NFPA Journal - September/October 2013 - (Page 34)
>>structural ops
firefighting in buildings
BEN KLAENE + russ sANdErs
sanders
Standpipe Prep
The importance of pre-incident planning and standpipe systems
THE ONE MERIDIAN PLAZA
high-rise fire in 1991 showed
how pressure reducing
this is a call-out.
valves can be problematic
during fire department
operations.
and operating wet standpipe with
an adequate water supply should
immediately flow water when the
discharge valve is opened at the
point of service. In areas subject to
freezing, dry standpipes may be used.
They are usually filled with pressurized air or nitrogen that is purged
before water flows into the system
when the discharge valve is opened.
Automatic standpipe systems
are more dependable than manual
systems for several reasons. Manual
systems rely on the fire department to
supply water by way of a fire department connection, meaning the fire
attack could be delayed. In addition,
dry manual systems are more likely
34
NFPA JOURNAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013
to have unknown damage, open
valves, and open discharge caps.
High-rise buildings cannot have
manual standpipe systems, which
are allowed only in low-rise buildings. However, other buildings
may have standpipe systems of
varying types. For instance, newer
big-box mercantile properties will
often have a sprinkler system with
a hose connection. These “hose
drops” typically do not meet the
same requirements as standpipe
systems. When hose drops are
attached to a sprinkler system,
they must be accounted for in
the hydraulic calculations, up to
at least two inside hose connections. This requirement is intended to
ensure that a fire line attached to the
hose drop does not rob water from
the sprinkler system.
When conducting pre-incident
planning, it is important to include
a study of the building’s standpipe
system that indicates whether the
standpipe is equipped with any
pressure-regulating devices and how
those devices operate.
A common type of regulating
device, the pressure reducing valve
(PRV), controls the pressure at the
outlet under flowing, as well as static,
conditions. However, PRVs can be
problematic during fire department
operations, as evidenced by the One
Meridian Plaza fire, a blaze in a highrise office tower in Philadelphia in
1991 that killed three firefighters. At
that fire, the PRVs were improperly
set to reduce the pressure to a level
that was ineffective for a fire attack.
Settings for these valves must take
into account the hose diameter and
nozzle types carried in firefighters’
The One Meridian Plaza fire
in Philadelphia in 1991.
standpipe kits. Properly calculating pump pressure and elevation
loss is also part of the procedure to
deliver the right quantity of water
at the right pressure throughout
the system. For instance, buildings
that are not equipped with PRVs
generally have higher pressures on
lower floors and lower pressures
on higher floors.
Standpipe standard operating
procedures address tasks to be performed and equipment to be carried
into the building, and these procedures must be constantly reviewed.
Successful standpipe operations dictate that training and standard
operating procedures accurately
reflect the information obtained
through pre-fire planning.
Ben Klaene is the former safety/
training chief for the Cincinnati Fire
Department. Russ sandeRs is
executive secretary of the Metro
Fire Chiefs Association and the
former chief of the Louisville Fire
Department.
Photograph: AP/Wide World
S
F
irst graf. system designs,
tandpipe
operations, and flows vary
widely. Unlike sprinkler
systems, standpipe systems are not
automatic fire suppression systems
Body
and cannot extinguish a fire without
human intervention. A properly
operating and maintained building
standpipe system is a valuable tool
when mounting an interior, offensive fire attack. In fact, in high-rise
structures it may be impossible to
conduct a safe and effective interior
operation on upper floors if the
standpipe system is inoperable.
The most common type of standpipe is the automatic wet standpipe
system. A properly maintained
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2013
NFPA Journal - September/October 2013
Contents
First Word
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Heads Up
Research
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Cover Story: Furniture Flamability
Special Report
NFPA Reports
NFPA Reports
Fire Analysis + Research
Section Spotlight
What’s Hot
Looking Back
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