Introduction to Fire Safety Management

In the early morning of 22 August 1985, a
full complement of 130 passengers boarded
a British Airways Boeing 737-200 aircraft at
Manchester airport, which was scheduled to
fl y to the holiday island of Corfu.
As the aircraft approached take-off speed,
the fl ight crew heard a loud thump. Believing
that a tyre had burst they immediately aborted
the take-off run, and informed the control
tower of the situation. However, what the
fl ight crew had heard was not a tyre bursting
but the port engine partially disintegrating.
Some of the engine casing ruptured a fuel
tank, and as the aircraft began its emergency
deceleration, aviation fuel gushed over the red
hot exhaust and ignited.
Unaware of the fi re, the fl ight crew continued
to use the reverse thrust to slow the
aircraft; this action served only to fan the
fl ames. When the aircraft eventually turned
off the runway and stopped, the fi re was well
established and very intense. Aviation fuel
spilled out of the wing tank and formed a
fl aming lake on the concrete. Because of the
orientation of the aircraft when it was bought
to rest, the prevailing wind blew the fl ames
towards the body of the aircraft, and within
30 seconds the fi re had broken through to the
passenger cabin.
The scene inside the aircraft was by that
time chaotic, and as black toxic smoke fi lled
the cabin, the crew lost precious seconds
struggling with a jammed door. People were
overcome by smoke as they struggled in the
dark and confusion towards emergency exits,
bodies began to block the central aisle. The
number of passengers, and the fact that two
of the exits were engulfed in fl ames, further
hampered the evacuation. In a further 60
seconds the rear fuselage collapsed.
Although the emergency services arrived at
the scene quickly they were unable to save
55 of the passengers, almost all of them were
in the rear cabin. Dozens of the survivors suffered
different injuries.
A subsequent research project found that
although the exit widths were adequate for
evacuation under normal conditions, when
the need to escape became urgent the understandable
panic signifi cantly reduced the fl ow
rates through the doors.
Safety of people in the event of a fi re
10.2 The measures needed to overcome
behavioural problems and ensure
safe evacuation of people in the
event of a fi re
It can be seen from the foregoing sections that there are
many factors that affect people’s behaviour in a fi re emergency.
Different and complex combinations of these factors
infl uence the time and direction of movement for a
particular incident. In contrast, there are only a few simple
measures that need to be taken to overcome the majority
of these behavioural problems. Each of the following
plays a key role in overcoming behavioural problems with
securing the safe evacuation in the event of a fi re:
➤ The emergency plan
➤ Detection
➤ Warning signals
➤ Layout of escape routes
➤ Emergency instructions
➤ Rehearsal
➤ Competent staff.
10.2.1 The emergency plan
The key to ensuring that the behavioural problems of
people in an emergency situation are minimised is to
develop a comprehensive emergency plan. If there is a
plan that is well thought out and clearly communicated
people will tend to trust it and be willing to play their
part. The plan should include, not only the actions that
individuals are expected to take in an emergency, but
also some arrangements for business continuity.
Figure 10.13 High visibility clothing infers authority in a
crowd situation
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