The Industrial Fire in European Community - Literature review Example

Customer’s Name Customer Tutor’s Name Customer’s Grade Course 23rd August 2010 Research Project Assessment Abstract Many nations globally occasionally have suffered from both human-induced as well as natural calamities. Their social and economic changes normally impact negatively affecting development and the level of competitiveness in the affected areas. Of late there has been evidence of increasing susceptibility to such calamities due to the ever worsening conditions in areas of climate change,  emerging health problem threats, which occurs unexpectedly having adverse impacts on human health, political and social instability, ecosystems ,economy and infrastructure. One of the most common identified forms of calamities is fire outbreaks due to its way of bringing down what had been built for a long time. Properties are destroyed, lives are lost and above all, there is stagnation of economic growth in the particular nation of local authority. This paper is a research proposal seeking to form the basis for a formal research and would concentrate on the Industrial fire in European Community. Some of the ways to be researched on include the modernity in fighting fire and the resilience plans as well as rapid emergence response strategies put. Some of the questions to be answered are: 1. What measures has your industry put in place to prevent occurrence of fire and its spreading? 2. On the general, to what level can you rate fire fighting strategies in this region? 3. Which are the modern trends in fighting fire you recognize being in practice? 4. Which are some of the policies put by the national or local governments in fighting fire in this region? 5. Rate the frequency of fire outbreaks in this region. Introduction Disasters are known to hit a place even without prior indications of such an eventuality. Some of the disasters which are common in the European Nations include Fire calamities and such was identified by a European conference as man-made. A break up of a fire calamity is always a possibility due to the man made failures and more so in the industrial areas and in homes. Therefore, there is need for resilience planning so as to combat such calamities and at least to control the eventual fatalities and destruction of property. Due to its frequency in occurrence, it is paramount that profound methodologies to combating this calamity are confining to the international standards or has modernity. For this to be, there are some aspects for consideration when coming up with the mechanisms for fighting fire or for preparedness: ability to comply with the international existing emergency plans and for monitoring, be up to date with the latest international trends to combating fire, effective, smooth and efficient international team working as well as having a strong framework to responding to emergency calls to combat a fire break up. Of particular interest is how governments under the European umbrella respond to fire crisis preparedness and the development of a collaborating model for such a disaster. Problem Statement In the European nations, fire is the second most occurring calamity and its effect is diverse and far reaching. An economy with frequent occurrences of fire outbreaks means that there are constant stagnations of the growth and so there is need for resilient plans put to combat this problem. For example, statistics show that the number of fire accidents is on the increase, and each year reports increased number of fire cases. For example, in the year 2000, only three fire accidents occurred while in the year 2007, 21 cases were reported. In the year 2009, 16 cases were reported with the year 2010 having two cases reported so far as per 30th June 2010. Therefore, there is urgent need for a Collaborative fire safety and preparedness in European Nations. Research Hypothesis This paper seeks to propose measures which can be carried out by the European Union in the management of a major disaster and how the nations can utilize the existing facilities as well as use of the modern ways in fighting it. The calamity in discussion is fire and research proposal aims at acquiring the basic knowledge of the applicability of the existing facilities and methods as well as the modern trends in the fire preparedness. The following are the research hypothesis to going about this: 1. To analyse the existing facilities and methodologies used by the European nations to fighting fire outbreaks 2. The occurrences and frequency of fire outbreaks in the European nations 3. The failures which have been noted in the preparedness and the fighting of fire outbreaks in the European Union 4. Major policies which have been set by the European nations in the fighting of fire and for preparedness. 5. The modern international trends which have been studied in the sector of fire preparedness and fire safety. 6. The applicability of these modern and international measures for fighting and enhancement of fire safety to the European nations. Literature Review The most common types of fire across the world and more so in the European nations are the industrial fire, forest fire, grassland fire and the domestic fire. The domestic fires are studied to be caused by smoking in the house and the careless disposal of the glowing cigarette remains. This is when a careless person throws a glowing piece of the cigarette on dry combustible materials or holding a lighted cigarette close to some combustible materials like dry papers. The forest fires have become more common in recent times and they are also noted to be caused by man-made actions and carelessness. For example, a smoker can throw a cigarette while in the forest and this ignites fire on some dry leaves. The shockwave is great and there would be a great loss to the forest inhabitants as well as a hit to the economy. According to Aldrich & Lafon (2009), a study done in mountain pine-oak showed that fires in the forest occur frequently and the outcome of this is animals either destroyed or driven away, flattened vegetations and a stagnated economic outcomes especially on areas which depend on tourism from this mountain. Grassland fires are other common calamities in recent times with the carelessness of smokers coming to focus as well. Especially on grassland areas in dry areas where the grass is dry and widespread, when fire gets hold on some dry grass, the effect is widespread. The problem is aggravated by the presence of wind which takes the fire to other grasses. Fires in the industries are caused by either electric faults, arsons, or man made faults like smoking cigarettes in the vicinity or inside the buildings. This paper analyses in deep the fires in the industries, the causes, effects, the frequencies, methods used in European nations for preparedness and fighting it, as well as applicable modern trends in fighting fires. Industrial Fires The cost of fires in industries is calculable and estimates given in accordance with the loss occurred. According to Roy (1997), there are a number of types of costs which is calculable in regard to industrial fires. These are: the costs of the physical destructions to the properties and the general loss; the cost of the fire services used to prevent the damages to the buildings and the properties, the cost calculable of the fatalities and the injuries caused; the cost of the expenses in measures to reduce the risk of fires; the indirect cost of the fire in regard to the disruption of the supply chains of production; and the overall economic loss to the nation when several business operations are halted or disrupted. Fire protection expenditures are encompassed in the overall cost of the property damaged and even the measures to recover some of the damaged properties through insurance processes also add the overall cost (Roy 1997). The damages to the properties, fatalities and the injuries are reported to be the major outcomes of any fire in the industry sector. For instance, destruction of the properties means that the business has been brought down to the ground and the owner (s) has to start from the scratch instead or continuing from the level they were before. This spells out the importance of being prepared for eventualities which can bring down everything one has built for a long precious time. Fire fighting in the United Kingdom is a critical area due to the understanding of how fire can even hurt the economy. According to Kenlon (2008), there are agencies which are established in London to specifically analyse situations which can cause fire outbreaks and how best to be prepared to fight fire. However, what hinders the easy fighting of fire is the design of major towns where the streets towards major industries, especially the ancient towns are narrow and so it becomes hard for the heavy wide apparatus to move easily to fight fire. Some other buildings are build in such a way that it is hard for the weighty materials or apparatus to manipulate their way in during the fighting of the fire and so it actually increases the chances of total destruction incase there is a fire outbreak. According to Kenlon (2008), the principle determination as to whether a fire would be fought easily in industries in the United Kingdom is founded on a number of factors: the speed at which the firemen and apparatus would arrive once there is a call of a fire-outbreak, and how fast the men and women would be able to put out a fire in less than fifteen minutes to prevent further spread of fire to other areas apart from the source or base of fire. As per the year 2008, the strength of the London brigade composed of one chief officer, four divisional officers, 211 subordinate officers and some 1163 rank and file and including men who are under instructions, the pilots and the coachmen (Kenlon 2008). This number is insufficient to take care of the industrial fires which occur in the United Kingdom. Again, the prevailing wages and their scales are inadequate for motivation to fight fire effectively, and the result of it is constant neglecting to respond quickly to any distress call requiring their prompt intervention. Fire fighting in Germany is applauded since their systems are always up to date and excellent in prevention of fire occurrences of spreading further (Kenlon, 2008). However, Germany is taking great care in preventing serious occurrences in its industries by educating people on how to go about fires in the industries and other places. Courses have been introduced so as to prepare the child right from the start on the possibilities of fire consuming properties. With such measures, it means that fire fighting is an all person’s responsibilities rather than the fire brigade only. According to Kenlon (2008), the boys and girls in school are taught by fable, picture or some simple instructions on the dangers which can result if some lit match sticks or cigarette ends are carelessly disposed or when somebody does not control the level of lighting objects in industries as it can result to major fire outbreaks. The attention of the fire men and women is also of significance to learn from. Their duty is so arranged that once there is a distress call, all places are open to go and combat the spread of this fire. According to Kenlon (2008), within the methods which are used in Germany are up to date and can easily put out a fire the moment they set on preventing its further spread. The Germany fire control is set or planned on some several official lines which stifles initiatives from the individuals but makes it possible for the country to be ranked as among the lowest prone to the risk of fires in the world. Zalosh (2003) cites a number of ignition sources for fires in the United Kingdom companies. These are categorized into two major groups namely: Manufacturing facilities and the Storage facilities. On the manufacturing facilities; cigarettes (4%), electrical equipments (33%), open flame (15%), hot object (16%), cutting/welding (11%), fueled fire equipments (13%), and spontaneous ignition (8%). On the storage facilities; electrical equipments (29%), open flame (34%), hot objects (6%), cutting/welding (9%), fueled fired equipment (9%), Spontaneous ignition (7%) and cigarettes (6%). These statistics are a clear indication that there is an urgent need to educate people on the way forward to going about handling key areas in the company to prevent fire occurrences. Even though cigarettes are studied to be the least in the list, they still hold a significant portion and so people should generally avoid smoking in the inside of the company and its vicinity. Resilience in Europe in Fighting Fire The attack on the U.S twin towers on the 11th of September 2001 was the turning point for the whole of Europe to put their house in order so as to put measures in combating fire outbreaks. Taking an example of United Kingdom, the government has put a number of measures to ensure that a repeat of a fire outbreak does not catch everyone unaware and to protect its huge population and the economy as well. London is the capital city of United Kingdom and so all resilience plans put are tested and practiced in this city and the plans comprises of the emergence response plans and the new dimensions to fighting fire. As well, London is placed as strategic since it is the largest city in the whole of Europe and is equal with Paris as the worlds most popular beautiful and tourist attraction and so calamities like fire outbreaks have to be minimized to manageable levels. According to Wallington (2005), there are new dimensions emergency vehicles specifically to combat fire outbreaks and some new dimension programs provided from the office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Some of the dimensions include: the Incident Response Unit (IRU) and the High Volume Pumps (HVP) in addition to the two emergency vehicles. The government has initiated what it terms the London Resilience Team (LRT) whose aim is to assess and to coordinate the improvements in the resilience of the capital so as to be always ready for fire outbreaks such as those seen in industries and which can also come from the terrorist attacks like in the United States (Wallington 2005). There is also high enhancement of the Brigade’s general resilience capabilities such as in the search and rescue, decontamination in the handling of large scale incidents such as injuries. Taking terrorism as a major form of fire resulting to major destruction, the government had a major exercise in July 2000 to evaluate whether they were actually ready for any of such an eventuality, and in general, evaluating how well they are prepared to fight fire of all sorts. Modernity in Firefighting across the World The conventional ways of fighting fire using the buckets of water are no longer applicable and the world has moved forward to develop modern methodologies in fighting fire. The advancement in the methods has been prompted by the complex nature of the buildings and town planning in major cities and so, the traditional ways have to be done away with and adopt the new ways. According to Winer (2009), the modern way of firefighting is characterized by the organization of the efforts in the fighting as based in the mobile water pumps, the fire engines and other ways instead of the traditional bucket methods. Still, the innovations are ongoing especially in the technical innovations so as to meet the needs of the new forms and nature of fire spreading and the complexity in major towns in the world. According to Winer (2009), the complex set of the public and the private interests which are threatened by the urban fires as well as the technical logistical approaches of firefighting require being up to date. The 3D firefighting techniques are some of the identified methods of controlling the rapid spread of fire in industries across the world. According to Grimwood (2008), this method has gained fame across the world due to its way to control fire with limited efforts and resources. It is a quicker water attacking way as directed to the source of the water and just a short while, the fire is controlled to minimal level and so controlling the spread of the fire to destroy other properties. Another way of ensuring that the fire is minimized to manageable level in a quicker way is to ensure that there is adequate number of people fighting the fire and others assisting the crew. Less than ten people as the firefighter crew cannot be said to be effective enough to control a rapidly spreading fire. In fact less than five people can only manage to control 23% of the fire spreads and so as to get a 100%, more than 15 people must be stationed to control this fire. The modern techniques of fighting fire are based on the principles of quick and effective control of the spreading fire. According to Norman (2005), protection of lives and properties has compelled major innovations in the world and the retraining of the firefighters to be equipped with the modern trends. Conclusion This study is a research proposal seeking to understand the ways in which industrial fires are fought in major areas in Europe. The formal research will seek to understand how Europe is prepared to control the damages and the fatalities which are common whenever there is a fire outbreak in the industries and the modern trends which are being adapted to fighting fire. United Kingdom as one of the countries in Europe is seen to be adequately prepared for eventualities of fire in its territory while Germany is studied to be way ahead in areas of fighting fire. Major Limitations of the Study This study and its outcome would be hindered by a number of factors. One of the major factors to hinder the outcomes of this study is that Europe is wide and so; the small percentage of the whole region which is to be focused on cannot in any way represent the whole of Europe. Another factor is that some of the nations and cities in Europe are more developed than others and so, the outcome leveling all nations to some standards would not be a true reflection of how Europe as a whole is ready to fighting fire. For example, Germany is seen to be way ahead in this and if there are others which would be studied as not adequately prepared, they would definitely bring Germany down. Methodologies This research would comprehensively use interviews, questionnaires and the observations as the major methods to doing this study. The interviews would be useful as it would be directed to the major industrial players and the government agencies concerned with fighting fires, and so, comprehensive data would be gathered. Questionnaires would be directed to any people randomly chosen to fill in some questions so as to understand how the nation (s) in Europe are prepared while observation would be concentrated during the real practice and firefighting times. References Aldrich, S & Lafon C 2009, ‘The three Centuries of fire in Mountain Pine-Oak stands on a temperate forest landscape’, A journal of International Association for Vegetation Science, Vol. 13 No 1, pp 1-11. Grimwood, P 2008, Euro firefighter: global firefighting strategy and tactics, Jeremy Mills Publishing ltd, Lindley. Kenlon, J 2008, Fires and Fire fighting: A history of Modern fire fighting with a review of its development from earliest times, George H. Doran Company, London. Norman, J 2005, Fire officer’s handbook of tactics, PennWell Corporation, Oklahoma. Roy, D 1997, ‘The Cost of fires: A review of the information available’ A journal of Home office Publications, Vol. 1 No 1, pp 23. Wallington, N 2005, In case of fire, Jeremy Mills Publishing ltd, Lindley. Winer, D 2009, ‘The development and meaning of firefighting.’ Journal of University of Delaware, Vol. 1 No 1, pp 357. Zalosh, R 2003, Industrial fire protection Engineering, John Wiley & Sons ltd, West Sussex. Read More