High Street Unitarian
Universalist
Church
Macon, GA
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Control Study
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Fire
Safety and Church Readiness at HSUUC
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Safety and Church Readiness at HSUUC Discussions: |
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I cannot thank you enough for taking on such an agonizingly detailed task that was such a need for our fire safety readiness. I especially appreciate the first paragraph that I included the excerpt below because I believe that it clearly demonstrated the exact feeling that I have about the fear that comes with actual fire. Like you said, the real danger is minimal aside from all us parents loosing our mind and hurting each other in frantic desperation. You give the signal and I absolutely agree that the best thing we can do is to have a master plan and execute it's drill as often as appears warranted. This IP worse-case scenario envisions a full alarm (from any of five to six causes) in the midst of a Sunday Worship Service, when the children are all downstairs and/or in the TR. In the seconds and minutes that follow the triggered alarm (with very loud horns, flashing lights, and completely panicked parents, congregants and staff ), a terrible, chaotic scene develops where none of the untrained, inexperienced participants are able to do the right thing. The result: many children and adults are injured. But, not injured from the fire. The stove fire was extinguished in five seconds after the alarm went off by the automatic extinguisher in the hood over the stove. Folks, this is not an exaggerated hypothetical, the fire literature is, sadly, full of horrific case histories of similar –and worse- real events The next two excerpts go together in my mind in that they discuss a conversation with the Fire Marshall and the escape route out of the Tower room. Did the Fire Marshall know and give us the green light to have as many as twenty five children and two teachers in the Tower Room? Not that we are held under the same rules, but a conversation with my husband brought up the idea that in places like schools, when there is a certain number gathering in one place, there is a requirement of two exits specifically for fire reasons. Now, I am not necessarily for what would likely be a very costly addition, but recognize that the original idea of the Tower Room was for the teens. These numbers are much smaller, but once the room was built it did not seem to be an appropriate place for many other reasons (such a maybe a little to much privacy). As such, did the architect, fire marshall, etc. know what its use is now and approve that occupancy number? A one-hour plus phone conversation with Kevin Walsh (KW) was extremely helpful in understanding the quantity and quality of thinking and work that went into the design of the renovation structure, the materials of construction of the TR and the complete stairway to Fellowship Hall, the consideration of fire safety in the TR, and the consultation that KW had with Macon’s Fire Marshal. Kevin also was able to share with us, through his year’s of experience in renovating buildings and new construction of public building (including many churches), his extensive knowledge of fire sources and locations, and the likelihood of typical fire scenarios in occupied and unoccupied structures. Kevin’s input was a major help to this portion of our study. Before leaving this “hardware” section of this Conclusions & Recommendations it’s probable necessary to explain why the FSSG is not recommending a fire escape for the Tower Room. It was the unanimous conclusion of the Group, -and a good number of others in the congregation- that, with the fire hardened (“one hour”) design of the stairway corridor, there will always be time to safely evacuate all the occupants –even twenty five- under any fire scenario that we can think of (see Table 2). Cost (we do have a quote) was not considered in our thinking and deliberations. Again, I thank you all for your hard work and I look forward to proceeding with a fire evacuation plan and assisting the teachers in any training to ensure the proper execution of fire readiness and evacuation. I will be sure to read over the report again and if any further questions come up will ask about them. Take Care, Alicia Gregory On Jun 2, 2008, at 10:08 AM, Frank Gadbois wrote: Alicia- I think that we should have a fire drill ASP. We don't need an expensive and unecessary outdoor fire escape outside the Tower Room which could be evacuated very quickly through and down the fireproof stairway to the back exit door. The kitchen is the most likely place for a fire and the alarms would go off very loudly . Any smoke would take awhile to rise to the Tower Room and the children would have quickly and safely left the church. This excellent report points us in all the right directions , provides sensible, practical solutions, and all at reasonable costs. Throwing money away on exterior fire escapes will only lessen the chance for better uses of our limited resources. elsewhere. Plus create security issues which don't exist now. Our report is all-inclusive and points us in the right , sensible, practical , way. Sincerely, Frank W. Gadbois. Subject: RE New Year and fire drill Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 The board minutes that Theresa Hying sent out this week propose a fire drill in conjunction with the New RE Year start. That does sound like a logical time for a drill, and we need to have one at High Street. However, this year, we have a very late RE New Year that includes special intergenerational programming: The New Year is Sunday, September 21 (World Day of Peace) as well as the close of the summer RE program. This is the day that we install the peace pole at High Street. For these reasons (late date, special programming), I hope another date for the fire drill can be chosen. If I understand the thinking behind the fire drill, the children should be downstairs when it occurs. On the start of the RE Year, they will be upstairs for the entire service. Public schools in Bibb County open for classes on August 7. Maybe a Sunday between then and September 14 would work? Peace, JD Sun, 27 Jul 2008 Nice job on your study and report, very detailed and in-depth. Good recommendations that I'm sure will be followed.. I read it with much interest and was initially concerned that the only mention of air duct smoke detectors for HVAC equipment was for the sanctuary system (Table 1, footnote 2) which requires a duct smoke detector due to that system's capacity. The purpose of a duct smoke detector mounted on the supply air ducts is to shut down the HVAC system so as not to spread smoke or fire in such an event. Duct smoke detectors are required by mechanical code on HVAC systems 5 tons capacity or higher. The sanctuary system uses two 5 ton units feeding a common supply duct and does in fact have a smoke detector mounted in supply duct located in the upstairs mechanical room. However, the downstairs HVAC system which is rated at 8 tons did not appear to have a smoke detector mounted on supply duct within the mechanical room as is typically done. Today, I looked into the ceiling space outside the mechanical room and did find a duct detector mounted there. We should put a sticker on the ceiling tile saying - Detector Above - or have an annuciator located there so people know it's there. I feel much better knowing it's there though. It appears that both the sanctuary and downstairs smoke detectors are configured/wired to shut down the equipment on on the detection of smoke in that system, a station pull activation, or alarm from another duct smoke detector or fire alarm panel. One way to find out for certain is to test each detector (using a magnet or canned smoke) as part of a system test. However, I must point out that Tower Room HVAC system is rated at 3-1/2 tons and as such is not required by code to have (and does not have) a duct detector that will shut the system down in any of the events noted above. The system will continue to run. I think it is worth having a detector installed and wired into the system to provide shutdown and alarm notification, particularly due the concern about Tower Room fire safety, regardless of code requirements. This would enhance that safety. I do not know at this time what the tonnage of the rooftop HVAC unit over the front foyer is and whether it would be required to have a duct smoke detector. It might be worth investigating and considering whether a detector should be installed there as well. Again, thanks to ya'll for handling this effort. While in the upstairs mechanical room, I found myself locked in as the handle was not actuating the bolt. I noted considerable damage to the lock knob and try as I would, could not turn it. You mentioned before problems with that lock. I eventually found that I could push the handle inward, then turn it to pull the bolt. It might be a good idea to have that lock repaired/replaced. Not a good thing to get locked in with no cell-phone. Cheers, BF > Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 > I wanted to check in with everyone to see how the fire drill plans > and training were coming along. When you think you are ready to teach > the teachers please let me know so that we can have everyone possible > available for you. We appreciate this important work. > > Thank you, A.G. Thu, 19 Feb 2009 Dear Volunteers, Please remember to attend the meeting on procedures in case of fire on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 12:30 at High Street. |
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