Fighting Fire in High Rises

Apurva Bose Dutta, Architect, Bangalore

Fighting Fire in High Rises

Disasters in India today are a sorry state of affairs. Fire has taken a plunge ahead in man made disasters. Its extrinsic effects have metamorphosed through the centuries as a result of industrial, technological and military development. The Great London Fire, 1666 the Chicago fire of 1871, the explosion at WTC in 2001 and the Pataguay Supermarket Fire in 2004 are some of the well–known fire disasters.

Highrise Buildings
Construction has gone vertical for the past two decades. The imposing facades might add to the global trend but how safe are they? The National Building Code of India (NBC) defines buildings of 15m or more in height as highrise buildings. The design of highrises in response to fire design services includes the design of smoke detectors, fire alarm systems, automatic sprinkler systems and egress systems. Mass evacuation is a critical issue in highrise buildings especially when fire is there at more than one location.

📅 Published on: 16 September 2009
📖 Published in: NBM&CW August 2009
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