Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Introduction to Fire Safety Management
9.6 Case study
The Summerland leisure complex opened in 1971 and
was the largest on the Isle of Man. The Summerland
‘family fun centre’ housed sports facilities and entertainment
venues with the associated retail and food preparation
areas.
It was a very large, chiefl y single storey building
which was considered to be ‘state of the art’ in terms
of innovative use of building materials. The building
also had an advanced controlled internal climate. Novel
construction techniques had been used, including the
use of new plastic materials throughout the building. In
order to make the best use of borrowed light combined
236
GROUND FLOOR
fire-resisting
construction
external
wall
stallboard
outlet with
grill or
removable
cover
external
wall
GROUND FLOOR
BASEMENT BASEMENT
Figure 9.91 Ventilation of a basement by stall board or pavement lights.
Figure 9.92 Fire fi ghters switch
basement outlet
with break-out or
openable cover
with some degree of heat insulation the roof had been
built of a new Perspex-type material. At that time this
novel approach to construction would not have been
permitted for buildings on the mainland.
On 2 August 1973, a fi re started in a public
area where smoking was permitted. The fi re quickly
developed and spread through the building due to a
number of factors including the amount of combustible
material used in its construction and breaches in the fi re
compartmentation by ventilation shafts, which were not
fi tted with the required fi re stopping, passing through
compartment walls. It quickly spread through vents
which were not properly fi re proofed. The fi re investigation
concluded that the fi re possibly started from
cigarettes.
When the fi re reached the plastic roof of the complex
it melted quickly releasing highly toxic smoke into the
building and the surrounding area. The roof soon suffered
a catastrophic failure and collapsed thereby increasing
the oxygen available for the fi re and increasing its
intensity.
The situation was made worse by the failure of
power supplies to safety critical control systems. There
was no effective back-up power supply, and inadequate
ventilation to allow the occupants to escape.
There were 51 fatalities and over 80 casualties as a
result of the fi re. Some casualties occurred as a result of
being trampled by persons trying to escape the rapidly
developing fi re while using inadequate means of escape.
An offi cial inquiry after the disaster introduced new
fi re regulations for the construction industry. Summerland
was rebuilt in 1978, and was demolished in 2004.