The Economics of Fire Protection

The article deals with the formation of the organizational and methodological foundations for conducting fire-technical examinations carried out within the framework of administrative cases at the suit of state supervision (control) in the field of technogenic and fire safety on the implementation of response measures in the form of a complete or partial suspension of the operation of inspection objects. It has been established that there are no clear assessment criteria for violations of norms and rules that determine the degree of threat to life and health of people as a result of exposure to fire hazards. The specified uncertainty causes the doubtfulness of evidence and limits the possibility of making procedural decisions when considering administrative cases regarding the implementation of response measures by supervisory (control) bodies. In accordance with the established by judicial practice, it becomes necessary to form sufficient evidence in a public law dispute using special knowledge in the field of fire safety through the adoption of decisions on the appointment of forensic fire and technical examinations. At the same time, a scientifically-based approach to conducting this kind of a fire-technical examination has not been established. The problems of scientific and technical support of expert research are defined. The purpose, subject, object, tasks, algorithm, and research methods are formed. The basis of the proposed organizational and methodological approach to conducting fire-technical examinations is the algorithm of expert studies aimed at improving evidence-based information. The dialectical methods of expert research and the method of mathematical modeling are defined and proposed as tools for scientific and technical support of fire-technical expertise. The necessity of consistent integration into forensic activities of innovative approaches and technologies, which is the method of mathematical modeling, is substantiated. The necessity of introducing a procedural procedure (a mechanism) of expert research is substantiated in order to ensure the staging, the legality of the formation of an expert opinion as evidence in an administrative case at the claim of state supervision (control) in the field of technogenic and fire safety on the implementation of response measures. The need for further scientific research aimed at improving the activities of scientific and technical support of fire-technical examinations through the development, formation, and introduction into expert practice of the methodology for conducting relevant expert research has been proved. Key words: fire-technical examination, fire safety, life/health, research methods, evidence, response measures, supervision (control).

Fire resistance analysis and protection measures for cable components of suspension bridges

The current situation of self-built houses by villagers is prevalent in rural areas, where many villagers construct their own residential dwellings based on their personal needs and economic circumstances. These self-built houses are typically constructed using basic materials and traditional building techniques, often without adherence to strict building regulations and standards. As a result of the lack of professional knowledge and technical guidance, the structural integrity and safety of these houses are often compromised. In addition, the lack of firefighting facilities and fire prevention measures further increase the risk of fire accidents. This situation contributes to a higher incidence of fires in rural areas, posing a significant threat to the lives and assets of villagers. Therefore, it becomes imperative to improve the current state of self-built houses by villagers. Strengthening fire safety awareness and implementing robust fire prevention measures are vital in this regard. This paper aims to summarize the challenges involved in fire protection design for renovating rural buildings. Additionally, it proposes fire protection design principles specifically for the commercial transformation of self-built houses by villagers. By analyzing real-world engineering cases, this study puts forth specific fire protection measures concerning fire rescue, fire control zones (groups), evacuation design, and fire systems. To ensure the fire safety of these buildings, special fire protection design methods are employed. The effectiveness of the proposed fire protection measures are validated through the use of FDS fire and smoke numerical simulation analysis software and Pathfinder evacuation simulation software, ensuring the fire safety of the buildings. The results show that the available safe evacuation time that can be provided by this scenario is 1200 s as calculated by the FDS simulation, and the necessary safe evacuation time is less than the available safe evacuation time in case of a fire on the first floor of this building, and the safe evacuation of the people can be guaranteed. This study can provide a valuable resource for architects, engineers, and decision makers to implement effective fire protection measures during commercial remodeling of village-owned houses.

Introduction. Currently, national standards and codes of practice contain deterministic values of the fire resistance of building structures of facilities of the Russian fuel and energy complex (FEC), while a probabilistic approach to determining their fire resistance is not specified in the Russian regulatory documents. The methodology of the probabilistic approach to the fire resistance of structures is detailed in API 2218 “Fireproofing Practices in Petroleum and Petrochemical Processing Plants”, developed by the American Petroleum Institute.Methods. A comparative analysis of the Russian regulatory documents on fire safety and API 2218 in terms of the established concepts of fireproofing and requirements for the fire resistance limits of building structures of oil and gas industry facilities, is carried out.Results. It was established that the Russian Federation has no regulatory documents establishing methods based on the probabilistic approach, including determination of the required fire resistance limits and points of application of fire-resistant coatings at facilities of the fuel and energy complex by analogy with international standard API 2218.Conclusion. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that approaches to the philosophy of the fire resistance of structures of buildings and structures of the fuel and energy complex in the documents under consideration are fundamentally different. In order to improve the Russian regulatory and technical framework, governing fire safety and fire resistance, it is proposed to consider the requirements of foreign documents that take into account proven international engineering and technical practices, in particular, the use of a probabilistic approach taking into account hydrocarbon fires.

Purpose. Based on the generalization of the results of long-term studies, the possibilities of protecting wooden churches from fires; detecting and extinguishing fire sources; ensuring safety of churchgoers in case of fire in conditions of limited resources are shown. Typical issues of ensuring fire safety of wooden cultural monuments are considered on the example of a unique monument of wooden architecture in Russia – the Assumption Cathedral in the town of Kem, Republic of Karelia, a parish church available to visitors. Methods. The tasks have been solved on the basis of the comprehensive examination of the church by experts and the analysis of fire safety state of the facility by fire prevention and extinguishment specialists. The criterion for ensuring fire safety is the fulfillment of the requirement on ensuring the normative value of the individual fire risk. Measures on fire protection of the church have been proposed, taking into account the experience of national and foreign developments in the field of fire safety at cultural heritage sites. Findings. The causes of the increased fire hazard of the wooden church in the town of Kem have been established and recommendations have been made for ensuring fire safety of the church. The recommendations for ensuring fire safety of the Assumption Cathedral have been made. To minimize the cost of adapting the facility to the modern use, options for fire protection of the church are given. Options for building construction and fire prevention are compared with engineering means of fire extinguishment, taking into account the features of historical wooden buildings. Research application field. A set of fire prevention measures makes it possible to establish a rational fire protection system of the facility based on the variant design and taking into account certain criteria. Recommendations can be considered as typical providing the required level of fire safety of religious facilities of wooden architecture. Conclusions. Recommendations have been made on a system of firefighting measures for protecting cultural heritage facilities of federal significance of the Russian peoples.

PurposeThe aim of the research was to investigate the effect of concrete strength on the fire resistance of structures. At first, it may seem contradictory that higher concrete strengths can decrease the fire resistance of building structures. However, if the strength of the concrete exceeds a maximum value, the risk of spalling (the detachment of the concrete surface) significantly.Design/methodology/approachPrefabricated structural elements are often produced with higher strength. The higher concrete strengths generally do not cause a reduction in the load bearing capacity, but it can have serious consequences in case of structural fire design. Results of two prefabricated elements, namely, one slab (TT shaped panel) and one single layer wall panel, were examined. Results of the specimen with the originally designed composition and a specimen with modified concrete composition were examined, were polymer fibres were added to prevent spalling.FindingsAs a result of the experiments, more strict regulations in the standards the author is suggested including more strict regulations in the standards. It has been proved that to ensure the fire safety of the reinforced concrete structures, it is required after polymer fibres even in lower concrete strength class than prescribed by the standard. In addition, during the classification and evaluation of structures, it is advisable to introduce an upper limit of allowed concrete strength for fire safety reasons.Originality/valueAs a result of the experiments, the author suggests including more strict regulations in the standards. It has been proved that to ensure the fire safety of the reinforced concrete structures, it is necessary to require the addition of polymer fibres even in lower concrete strength class than prescribed by the standard. In addition, during the classification and evaluation of structures, it is advisable to introduce an upper limit of allowed concrete strength for fire safety reasons.

Int roduction. The implementation of fire safety measures is one of the main tasks of decision makers (DM). Their activities are supported by automated fire and explosion safety systems (AFES), whose software subsystems are now increasingly incorporating digital twins. Their use allows modelling of various, including pre-fire, situations. The DM should always take into account the influence of their actions of the AFES personnel on their development when carrying out the appropriate set of measures. However, the supplied versions of digital twins do not contain the required calculations, which makes it necessary to fill in such gaps. The article is devoted to calculations of the human factor influence assessment on the implementation of the complexes of industrial safety measures and reasonable tolerances for their adjustment. Methods. To solve this problem, the article analyzes hierarchies, which allows to define in more detail the structure of decisions made by the DM in the field of fire safety. Two variants of structural organization of objects are chosen, each of which represents a tree with a different number of leaves and branches. Structural schemes of objects allow to formulate types of tasks and directions for formation of complexes of measures to ensure fire safety. Complexes of measures for specific areas of fuel and energy complex facilities are formed by the DM in the course of further specification of their structure. Calculations. Calculation of regulated and real time of performance of complexes of measures of fire safety of a separate site of the object of fuel and energy complex is carried out on the basis of estimated times for each of the measures in the complex. On the basis of the obtained values, the integral degree of their completion is determined. Result s. The total time of events should be determined either through data on the development of dangerous situations over several years, or by modelling in digital twins. Conclusions. Inclusion of calculations of integral degree of completeness of complexes of measures to ensure fire safety in the subsystems of software, information and mathematical support of the AFES will give the DM the possibility to react more quickly to the occurrence of dangerous situations.

Introduction. Inspections of the fire condition of protection facilities are one of the main activities of the federal state fire supervision of EMERCOM of Russia. Currently, the frequency of scheduled inspections is regulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of fire safety, depending on the risk category of protection facilities. However, the specified frequency has no scientific justification and is regulated by a strong-willed decision. That is why in recent years the frequency of scheduled inspections has repeatedly changed. Therefore, the development of a scientifically based methodology for determining the optimal frequency of scheduled inspections of the fire state of protected facilities, including buildings for temporary residence (residence) of people, is an urgent problem. Goals and objectives. The purpose of the study was to study the dependence of the number of fires occurring in buildings for temporary stay (residence) of people on the frequency of scheduled inspections of their fire-fighting condition by state fire supervision authorities. The objective of the study is to develop an analytical methodology and substantiate on its basis the optimal frequency of scheduled inspections of the fire condition of buildings for temporary stay (residence) of people. Methods. Based on the analysis of statistical information on fires that occurred in buildings for temporary stay (residence) of people in 2014-2021, analytical dependencies of the average annual number of fires at these protection facilities on the time interval from the moment of their last inspection to the moment of fire occurrence, as well as the number of fires that occurred at the protection facilities of different risk categories on the frequency of scheduled inspections were developed. Results and discussion. As a result of the conducted research, the following has been developed methodology for analyzing statistical information on fires to determine the optimal frequency of scheduled inspections in buildings for temporary residence of people. Unlike the method given in the regulatory legal acts on fire safety, the proposed methodology does not prescribe, but scientifically substantiates the optimal frequency of scheduled inspections. The conducted research allowed us to justify the optimal frequency of scheduled inspections of buildings for temporary stay (residence) of people, which is 0.59 years. Conclusions. The research allowed to prove that the method of regulating the frequency of scheduled inspections given in the normative legal acts on fire safety cannot be universal for all types of supervisory bodies regardless of the type of prevented danger, and the frequency of scheduled inspections significantly depends on the frequency of scheduled inspections of protection objects in previous years. Keywords: state fire supervision bodies; federal state fire supervision; fire protection condition of defense objects; risk category; number of fires; scheduled inspections; frequency of scheduled inspections; optimal frequency of scheduled inspections; legislation in the field of fire safety.

Introduction . Design of medical institutions in the Russian Federation is carried out taking into account requirements of the Federal law of 30 December 2009 No. 384 “Technical regulations on safety of buildings and constructions”, and also the Federal law of 22 July 2008 No. 123 “Technical regulations on requirements of fire safety”. In Italy, the technical regulations on fire safety in the design, construction and operation of public and private medical institutions were approved by Decree No. 227 of 18 September 2002 of the Ministry of Internal. The purpose of this article is to study the Italian design standards of medical institutions for comparative analysis with the Russian regulatory framework in terms of fire safety of health facilities. Methods . A comparative analysis of the main provisions and objectives of the documents of technical regulation in the field of fire safety and general principles of fire safety in Italy and Russia. Results . It should be noted that the fire safety regulations approved by Decree No. 227 do not contain a specific concept of “evacuation” and do not describe its characteristics. In Federal law No. 123, both the concept of evacuation and its characteristics are disclosed in sufficient detail. The requirements established by the Italian building codes for fire resistance of building structures, practically coincide with the domestic fire safety requirements for fire resistance. Conclusion. Despite the complex nature of the system of fire safety of buildings, including fire prevention system, fire protection system and organizational and technical measures, it should be noted the similarity of principles and approaches in ensuring fire safety both in Russian standards and in the Italian design rules. The differences are due, in the authors’ opinion, to climatic, socio-economic and, possibly, scientific and cultural aspects that influence the decision-making of standard-setting organizations and associations.

Previous research has identified sociodemographic inequalities in fire prevention measures. This study examined whether sociodemographic differences persist in the Swedish population concerning fire prevention measures and particularly whether there remains an inverted u-curve related to age in protection habits. Additionally, it investigated whether fire protection practices are influenced by the level of societal protection. The research utilised survey data and register data from The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and Statistics Sweden. A latent class analysis was conducted, dividing respondents into four latent classes, followed by two binomial regression analyses. The study revealed three key findings regarding fire protection measures. First, certain demographic groups, namely the young, women, single and childfree households, low-income and low-education individuals, immigrants, and urban residents, are disproportionately lacking optimal fire safety measures. Second, although a safety maturity curve is still observed, older adults in Sweden today are considerably more protected compared to 15–20 years ago, indicating that safety practices employed during middle age continue into old age. Third, a trend is observed where individuals living in areas with more efficient professional rescue services tend to have lower levels of personal fire protection, suggesting a rational choice based on the perceived level of societal protection.

The article analyzes the current state of the normative and legal support of the activity of public administration bodies in the field of fire safety of Ukraine. Their place, role and functions in providing fire safety, the need for further regulation and improvement of regulatory and legal regulation in this field are considered in order to optimize the work of state bodies in the field of fire safety of Ukraine, eliminating duplication of their functions. The subjects and objects of public administration in the field of fire safety in Ukraine, which are enshrined in normative-legal acts, are analyzed. It’s proposed to make changes to the system of the current legislation in Ukraine in the field of fire safety, in particular the Code of Civil Protection of Ukraine (2012) and constructed a prescriptive model of the subject-object legal relations of the state fire safety management.

Introduction. The analysis of normative legal acts in the field of fire safety and education is carried out. Approaches to the organization of training in fire safety measures are analyzed. The discrepancy between the formally existing normative legal acts regulating the same social attitude is revealed, which leads to a conflict of legal acts that creates difficulties in implementing training for a certain category of employees of organizations. A solution to this problem is proposed by introducing amendments to certain regulatory legal acts. The purpose of the study is to solve the identified legal conflict (conflict of legal acts) by making changes to certain regulatory legal acts. Research methods. To obtain the results, we used general scientific and special methods of scientific knowledge – analysis, generalization, system-structural, technical-legal, comparative law. The results of the study. The analysis of normative legal acts in the field of fire safety and education is carried out. A legal conflict (conflict of legal acts) has been identified. A variant of solving this problem by making changes to certain regulatory legal acts is proposed. Conclusion. Using the results of the conducted research, it is possible to initiate a procedure for making changes to the existing regulatory legal acts regulating public relations in the field of fire safety and education, which will solve the problem of training employees of organizations to the fire-technical minimum. Key words: training, fire-technical minimum, additional professional education, professional training, regulatory legal act.

PurposeDuring the building designing, it is very important to deal with the fire resistance of the structures. The designed materials for escape routes should be selected to ensure the usability of the structures until the time of escape. Planning affects the glass structures similarly, so these can also be partition walls and load bearing structures, although the latter is less applied on escape routes. The heat protection of the glasses can be improved with heat-protective foils, while fire protection is provided by gel intumescent material.Design/methodology/approachTo research the topic of fire resistance, laboratory experiments were carried out on small-scaled glass elements with thermal protection foil at Budapest University of Technology and Economics at the Department of Construction Materials and Technologies.FindingsFire protection of small model specimens was tested with blowtorch fire and furnace heat load. During the experiments, six foils were tested. Single pane glass, double layered and triple glazed specimens were tested with blowtorch fire.Originality/valueFire protection of small model specimens was tested with blowtorch fire and furnace heat load. During the experiments, six foils were tested. Single pane glass, double layered and triple glazed specimens were tested with blowtorch fire. In case of heat-protected glazing, the foils on the “protected” side of the single pane glass do not have a fire protection effect based on blowtorch fire test. For double glassed specimens, the P35 foil has a perceptible effect, even for the requirements of the flame breakthrough (E, integrity), when the foil is placed on the inner side (position 3) of the second glass layer. The stratification of each triple glazed specimens was effective against blowtorch fire load (3 M, S4&P35), so (EI, integrity and isolation) it can meet the requirements of flame breakthrough and thermal insulation.

There is a seemingly continual erosion of our cultural heritage due to fires in historic buildings. Some of these fires result in partial loss of the asset, some result in total loss – in all cases irreplaceable historic fabric is destroyed. Accurate recording for fires in historic buildings is problematic, but such data as have been collated indicate that the level of loss is high. One of the key factors in achieving robust fire safety in historic buildings is the upgrading of physical fire protection measures. It has been suggested that we should assume a fire event is probable, and together with a context in which outside help might be some time in arriving, such measures are considered crucial in containing the fire and raising the alarm as quickly as possible. This article considers passive and active fire protection measures, using case study material to provide illustrative examples. Where it might be expected that conservation requirements, aiming to avoid negative impact to character and significance, might hinder disruptive physical interventions to improve fire protection, in fact a great deal can be achieved. Such a pragmatic approach is arguably necessary for the safety and preservation of built heritage, when the alternative might otherwise be yet another burnt-out shell.

The purpose of the conducted research was to identify unsolved issues regarding the assessment of the required fire protection thickness for steel structures under conditions of fire exposure at different fire temperature-time curve and to determine directions for further research. In order to achieve this goal, the task of determining and analyzing the current requirements for the fire resistance of steel structures, the applicable methods for assessing the fire resistance of these structures and the required thickness of their fire protection, the available data on the significance of this thickness, obtained for different fire temperature-time curve, was solved. According to the results of the research, it was found that in accordance with European and national standards and state building codes, fire resistance requirements and fire resistance classification of load-bearing structures without enclosing functions, such as beams and columns, are established only for conditions of fire exposure under a standard temperature/time curve. At the same time, Eurocodes 1, 3 and national standards provide for assessing the fire resistance of such steel structures also according to the temperature-time curves of hydrocarbon and external fires. Methods of determining the required minimum thickness of fire protection for steel structures are implemented in European and national standards also only for conditions of fire exposure under a standard temperature/time curve. The procedure for determining this thickness for the conditions of fire exposure according to the temperature-time curves of hydrocarbon and external fires is uncertain. Also uncertain is the issue of dependencies regarding the required minimum thickness of fire protection for steel structures that are subject to fire exposure at other than the standard temperature-time curve, nominal fire temperature-time curves, as well as data on the relationship between the values of this thickness obtained under different nominal temperature-time curves. Such uncertainty gives rise to potentially interesting areas of further research, which are focused on identifying the influence of nominal fire temperature-time curves on the required minimum thickness of fire protection for such steel structures as beams and columns, for wide ranges of changes in the thermophysical properties of applicable fire protection materials, the critical temperature of steel, the cross-section coefficient and the time interval of preservation of fire resistance.