Fire Disasters and its Prevention

Definitions For longer than recorded history, fire has been a source of comfort and catastrophe for the human race. Fire- is rapid, self-sustaining oxidation process accompanied by the evolution of heat and light in varying intensities. Fire is believed to be based on three elements being present: fuel, heat and oxidizer. Fire disasters can occur above the ground (in tall buildings and on planes), on the ground, and below the ground (in mines). Sometimes they occur in circumstances that are unexpected or unpredictable. Fire can be human generated like what happened in Guadalupe, Makati City last April 19. The huge fire, which reached general alarm, struck the Laperal Compound in Guadalupe. All firefighters in Metro Manila helped to put out the blaze. Investigators said the fire was caused by unattended appliances

Types and cause of fire All fire incidents can be divided in many ways depending on the cause of fire outbreak, but broadly there are two types of fires, one is natural and other is manmade. Forest fires can be either due to natural or manmade reasons. All residential and non-residential structural fires are largely manmade. Similarly, all industrial and chemical fires are due to explosions or fires made by humans or due to machine failures.
Natural: Fires which are considered as natural are basically earthquake, volcanic eruption and

lightning - generated fires. The fire and explosion risk associated with an earthquake is a very complex issue. Compared with ordinary (normal) fires the fire and explosion hazard related to earthquakes can constitute a substantial and heavy risk. Damage to natural gas systems during an earthquake is a major cause of large fires. Again probably the most significant direct impact of power systems on fire following an earthquake is that electric power is a major fire ignition source. In addition to dropped distribution lines, power circuits in damaged houses are another major ignition source. There have been cases where as many as two-thirds of all ignitions after an earthquake has been attributable to power system.
Manmade: Fire caused by human/machine errors are considered as manmade fires, e.g.

industrial or chemical fire disasters, fires at social gatherings due to Electrical short circuit fires, accidental fire and kitchen-fires. Rural and urban residential and non-residential structural fires are also largely manmade fires. Any confined fire could be due to many reasons like, cooking2 fire confined to container, chimney or fuel fire confined to chimney, incinerator overload or malfunction, fuel burner/boiler malfunction, and trash fire.

Casual/Contributing Factors-Casual factors include heat source, equipments involved in the ignition, item first ignited, and

factors contributing to ignition. These factors describe what, how and why some form of heat ignited the specific material involved.
Causes include:

Cooking/heating equipment Intentional Electrical Open flame or ember Appliance, tool or air conditioning Child playing Other heat source Natural causes: earthquake, volcanic eruption and lightening Other equipment Smoking material

History & Impacts In the field of natural and man-made disasters, fire has played a predominant role. The extrinsic effects of disasters caused by fire have progressively changed over the centuries, es. As a result, owing to industrial, technological, and military development, as also to the increasing number of armed conflicts, there has also been a rapid change in the modalities and numbers of burn injuries.For this reason a report is presented of fire disasters in the Philippines in 2009 . According to DILG more than 6,000 fire incidents reported in 2009 in Manila Philippines? The Department of Interior and Local Government on reported more than 6,000 fire incidents that occurred from January to October this year, a majority of which were accidental. In its year-end report, the DILG said a total of 6,781 fire incidents were reported during a 10month period, where 5,067 of which were caused by accidents. Of the number, more than 1,500 were still under investigation. A total of 163 fire cases were believed to be caused by arson, and the Bureau of Fire Protection has already filed 60 arson cases in court. Meanwhile, the DILG said that the BFP was able to inspect 391,019 establishments also during the same period this year, where the number of Fire Code-compliance increased by 6.84 percent compared to that of 2008

Comparative Fire Statistics

A. Fire Incidents (1st Qtr 2010 & 2011)

2010 Region JAN NCR R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4A R-4B R-5 R-6 R-7 R-8 R-9 R-10 R-11 R-12 470 34 10 61 40 14 19 122 60 9 13 29 28 31 FEB 550 30 20 56 64 11 17 294 68 17 25 31 25 26 11 53 10 1,308 MAR 556 40 23 58 68 10 30 377 128 26 38 77 124 48 14 35 9 1,661 JAN 307 37 4 46 49 11 17 60 37 10 10 16 28 19 7 22 6 686

2011 FEB 352 33 17 46 88 6 14 86 45 12 9 27 31 28 2 13 6 815 MAR 381 67 13 61 125 8 12 81 45 6 7 13 36 18 4 19 4 900 JAN -35 9 -60 -25 23 -21 -11 -51 -38 11 -23 -45 0 -39 17 -56 -25 -32

Variance FEB -36 10 -15 -18 38 -45 -18 -71 -34 -29 -64 -13 24 8 -82 -75 -40 -38 MAR -31 68 -43 5 84 -20 -60 -79 -65 -77 -82 -83 -71 -63 -71 -46 -56 -46

CARAGA 6 CAR ARMM TOTAL 50 8 1,004

Comparative Fire Statistics A. Fire Incidents (2nd Qtr 2010 & 2011)
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2010 Region APR NCR R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4A R-4B R-5 R-6 R-7 R-8 R-9 R-10 R-11 R-12 531 33 24 60 237 17 21 326 87 13 24 57 51 25 MAY 413 19 11 48 133 12 31 244 93 28 13 44 30 10 11 17 8 1,165 JUN 261 21 12 35 20 12 13 100 45 9 6 18 24 11 6 9 3 605 APR 469 70 14 81 290 8 19 90 52 11 17 23 42 24 6 37 3 1,256

2011 MAY 354 25 14 58 60 12 19 88 35 9 7 19 32 20 10 17 5 784 JUN 295 22 9 37 35 14 11 71 44 7 16 24 21 21 7 16 3 653 APR -12 112 -42 35 22 -53 -10 -72 -40 -15 -29 -60 -18 -4 -57 -26 5 -20

Variance MAY -14 32 27 21 -55 0 -39 -64 -62 -68 -47 -57 7 100 -9 0 -38 -33 JUN 13 5 -25 6 75 17 -15 -29 -2 -22 167 33 -13 91 17 78 0 8

CARAGA 15 CAR ARMM TOTAL 50 2 1,573

Chronology of Some Fire disasters in the Philippines Year 2001 1. March 18 2011- Quezon City, Philippines-- The March 18 tragedy was the Philippines' deadliest fire in 50 years. An emotional cacophony swirled in its aftermath: sorrow for the young people who died after a triumphant rite of passage, compassion for the burned survivors. Above all, anger at whoever and whatever were responsible. "Heads must roll," demanded Congressman Feliciano Belmonte, who represents Quezon City, the Metro Manila suburb where the Ozone Disco was located. President Fidel Ramos ordered an investigation. The next day, March 19, Quezon City fire officials were suspended. City engineer Alfredo Macapugay, whose office is responsible for enforcing building and fire safety regulations, was relieved of his duties. 2. August 17, 2011- Quezon City, Philippines -- At least 75 people have been confirmed dead after a fire gutted a six-storey hotel in suburban Manila. Year 2004 3. February 27 2004 -MANILA, Philippines -- At least 110 people were missing as darkness fell on Friday after explosions and fire tore through a Philippine ferry, killing one person and sending many into the sea to escape the flames. Year 2011 4. December 19 2011-Manila, Phillipines -- A fire ravaged a hotel in northern Philippines on Sunday, killing 15 people, most burned beyond recognition, authorities said.Twelve more people were injured, said Mao Aplasca, a provincial police superintendent.The blaze tore through the hotel in Tuguegarao City, about 350 kilometers north of the capital, Manila.

5. April 19, 2011-Guadalupe Makati City Philippines--The Bureau of Fire Protection raised the general alarm over Guadalupe, Makati due to a fire. As of 11:55 a.m. today, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), through their CCTV cameras, was monitoring the fire that broke out at the Laperal Compound in Barangay Guadalupe Viejo, Makati. Officials said fire trucks were immediately deployed to the affected area and traffic was redirected.

Fire Prevention using Electronics No matter what Robert Kiyosaki says, your home is an investment. It is something that you have poured your sweat and have worked hard for. Protecting it means protecting all that hard work and hence, should be one of your main priorities in home building and home improvement. Protecting your home does not only mean protecting it against outside entities that may harm it. It also means protecting it from itself and from the hazards that, ironically, may come from inside. Fire is one of the top destroyers of homes and is a devastating occurrence as it can decimate your property and raze everything you have hard for to the ground Fortunately, modern technology has made it easier for us to create measures that will further reduce the risks, if any, of your home catching fire. Apart from using fire retardant materials in building your home, there are a couple of electronic devices that you could use to further eliminate the chances of your house getting any form of fire damage. First is the device which most of us probably knows about: the smoke detector. Smoke detectors are basically electronic devices that senses for signs of a fire. They do this by constantly monitoring the air for signs of a fire (like smoke) and then initiating an audible and/or visible alarm. They may even be hooked up to alert emergency services automatically. Smoke detectors are so cheap that not having one installed in every room of your home would be huge folly on your part. It is a necessary aspect of home security. A heat detector is a fire alarm device designed to respond when the convected thermal energy of a fire increases the temperature of a heat sensitive element. The thermal mass and conductivity of the element regulate the rate flow of heat into the element. All heat detectors have this thermal lag. Heat detectors have two main classifications of operation, "rate-of-rise" and "fixed temperature."