The events of September 11, 2001 changed the way many do business, especially those in the business of building maintenance and safety. Maintenance issues once thought to be of little importance have now been pushed to the forefront. Fire and smoke damper inspections and maintenance is one such issue.
Prior to September 11th, these damper systems, while highly important in containing dangerous smoke and fire in a building, now serve a second and equally important purpose. Smoke and fire dampers are now one more line of defense to protect building occupants from the threat of bioterrorism, according to Craig Rutledge, owner of Life Safety Services.
According to Rutledge, the attack at the World Trade Center in New York City brought into focus the importance of operable fire and smoke dampers in the event of a terrorist attack. Nearly 3,000 civilians and firefighters lost their lives when both towers became engulfed in smoke and flames, he said. According to reports by the United States Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology who investigated the World Trade Center disaster, had there been operable fire and smoke dampers in the two towers, they “would have acted to slow the development of hazardous conditions on the uppermost floors of the building” in tower one and two, and as a result provided occupants more time to flee the building.
“Those findings alone exemplify the need for working dampers,” said Rutledge. “One of the most efficient ways for smoke, fire, or an aerosolized biological agent to travel throughout a building is through the HVAC System. With this knowledge in hand many organizations have addressed the importance of working dampers in their terrorist prevention planning guidelines.”
A number of organizations including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the International Facility Managers Association (IFMA) have addressed the importance of operable fire and smoke dampers in the event of a CBR attack making it clear, that while fire and smoke dampers are only one component needed to protect building occupants during a terrorist attack – they are an extremely vital component, said Rutledge.
With facility management staffs spread so thin, performing the needed maintenance is often impossible, said Rutledge.
“In the buildings we inspect, we’ve found the failure rate of dampers is approximately 10%. Even one failed damper can have serious consequences,” said Rutledge. “You have to ask yourself — Is that one failed damper in an area where large groups of people congregate, such as a cafeteria during lunch hour? Is that failed damper positioned between floors, and in turn allows the contaminant to spread to additional floors where it could affect countless other people? Is that failed damper outside your office?”
Whether facility managers choose to outsource the damper inspection task or complete it themselves, it has been proven time and again, that properly working smoke and fire dampers save lives, according to Rutledge.
“Now more than ever this is a concern as we all do everything we can to protect ourselves and those we are responsible for,” said Rutledge.
