Overview

This chapter is not seen as a manual for design as far as fire is concerned. It only highlights those aspects which directly relate to wind matters, where the wind engineer can have a useful input.

The basic approach for the containment of fire in a building, as far as the wind engineer is concerned, is that there shall be an internal volume at roof level, called a smoke reservoir, where the smoke from a fire can collect prior to being removed from the building. There are also considerations for false ceilings and escape routes.

The areas of openings in a fire situation should be sufficient to vent the smoke when there is no wind. This specifies the area of the openings which must work under buoyancy forces alone. The purpose of the wind engineer is to ensure that, under no circumstances, shall the wind inhibit this state of affairs.

Studies of fire situations are very similar to those for Ventilation with the exception that external flow is never allowed into smoke reservoirs. It is no good claiming that, on average, more air leaves a reservoir than enters it, because the air entering is cold, and when it mixes with the smoke, it will reduce the temperature of the smoke and cause it to lose its buoyancy, causing secondary flows which might bring the smoke into contact with people.

In a large complex, it is almost impossible to treat the whole complex as an entity as escape paths...