Barring a few Indian expatriates not many people here in Doha would be following the decade-long court proceedings against two New Delhi based theatre owners who are charged with causing death by negligence. The local court in India was to deliver the verdict on Wednesday (the verdict is deferred to a later date) in the case where 59 people died after the cinema hall caught fire.
This mass death incident and many such horrifying examples serve a grim reminder to people worldwide that preventive measures and fire detecting systems installed after a tragic event is much wisdom in hindsight and being smart a little too late. No regulation or safety code promulgated after a major tragedy can bring back the dead. At best it can only reassure the victim's family that such incidents are unlikely to happen in the future.
Surely a fire detection and protection system would have prevented such a colossal tragedy. So what lessons do we learn from such experiences? There is an urgent need to install sophisticated fire detection and protection systems.
While some developing countries are in the process of promulgating new safety codes and standards, experts from advanced countries are in the race to develop more efficient and sophisticated fire protection systems using latest technology.
Project Fire is one such UK-based company which is global innovator in fire protection, backed as it is by 30 years of experience. This firm is participating in the Civil Defence Exhibition and Conference and their Chief Executive Officer Bernard Cain will today present 'The Roadmap to Compliance' for Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems that are installed in various commercial and private buildings. His colleague David O'Riley will delve on the challenge that people now face and how to ensure that the installed System will continue to be 'Fit for Purpose' over its expected life-time of 60 years or so.
Project Fire group has used the Civil Defence Exhibition to launch the Hydro Tower fire protection system here in Qatar. "It is a world first," said Cain. "No one has ever seen this. It is the most environment friendly, has low carbon foot print and is a cost effective system compared to the traditional sprinkler system and subsequently it has been favourably received by the authorities having the jurisdiction."
The Hydro Tower is the result of the collaboration of British and German fire engineering expertise. This innovative system integrates the new approved Fine Spray Sprinkler Head and utilises the unique concept of Reduced Volume Water Storage and Usage.
"We came up with Hydro Tower concept to provide a vertical solution to water storage. During the course of our research we discovered that we could use the positive force of gravity to drive a sprinkler system rather than act as a negative force against which the traditional systems have to pump," said Daivd O'Riley who is Project Fire group's Development Manager.
"As direct result of this we have been able to develop a sprinkler system that is dramatically more environment friendly than any other and extremely reliable because of the reduction in the number of moving parts. We have reduced the number of moving parts in this system," said Cain.
Modern Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems are activated during an emergency. Earlier the sprinkler systems used to be simple. The main water supply was the feed connection, and after the sprinkler control valve there were no stop valves. For the operation of the system, there was only one moving part that was the water flow alarm 'clack'. There were no electrical requirements and there was very little maintenance. There was not much to go wrong and the emphasis for the fire protection was on protection of property.
Now perceptions and systems have changed. The construction boom in Qatar has seen the adoption of new systems and technologies. So it is not simple anymore. Now the primary reason for the fire protection is for safety of life.
Service and maintaining the system in peak working condition has now become very important. "There is no point in installing any kind of fire protection system if it is not going to be adequately managed," said Cain. "Therefore, Project Fire decided that it was necessary to provide its clients with the most comprehensive fire protection system today and so the Kodecheck Integrated Asset Management for fire sprinkler system was developed."
Kodecheck system has been designed to enable the building owner to manage the sprinkler system rather than simply periodically inspect it. With Kodecheck, monitoring of all the key parameters of the fire protection system is done online and to "live safety standards", in other words total reliability.
This Hydro Tower fire protection system is designed to be installed in new buildings. Unlike most systems this can be installed progressively providing protection to construction personnel working on a new building construction site. "The biggest advantage is that this system can be factory produced away from potential client sites," said O'Riley.
The Hydro Tower concept can be readily applied to all forms of water storage including Landing Valve and hose stream and also domestic water supply. It is definitely an intelligent choice for new generation construction. Had this kind of a system been installed in the theatre in New Delhi, 59 people would have arguably been saved.
By Sudeep Sonawane
© The Peninsula 2007
