Fire incident controllers

The competent advice and safety assistance in relation to fire includes the fire safety manager and those who provide assistance to them (fire warden, fire incident controller, alarm verifier - see Chapter 10). The law also allows for this competent person or persons to be appointed from outside an organisation such as the use of consultants. 

Appointment of fire marshals/fire wardens, fire alarm verifiers, fire incident controllers and members of first responder/fire teams... 

Communicating the situation to the fire safety manager or fire incident controller. 

The role of fire incident controller is given to a person who will be responsible for the proactive and reactive roles of the fire wardens/marshals and alarm verifier. In addition they are the person responsible for coordinating any emergency evacuation including liaison with the fire and other emergency services. 

To allow those who hold key roles, e.g. fire wardens and fire incident controllers, to practise their roles >- To demonstrate to staff and enforcement bodies that reasonable arrangements have been made to ensure effective evacuation in case of fire. 

What special roles are required to support the procedure, e.g. fire warden and fire incident controllers... 

In order to ensure the safe evacuation of people in the event of fire it is not possible merely to rely on building design, adequate means of escape, fire alarms, emergency lighting, etc. In all but the smallest workplaces it will be necessary to have staff that have been trained to assist with emergency evacuation. Specifically those people responsible for fire safety within buildings and outside venues will need to consider the provision of fire wardens/marshals, crowd safety stewards, fire alarm verifiers and fire incident controllers. 

Reporting to the fire incident controller the situation within their area of responsibility)... 

High visibility surcoat displaying the words Fire Incident Controller ... 

In order to be confident when reporting to the fire service, the fire incident controller will need to know that everyone has either left the building or, if people are still... 

In order to ensure that an effective sweep is made of a building at the time of an emergency evacuation it is necessary for the fire safety manager or fire incident controller to allocate specific areas of the building to specific fire wardens/marshals. In the case of multistorey offices this is often achieved by nominating two to three fire wardens per floor, whereas, in the case of an open plan factory, fire wardens may be allocated to production areas. 

Report to the fire incident controller, identified by the wearing of a high visibility jacket or waistcoat. 

Ideally most oil or gas incidents will be controlled by the process shut down systems (ESD, depressurization, drainage, etc.) and hopeful the fire protection systems (fireproofing, water deluge, etc ), will not be required. However these primary fire defense systems may not be able to control fire incidents if previous explosions have previously occurred. Before any consideration of fire suppression efforts, explosion effects must first be analyzed to determine the extent of protection necessary. Most major fire incidents associated with hydrocarbon process incidents are preceded by explosion incident. 

Hydrocarbon vapors immediately bum with flame temperatures that are considerably higher than that of ordinary combustibles. For this reason damage from a hydrocarbon fire is much more severe than an ordinary combustible fire. The objective of a fire detection for the petroleum industry is to rapidly detect a fire where personnel, high value, and critical equipment may be involved. Once detected executive action is initiated to alert personnel for evacuation and while simultaneously controlling and suppressing the fire incident. 

The objectives of fire suppression systems are to provide cooling, control the fire (i.e., prevent it from spreading) and provide extinguishment of the fire incident. A variety of fire suppression methods are available to protect a facility. Both portable and fixed systems can be used. The effectiveness of all fire extinguishing measures can be determined by the rate of flow of the extinguishing agent and the method or arrangements of delivery. 

When water is combined with other additives, it can control and extinguish most petroleum fires. A water suppression system consists of a supply source, distribution system, and the end using equipment such as fixed spray systems, monitors, hose reels and hydrants. The objective of water suppression systems is to provide exposure cooling, fire control, suppression of fire incidents and may assist in the dispersion of flammable or toxic vapors. 

The munition route following the unpack area is the Explosive Containment Cubicle (ECC) containing four different demilitarization machines which will be remotely operated. Operation within the ECC will be followed by closed circuit television surveillance. Since there is a chance of an explosive fire incident, the ECC is designed for explosive and agent containment. Each step in demilitarization of munitions is controlled by a computer which also stops the operations within the ECC when a problem develops or equipment maintenance is needed. 

For an existing facility it is necessary to review all corrosion, explosion, fire incident, breakdown, equipment/control failure, and maintenance issues. 

Fire and Rescue Service Incident Commander should formally liaise with the company on-scene commander (and site fire officer if applicable), obtaining information regarding the incident, whether or not people are involved, the resources in place and the hazards and risks associated with the particular event. These persons will form the incident control team (ICT) along with any others required by the circumstances. 

Exercise emergency response 2.3 Inspect and test site fire hydrants 4.3 Carry out firefighting or incident control operations... 

Roie - fire incident controiier is a term used to describe those responsible for coordinating fire wardens/marshals in their proactive and reactive roles. FICs will normally nominate and organise fire wardens and marshals to ensure that fire risk is effectively managed on a day-to-day basis within the workplace. In addition to their proactive role they are also responsible for the control of an emergency evacuation. Their emergency duties will normally include such activities as ... 

Figure 12.13 From FDR1 (94) Fire incident reporting form. Crown Copyright materiai is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and Queen s Printer for Scotiand.

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