FOCUS
Fire Sector Summit
The NFCC is working with the Home Office Inspectorate to withdraw out of date guidance, which presents a ‘huge risk’. Also present, Fire Sector Federation chair Paul Fuller said: ‘There’s a danger that if you don’t destroy legacy guidance, that becomes what you’re hung by’, indicating there’s a wider issue about standards and how an inspectorate would judge against them. ‘You can measure against national operational standards, as the FRSs have done themselves.’ Insurers would prefer a national standard rather than local ones that meet risks in the community (effectively IRMPs). The NOG moves away from that, Mr Wilsher said, adding:‘There’s never ever been a standard response, though standards of response will inevitably move towards national prescriptions’.
Salvage and restoration
Lee Howell, chief fire officer of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS), discussed its approach to a heritage fire last year at the Exeter Gallery. This spread to the ‘oldest hotel in England’, the Royal Clarence Hotel, the gallery seeing ‘significant structural collapse’ and heat radiation that caused fire spread through ‘common roof voids’ and even fire resisting walls. As a result of ‘successful salvage operations and
property protection’, other heritage buildings were protected, the operation a ‘failure in some respects but a real success in others’. Due to the density of building design and their interconnected nature, the extent of the fire and its potential impact were clear. Mr Howell pointed out that the building
‘operated in many ways in the way it was designed’, alarms getting people out. The building’s design was a ‘success’ in terms of life protection, but for property it was an ‘absolute disaster’, as part of the ‘fabric of historical context’ was lost. There was also concern when the building lost
integrity, the collapsing floor ripping out supporting materials and fire resistance protection, opening up a ‘significant area’ for spread. Radiated heat and air currents moved the fire into roof voids, and the complexity of construction meant that once passive protection and compartmentation were compromised, there were ‘all sorts of non traditional fire spread routes’. Behind plasterboard was charred wood and
timber, showing that internal hidden spread was occurring. Other contributing factors meant the building ‘was not helping us’, but ‘wasn’t designed to be a sterile box’. Lateral fire spread happened as roof voids spread fire upwards, while narrow streets meant four aerial appliances had access difficulties, with some roads built over old vaults and cellars. Exeter Cathedral’s close proximity put it at risk, as with the Guildhall, but a local historian quickly appeared on scene to tell firefighters which buildings
50 FEBRUARY 2018
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to protect, others protected by compressed air foam. There had been a ‘strong chance’ fire would spread across a street from roof to roof, and while it was averted, the hotel ‘did everything right’ but was still destroyed. Mr Howell questioned how retrospective building regulations should be, noting there was nothing wrong with the gallery, but it was amended over time, complying with good practice, and roof voids were boarded off. The fire had a ‘massive impact on the fabric of
Exeter’s heritage’, Mr Howell believing the profession ‘needs to do more to make firefighters aware of the risks’ of such fires, and lobby to make response safer. Historic England’s Dr Robyn Pender looked at
‘what not to do’ after a heritage fire, at the ‘worst case scenario where most is lost’, damage caused by salvage ‘paling into insignificance’ compared to restorative actions. She drew a connection to the ‘underlying thread’ of the ‘loss of building knowledge and skills’. Previously, buildings were maintained and restored by those who ‘knew what worked and what didn’t’, but there has been ‘no time to catch up’ with changes in technology and materials. Centralised production and building codes offer
best practice with standards but put the ‘cart before the horse’, as many don’t understand how to meet the needs of a building. The sector is ‘siloed’, and ‘like Lego kits, people understand their part but have no overall understanding of how it functions as part of a whole system’. She cited ‘amazingly silly situations’ such as
Windsor Castle, where chainsaws were used to cut out medieval timbers that had ‘no damage beyond charring’. Many contractors try to remove original timber, and if lost, the ‘important fabric’ of the building is too, as it is replaced with ‘inferior material’. With newer materials comes the possibility
of more damage. Most builders or surveyors ‘don’t understand how water interacts with systems’, and the building industry was ‘obsessed for the past 50 years’ with vapour. As voids appear ‘everywhere’, everyone hopes ‘the expertise in how a building envelope behaves rests elsewhere’.
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