Preventative fire safety is one of the most important aspects to saving human life in modern day buildings.
It is now a recognised fact that almost 90% of all fire victims are killed by the inhalation of smoke and toxic fumes and not by the actual fire itself.
Concentration of carbon monoxide in the air
|
PPM CO
|
Symptoms of Sickness in people |
|---|---|
|
8000 |
Sudden death |
|
3000 |
Lethal after 30 minutes |
|
1000 |
Impairment of walking, death after 1-3 hours |
|
400 |
Signs of intoxication after 1-2 hours |
|
200 |
Headache after 2-3 hours |
|
100 |
No symptoms even after quite a long period of time |
As a fire develops, the smoke generated will spread at an alarming rate throughout the building. This smoke will damage the fabric of the building , hinder the escape of the occupants, it is highly toxic and it will inevitably impede the efforts of a fire fighting crew in controlling the blaze.
The most effective course of action is to evacuate this smoke thereby preventing its rapid spread, especially into hallways, stairwells and common escape routes.
A.C.S. will design, supply and install an effective natural smoke ventilation system which will automatically open high and low level vents within a building. These Automatic Opening Vents (A.O.V.) utilise the natural thermal lift created by hot smoke and channel this smoke externally to the atmosphere. Not only does an A.O.V. system remove smoke from the building , it will also prevent the excessive build up of heat which in itself will create an enormous amount of damage.
