Fire Engineering Essay Example

Fire Engineering Essay Example Fire Engineering Essay Fire Engineering Essay Essay Topic: To Build a Fire Fire Engineering Name: Institution: Lecturer: : Course: Date: Fire Engineering 1. What do laws in your state indicate about false fire alarms and tampering with fire protection equipment? Cite the law. If anyone purposely breaks, molests or tampers with any private or public fire equipment, they will be considered guilty; for instance, tampering with fire alarms, fire extinguishers, emergency radios or phones. This includes attracting false attention to suggest fire accident. For example, shouting for help, sounding fire alarms or any other way of communication suggesting fire. However, this law does not prohibit testing of fire safety equipment like alarms. It should be strictly noted that only authorized persons are allowed to do those tests. The penalty for this offense is stated in Fire Safety Act 1988. A culprit will be guilty of a misdemeanor. He or she will be penalized according to the ruling of the court. In most cases, one is fined an amount not more than $1,000. Everyone is required to protect fire safety equipment and use only when necessary (National Fire Protection Association., Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 1988). 2. A factory has ceased to make metal parts for machines and is now being used to store plastic garbage cans (the type used outside). It is a sprinklered building. Is this acceptable? Why or why not? Cite the code. It is not acceptable to drastically change the function of a sprinklered building. The factory was previously dealing with metal, and now it is a store for plastic bags. The management is supposed to comply with requirements of having a plastic bags store. This includes installing the right equipment and fire safety equipment. There are also requirements for a sprinkler building. The management is required to adhere to them. This law is quoted in the provincial building codes Act (National Fire Protection Association., Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 1988). 3. Explain the requirements for use of charcoal grills at an apartment building. Cite the code. FC307.5 contains the requirements of charcoal in apartment buildings. No one will be allowed to light any sort of fire that will be unsafe. Open fires have an extremely high chance of spreading and causing fire accidents. As a result, there are strict measures when handling them. This includes charcoal grills or any open fire. Should charcoal grills be used, they should be away from balconies and decks of apartments. They should be not less than fifteen feet way from combustible structures and homes. Combustion of charcoal produces carbon monoxide, which is dangerous to human beings. This is one of the reasons why the charcoal grills, should be used far away from homes. This code only allows use of electricity stoves in the house. They must be inspected and listed by the relevant authority. However, homes of one and two families are excluded from this code (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, 1997). .4. A house is used both for personal residence and to provide day care for seven children in the basement. What is the occupancy classification and what restrictions are made on the use? It is not wrong to have a day care combined with the personal residence. The building code section 308, 1-1 states that such a building should be large enough to hold up to sixteen people. It allows people to live together just in case there are others who depend on each other for help; for example, small children or disabled people. These people should be receiving help on a 24 hours basis. It is wrong to have a dare care facility at the basement of the house. Section 308, 1-4 states that there should be a separate building for looking after these children. This is an appropriate day care center. It is designed for less than 24 hour care or less. These children should be accommodated in the main house and not the basement. The basement is meant for utility space. For example, heaters, fuse boxes and parking lots. There is a separate section of building codes that talk about utility space and miscellaneous (Lataille, 2003). 5. You notice a property is vacant and has vegetation covering it- what actions are required to bring this structure in code compliance. Property management codes require all property to be free from rodents or any other infestation. Therefore, any vegetation around homes or other structures should be not more than six inches or 152.4 mm. If the property is vacant, the local authorities should look for the administrator. He or she should be informed about the status of the structure and the immediate measure to be taken. For example, he or she should organize how the compound should be cleaned. All the overgrown vegetation should be cut and disposed off. The environment should comply with the codes of property management. There is a penalty for violating codes of property management. Therefore, the administrator is likely to face the consequences of deserting his or her property (Lataille, 2003) 6. Under what conditions is the use of portable electrical connectors permitted. These kinds of equipment include laptops, CD players, DVD players, notepads, cell phones, iPads among others. People can only use them in areas where it is safe to use them. For instance, some of these devices interfere with signals of other equipment; for instance, cell phones are known to interfere with some hospital electronic equipment. During taking off or landing of airplanes, people are required to switch off any electronic equipment. However, it has not been confirmed that it is true phones interfere with aircraft operations. The Aviation department just takes a precaution measure to ensure maximum safety during the flight (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, 1997). 7. What fire extinguishers are required in Educational Occupancies and what spacing is indicated? In addition, the local school board proposes placing fire extinguishers only in the offices, janitor’s closets and special purpose classrooms (labs and shops), what are your thoughts? Portable fire extinguishers should be used in all educational facilities. Portable fire extinguishers are easy and effective to use because of their mobility. In case a fire starts and there are no extinguisher on site, a person can easily rush for the nearest and use it to put out the fire. Every room should have a fire extinguisher. This will enhance efficiency of fighting fire in case of a fire accident. I think that the extinguishers should be placed in every possible place likely to catch fire. Installing in specific places may not help because fire may start at a place where there is no extinguisher. They should be available in all fire prone areas (National Fire Protection Association., Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 1988). Reference: Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. (1997). Fire engineering. London: Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. Lataille, J. I. (2003). Fire protection engineering in building design. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. National Fire Protection Association., Society of Fire Protection Engineers. (1988). SFPE handbook of fire protection engineering. Quincy, Mass: National Fire Protection Association.