strategies for Buildings – http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire07/art054.html

CLEAN SWEEP

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:23:56 -0600

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Global warming and toxic chemical hazards are widely acknowledged to be the biggest environmental challenges of our time. Climate change is already affecting the Great Lakes region, with average annual temperatures rising, severe rainstorms becoming more frequent, winters getting shorter, and the duration of lake ice cover decreasing.1 Meanwhile, toxic chemicals are prevalent in our world today. They can be found in tens of thousands of products, including common cleaners used in our homes and workplaces. Many of these products contain chemicals that can harm our health by causing a wide range of ailments, especially if used every day.

The good news is that a variety of solutions to the climate crisis and to toxic chemical exposure are available right now — and many of these solutions will be beneficial to our local, state and national economies.

In fact, the quickest, easiest, and cheapest method to fight global warming is to reduce energy waste in large buildings. Commercial and residential buildings in the U.S. account for about 40 percent of national energy consumption,3 70 percent of electricity consumption, and 38 percent of global warming pollution — the largest share among all sectors of the economy, and far exceeding all modes of transportation.

Reducing energy consumption in large commercial and residential buildings will not, in itself, make those buildings “green.” Why? Because cleaning products used in large building to scrub floors, walls, windows, bathrooms and other indoor and outdoor areas are often highly toxic. But there is more good news here. Safe chemical substitutes, green chemicals, exist for many of the most commonly used toxic cleaning products. And these less harmful products often cost no more than their toxic counterparts.

GREEN TRANSITION
This report shows that reducing energy and toxics in commercial buildings will lead to a green future in the Twin Cities simply by adjusting how buildings are maintained.

DAY SHIFT CLEANING.
By transitioning cleaning crews from the night shift to the day shift, a strategy known as Day Shift Cleaning, energy use is significantly reduced. Keeping lights and heating or cooling systems turned on throughout the night while janitors clean adds to the environmental footprint of our buildings.

With the lights off for most of the night, energy costs can fall dramatically. According to industry estimates, energy cost savings range from 4-8 percent per year. Further energy and maintenance savings are achieved through reduced use of elevators and heating and cooling systems. As energy costs rise, so do the savings from such a transition to Day Shift Cleaning.

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Happy Holidays

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:25:49 -0500

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Emergency Procedures Manual Update

Fire on the 16th Floor

CLEAN SWEEP

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