Fire losses

Protection of Warehouses Against Fire, Loss Prevention Bulletin 084, IChemE, 1989, pp. 2-6. 

Occupancy No. of fires Loss 000 % of total cost of all fires... 

C icci, R. H. V., 1980, A Methodology for Evaluating the Probability for Fire Loss of Nuclear Power Plant Safety Functions, Ph.D. Thesis at Rensselaer Poly. Inst., Troy, NY. 

Pape, R. P., et al. (Working Group, Thermal Radiation), 1988. Calculation of the intensity of thermal radiation from large fires. Loss Prev. Bull. 82 1-11. 

The book contains, in alphabetical order, failure rates, event rates and probabilities, and descriptive information which has been collected since 1970 in the course of doing risk and reliability assessments. Twenty appendices contain results of surveys on bursting discs, pipes, valves, relief valves, pump failures and information on human error, international fire losses, and blast effects. 

Insurance costs also depend on the safety precautions taken. When a homeowner buys fire insurance the cost depends on the type of construction and the nearness and effectiveness of fire protection equipment, as well as the value of house and its furnishings. To determine the effect of these factors a statistical analysis is made of the factors contributing to fire losses. Insurance companies are noted for not losing money, and so rates also depend on the past record of those insured. In determining automobile insurance rates the age and the number of previous accidents and traffic... 

As noted nearly five centuries ago, fires produce smoke and as learned this century, most of the fire deaths in this country result from people breathing that smoke (1). Over the years, the United States and Canada have had the worst fire loss records among the industrialized countries which keep such records (2). At present, the United States suffers 6,000 deaths and 30,000 reported injuries per year (3). The annual property damage exceeds 7 billion, and the total cost of fire is over 50 billion (4). 

Karter, M.J., Jr. Fire Loss in the United States During 1987, Fire Journal 1988, 82, 32-44. 

Gomberg, A. Buchbinder, B. Offensend, F.J. Evaluating Alternative Strategies for Reducing Residential Fire Loss - The Fire Loss Model, NBSIR 82-2551, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD, 1982. 

The Hydrocarbon Processing Industry (HPI), has traditionally been reluctant to invest capital where an immediate direct return on the investment to the company is not obvious, as would any business enterprise. Additionally financial fire losses in the petroleum and related industries were relatively small up to about the 1950 s. This was due to the small size of facilities and the relatively low value of oil and gas to the volume of production. Until 1950, a fire or explosion loss of more than 5 million U. S. Dollars had not occurred in the refining industry in the USA. Also in this period, the capital intensive offshore oil exploration and production industry were only just beginning. The use of gas was also limited early in the century. Consequentially its value was also very low. Typically production gas was immediately flared or the well was capped and considered as an uneconomical reservoir. Since gas development was limited, large vapor explosions were relatively rare and catastrophic destruction from petroleum incidents was essentially unheard of. The outlays for petroleum industry safety features were traditionally the absolute minimum required by governmental regulations. The development of loss prevention philosophies and practices were therefore not effectively developed within the industry. 

Three factors contribute to the extent of any fire loss. The first involves an act, omission, or system failure allowing an ignition source and fuel to combine. The second involves the potential for continued fire growth and escalation. The third factor is extinguishment. 

It is important that a company maintains a consistent philosophy for estimating potential fire loss in their facilities to establish fire protection strategies. There are different approaches for estimating fire loss, but most are a combination of insurance and industry approaches. 

A fire loss that occurs with all fire protection systems in service, often described as the Normal Loss Estimate (NLE). 

A fire loss that occurs from a worst-credible incident. 

An estimated fire loss estimate can then be calculated as ... 

Fire loss estimate = (Estimated cost to rebuild)... 

Industry approaches to estimating fire loss generally fall into two key areas ... 

The estimated fire loss estimate establishes an upper limit of cost which can be tested against company, division, or business unit management criteria to determine whether additional fire protection features are necessary. 

Underwriters conduct inspections of the properties being insured to determine the estimated fire loss for each location. The risk of insuring a facility is determined by estimating the fire loss and combining it with the loss experience of a company, the particular industry, and other related industries. The underwriters then determine how much of the risk they take or layoff. The premium a company pays for insurance is determined by the insurer(s). Figure 3.3, originally developed in 1986 and still relevant today, shows the typical breakdown of insurance premiums (Norstrom, 1986). 

Inadequate housekeeping controls in laboratories, process, or operating areas can result in process waste, leakage, and spillage accumulations that can lead to increased fire losses. Such accumulations are typically from one of several causes ... 

An FHA is used to document the inventory of flammable or combustible material, calculate the potential magnitude of the fire, and determine the probable impact of the fire on personnel, equipment, the community, and the environment. An FHA can be performed on proposed or existing designs. Based on the impact, fire losses can then be estimated. The basic elements of FHA are illustrated in Figure 5-2. 

In 1950 some 600,000 fires caused almost 700,000,000 damage to buildings, 4 more than 1949. In Table I, the percentage of dollar fire losses by occupancy is summarized for 1950. This table is based on data from 13 states and, therefore, is only indicative of the relative importance of type of structure on potential fire losses. Private dwellings account for one fourth of the total fire losses. 

With fire losses increasing as they have been for the past decade, there is urgent need for a true paint which will render homes and other structures resistant to fire. 

Eventually the increased acceptance and use of first quality fire-resistive paints and treatment processes could reduce our annual national fire loss by millions of dollars and save hundreds of lives each year. 

To reduce the contribution of wood to fire losses, much research through the years has gone into development of fire-retardant treatments for wood. A total of 21.3 million pounds of fire-retardant chemicals were reported used in 1974 to treat 5.7 million cubic feet of wood products (2). The amount of wood treated was about one tenth of 1 percent of the total domestic production of lumber and plywood and has increased ninefold in 20 years. 

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