Be Responsible: Be Prepared for Emergencies! Fire ... · 13/01/2014 · FIRE STATISTICS CASE STUDY: MARINA BAY SUITES FIRE • At 22:01:56 hrs, the lift can be seen to be filling

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FSM Briefing 2014 Be Responsible: Be Prepared for Emergencies!

Fire Statistics &

Case Study: Marina Bay Suites Fire

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MAJ Andy Choo B.Eng (Mech), CFEI, CVFI

Team Leader | Fire Investigation Team

| Fire Investigation Unit | Operations Department

SCOPE

- Overview of Fire Statistics

- Fire Statistics of Singapore • Commercial Premises • Industrial Premises

- Case Study • Fire at Marina Bay Suites FI

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FIRE STATISTICS Total no. of Fires Responded to by SCDF

▼ 130 cases ▼ 2.8% ▲ 15 cases

▲ 0.3%

2013

4136 ▲ 263 cases ▲ 5.3% ▼ 636 cases

▼ 12.1%

▼ 349 cases ▼ 7.8%

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FIRE STATISTICS Year-to-Year Comparison of Fire Incidents

(1994 – 2013)

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No. of Fire Calls

Year

122 127

143

165 162

199

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100

150

200

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

FIRE STATISTICS Fire Injuries in Singapore

▲ 5 persons

Year

No.

of P

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▲ 16 persons ▲ 22 persons

▲ 34 persons

2013

▼ 37 cases

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0 0 0

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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Fatalities

FIRE STATISTICS Fire Fatalities in Singapore

Year

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2013

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Sources: TNP, The Straits Times

Minor Risk

Fires that can be contained and are unlikely to spread due to limited flammables and/or combustibles. Such fires have low risk of causing injury.

Moderate Risk

Fires that potential to escalate and spread widely due to substantial amount of flammables and/or combustibles. Such fires have some risk of causing injury.

Major Risk

Fires with could escalate and spread due to presence of some flammables and/or combustibles. Such fires have high risk of causing injury.

Classification of Fires By Inherent Risk FIRE STATISTICS

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Minor Fire Risk2075

(50.2%)

Moderate Fire Risk

1553 (37.5%)

Major Fire Risk

508(12.3%)

2013

Majority of Fires are classified as minor risk.

Breakdown of Fires by Type of Inherent Risk Level

FIRE STATISTICS FI

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Low Fire Outcome

Localized/Contained within a compartment/room with no casualties with burn injuries.

Moderate Fire Outcome

Confined fires within a unit with 3 or less casualties with burn injuries.

High Fire Outcome

Fires involving more than a unit with more than 3 casualties with burn injuries.

FIRE STATISTICS Classification of Fires Outcomes

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Minor Risk Moderate Risk Major Risk Low Outcome 2067 1476 448

Moderate Outcome 7 69 53

High Outcome 1 8 7

Total 2075 1553 508

2067

1476

448

99.6%

0.33%

95%

88.2% 0.07%

4.44% 0.56%

10.4% 1.4%

FIRE STATISTICS Classification of Fires by Risk & Fire

Outcomes

317

331

309

294

284

328

260

270

280

290

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310

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330

340

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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FIRE STATISTICS Fires in Commercial Premises

▲ 14 cases ▲ 4.4%

▼ 22 cases ▼ 6.6%

▼ 15 cases ▼ 4.9%

▲ 34 cases ▲ 11.6%

2013

▼ 44 cases ▼ 13.4%

6-year low!

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FIRE STATISTICS Fires in Industrial Premises

158

140

160

176

141 145

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▼ 18 cases ▼ 11.4%

▲ 20 cases ▲ 14.3%

▲ 16 cases ▲ 10.0% ▼ 31 cases

▼ 17.6%

2013

▼ 4 cases ▼ 2.75%

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FIRE SAFETY ADVISORIES National Company Emergency Response Team (CERT) Standard

Extension of the mandatory CERT scheme to designated Public and Industrial Buildings (PIB):

i. high numbers of occupants; or

ii. large floor area such as hotels, hospitals, offices, shopping complexes and factories.

A national CERT standard has also been introduced:

i. facilitate industry-wide standardisation & consistency;

ii. an enhanced level of preparedness to manage emergencies prior to SCDF’s arrival.

Work closely with WDA: i. to accredit training providers to conduct CERT

courses under the WSQ:

ii. 9 training providers have been accredited by WDA to run the CERT courses.

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Fire at Marina Bay Suites on 13 Jan 2014

CASE STUDY

Sources: Shin Min Daily, The Straits Times

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Location Map Source: http://www.onemap.sg


Source: http://www.straitstimes.com

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Layout Plan of the Affected Area

Lift Shaft

Bedroom Bedroom

Bedroom Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Balcony

Living Room

Walk in Wardrobe

Toilet Toilet

Toilet

Toilet Toilet

Dry Kitchen

Toilet

Utility

Fireman Lift 3

Passenger Lift 1

Passenger Lift 4

PENTHOUSE

Firefighting Lobby

The affected area

X X

X – Location of the deceased

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Fire involved renovation materials and equipment placed at the firefighting lobby (Fireman Lift 3) at the 65th storey.

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Renovation materials and equipment comprising several trolleys, ladders, saw dust, cardboards, rags, containers of paints / thinner, etc. were found in the firefighting lobby at the 65th storey Evidentiary Factors

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Burn damage and heat effects are consistent with fire originating from within the firefighting lobby.

Evidentiary Factors

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A trash bag of sawdust was found inside the penthouse. Cigarette butts and a cigarette box were observed to be discarded into the trash bag of sawdust

Evidentiary Factors

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Interviews

There were several parties who visited the 65th storey on the day of the fire to work on the penthouse but most of them left by approximately 1800 hrs.

i. WWW Pte Ltd – Finishing works and toilet installation

ii. XXX Pte Ltd – Parquet flooring iii. YYY Ltd – Glass door, windows & panels iv. ZZZ Lift Pte Ltd – Servicing of lift v. Security team

None of them reported any anomalies in the firefighting lobby. They did not notice any burning smells and the lights were all in order.

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Evidentiary Factors


Fireman Lift 3 was installed with a CCTV camera (CAM 68). The footage from this camera showed: • At 22:00:31 hrs, two Security Officers entered the lift at the 1st storey

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• At 22:00:33 hrs, Security Officer 1 pressed the lift button for the 65th storey.

• At 22:01:53 hrs, the lift door opened at the 65th storey and fire can be seen to be well alight in the firefighting lobby. The lift door remained jammed in this position thereafter.

Evidentiary Factors

Fire at Marina Bay Suites on 13 Jan 2014 FI

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• At 22:01:56 hrs, the lift can be seen to be filling up with smoke. With the fire well alight in the firefighting lobby, both Security Officers remained in the lift.

Security

Officer 2

Security

Officer 1

Evidentiary Factors


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• At 18:59:38 hrs, 2 lift technicians from ZZZ Lift Pte Ltd entered Fireman Lift 3.

• At 18:59:39 hrs, one of the technicians pressed the lift button for the 65th storey.

Evidentiary Factors


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• At 19:00:10 hrs, the lift door opened at the 65th storey. Renovation materials and equipment could be seen in the firefighting lobby.

• At 19:00:13 hrs, both lift technicians got out of the lift. Evidentiary Factors


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• At 19:16:12 hrs, the lift door opened at the 65th storey. One of the technicians could be seen bending over and looking at some items placed in the firefighting lobby.

Evidentiary Factors


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• Within the next second, he could be seen extending his left hand towards an item on the floor. His left hand appears to be holding onto something. Evidentiary Factors


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Evidentiary Factors


• Within the next second, he could be seen extending his left hand towards an item on the floor. His left hand appears to be holding onto something.

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• There were no observable movement of any items on the floor to suggest that he was rummaging through those items to retrieve one or more objects. Evidentiary Factors


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Evidentiary Factors


• There were no observable movement of any items on the floor to suggest that he was rummaging through those items to retrieve one or more objects.

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• At 19:16:14 hrs, the technician retracted his left hand as his colleague entered the lift.

Evidentiary Factors


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•From 19:16:15 hrs to 19:16:18 hrs, the technician could be seen standing up straight and walking into the lift.

Evidentiary Factors


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• There was no evidence to suggest that he had retrieved anything from the items placed in the firefighting lobby at the 65th storey. Evidentiary Factors Evidentiary Factors


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Evidentiary Factors


• There was no evidence to suggest that he had retrieved anything from the items placed in the firefighting lobby at the 65th storey.

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Evidentiary Factors


• There was no evidence to suggest that he had retrieved anything from the items placed in the firefighting lobby at the 65th storey.

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Both lift technicians were the last 2 persons to be seen at the 65th storey before the fire, at 19:16:18 hrs. There were other people who used Fireman Lift 3 subsequently but none of them went to the top floors. It was not possible for anyone to access the firefighting lobby on the 65th storey from the staircase as the exit doors only permitted egress from the lobby and not ingress from the staircase.

Evidentiary Factors


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Recap FI

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Fire Patterns & Fire Load Fire Fatalities Fire Cause & Fire Development

Fire Patterns & Fire Load Fire damage was localised to the firefighting lobby. The fire started and developed within the lobby. The renovation materials and equipment placed at the firefighting lobby provided the fuel load to sustain the fire.


Recap

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Fire at Marina Bay Suites on 13 Jan 2014 Fire Fatalities

Source: The New Paper

Both Security Officers took Fireman Lift 3 to the 65th storey to investigate the fire alarm.

When the lift door opened at the 65th storey, the fire in the firefighting lobby was already well alight

The lift door got jammed and remained in the open position, exposing both to the flames and smoke from the fire at the firefighting lobby – both remained in the lift and succumbed to the effects of the fire.

Fire Cause & Fire Development

There were several parties who visited the 65th storey on the day of the fire to work on the penthouse. The last party left but most of them left at around 19:16:18 hrs. None of them reported any anomalies in the firefighting lobby. They did not notice any burning smells and the lights were all in order. A fire of electrical origin at 1 or more of the ceiling lights is considered unlikely. The fire is also most likely to have started after the 2 technicians left at 19:16:18 hrs.


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A trash bag of sawdust was found in the penthouse. Cigarette butts, a cigarette box and other unwanted items were found in the trash bag of sawdust.

It is believed that the trash bag of sawdust at the firefighting lobby also contained cigarette butts. It is possible that a smouldering fire involving sawdust started after the two technicians departed from the 65th storey.

Discussion And Comments


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The technician’s action at the firefighting lobby may have accidentally created favourable conditions for such a smouldering fire when he discarded a cigarette butt into the trash bag of sawdust or when he disturbed the other non-fully extinguished cigarette butts which may already be present in the trash bag. The fire alarm, which sounded at 21:34:58 hrs, was believed to have come about as a result of the fire at the 65th storey. This is approximately 2 hours after both technicians departed from the 65th storey. Smouldering fires are known to be capable of smouldering for a long time before ignition.

Discussion And Comments


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Based on all the available info, the most probable cause of fire was believed to be accidental. Cigarette embers were the ignition source. Sawdust was the ignition fuel.

Fireman Lift 3

Passenger Lift 1

Passenger Lift 4

Lift Shaft

WR / HR SCV / TEL

ELV ELEC

WM

TRO

LLEY

X

FIRE ALARM PANEL

X

TROLLEY

Firefighting Lobby

TRO

LLEY

Area of Fire Origin


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Case in point: Fires from cigarette embers

The subject was on his mobile phone and was seen holding a cigarette in his left hand

The subject attempted to stub out & threw the cigarette butt in the rubbish bin

About 30mins to 1hr later, white smoke is seen to be emitting from within the dustbin – Smouldering Fire.

A fully developed fire resulted

C:/Users/s8771386e/Documents/FSM Briefing & A-CERTS Seminar/3rd run/01 Maj Andy Choo/Rubbish Fire from Cigarette ember- NFEC 2014.wmv

3 key lessons … 1. Do not leave items at common areas such as

corridors, lift lobbies, void decks and staircases, especially so when it is a safe haven in the context of fire safety.


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Incendiary Accidental

Source: Straits Times, Wan Bao


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2. Every fire alarm must be treated with utmost caution and we must be vigilant in our approach when investigating such cases.

Know your Procedures

CERT in action


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3. Do not underestimate the destruction that could be caused by embers of lighted materials

Source: Straits Times, Wan Bao

Disposal of incense ‘ashes’ in dumpster

Embers from cigarette

CONCLUSION

Most fires can be prevented! Instil greater awareness and a sense of responsibility! That will greatly minimise the chances of an unintentional fire!

BE PREPARED!

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CONCLUSION

Let us learn from the past

incidents and be better prepared!

Thank you for your attention.

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