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Fire Safety in Buildings

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Fire Safety in Buildings
BSE1D03 Intelligent Building and Associated Fire Safety

Fire Safety in Buildings
Professor Walter W. Yuen
Chair Professor in Thermal Sciences and Engineering

Professor W. K. Chow
Department Head and Director, Research Centre for Fire Engineering
Department of Building Service Engineering
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong, China

BSE1D03

1

Topics covered in this talk:
1. Introduction.
2. The Risk of a Building Fire (Why do we care ?)
3. The “making” of a Building Fire
4.

The Physics of a Building Fire

5.

Efforts to improve fire safety in buildings

BSE1D03

1. Introduction

BSE1D03

3

Problems: Many fires since 1996

Bus Fire:
Burnt completely within 10 minutes

The Big Garley Building Fire 1996
BSE1D03

MTR Train Compartment
Arson
Fire, January 2004
4

The Garley Building fire of 1996
41 deaths
81 injured (14 firemen)
Five-alarm fire
200 Firemen, 40 engines, one helicopter, are deployed
Fire lasted for 20 hours
嘉利大廈驚世大火災.mp4

BSE1D03

5

The Fa Yuen Street Fire 2011
9 deaths
34 injured
118 homeless
Four-alarm fire
210 Firemen, 44 engines, 26 ambulances Fire lasted for 8 hours
新聞片段 旺角花園街排 檔檔
四級火
檔 檔9死34
傷 (NOW 新聞台).mp4

BSE1D03

6

Problems: Many Different Causes for Fire Illegal
Boarding Rooms (1998)

灣仔交加街非法經營
的籠屋九八年發生三
級火警，三名住客被
燒死。死因庭裁判官
相信消防處調 檔檔
報告
檔
，指當日有人蓄意縱
火，裁定住客死於
「非法被殺」；另建
議設獎金制，舉報無
牌籠屋或僭建物的市
民

BSE1D03

7

Ma Tau Wai Road Fire, 2011

Extra credit homework: What did the government propose to implement to improve the fire safety of “sub-divided units” after the Ma Tau Wai fire ?
BSE1D03
8

Problems: Many Different Causes for Fire
Attempted Suicide with Gas Tank (2002)

黃
爭
家
機
樓
，

大
執
引
、
急
釀

仙
後
起
門
墜
成

翠
有
大
窗
二
三

竹
人
爆
飛
樓
死

花
開
炸
檔
，
二

園
石
，
落
三
十

（
油
猛
街
名
傷

居
氣
烈
，
救
慘

屋
自
氣
十
護
劇

）
殺
流
四
員
。

昨
，
震
名
受

日
消
爆
消
創

發
防
現
防
。

生
員
場
人
現

石
破
三
員
場

油
門
層
首
單

氣
入
共
當
位

大
屋
二
其
女

爆
時
十
衝
檔

炸
，
多
燒
主

，
疑
個
傷
及

一
有
單
，
兩

對
人
位
電
鄰

老
致
，
梯
婦

夫
電
冷
由
炸

婦
回
氣
五
死

爆炸後現場單位陷於火海，火警升為三級，逾百消防員增援救
火救人。伊院、廣華及聯合醫院立即檔
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