During a fire emergency, the most important task for firefighters is to save lives. To do so in an efficient manner, firefighters need smoke to be as quarantined as possible. In the case of multi-story buildings, such as office buildings or residential buildings stairwells and elevator shafts can serve as a chimney for smoke.
Automatic fire rated smoke curtains can be integral in blocking heat and smoke from entering the building’s rooms in the event of an emergency. With our magnetic gasketing system, these smoke-rated curtains can be installed discretely and will deploy automatically during a fire.
As mentioned in the first part of this series, high-rise buildings provide a variety of complications when it comes to controlling smoke and fire in the event of an emergency. Due to large square footage a combination of systems are often used to create an effective form of smoke control and management.
Very tall buildings have several unique characteristics that increase the severity of potential fire events including higher occupancy, longer evacuation times, access issues for responders and potential water pressure/availability issues. Because of these potential obstacles, integrating adequate smoke control systems during the design process is essential.