FIRE SAFETY IN HERITAGE BUILDINGS

Georgetown, Penang (December 11, 2008): Seven shops situated at the World Heritage Site in Lebuh Armenian here were destroyed in a fire early today, causing damage estimated at RM600,000. Penang Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Mohd Razam Taja Rahim said the department was alerted about the fire at 3.14am and the first fire engine arrived at the scene six minutes later. “By the time we arrived at the scene, four shops were already engulfed in flame and the fire had also spread to adjacent shops. “Several explosions were heard as inflammable materials from one of the shops caught fire,” he said, adding that the occupants escaped unhurt. He said 65 firemen with five engines brought the fire under control half-an-hour later. He said the fire also destroyed 50 motorcycles in one of the shops. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Bernama Source: NST Online, 11 Dec.2008 & 12 Dec.2008

Tamparuli, Sabah (December 9, 2008): Seven double- storey wooden shophouses dating back to the 1950s were destroyed in a predawn fire here yesterday. The fire is believed to have started at 5am above a stationery shop, one of seven lots destroyed. Witnesses and neighbours called the Fire and Rescue Department at 5.32am and two fire engines with 13 personnel and an officer from the Tuaran fire station were despatched two minutes later. The department's public relations officer, Affendy K. Ramin, said the team led by Madzlan Sarman arrived at the scene at 5.42am and had brought the blaze under control by 6.05am. He said another fire engine from the Lintas station in Kota Kinabalu arrived at the scene moments later with six firemen. "Initial investigations show that the fire began on the first floor of a middle-row shophouse. "Fortunately, no one was injured and the cause of the fire has yet to be determined," said Affendy. The destroyed shops s

FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH RISK : REDUCING RISK, IMPROVING OUTCOMES, 23-25 September 2009, New Forest, UK INTRODUCTION: Recently, there has been a disturbing increase in the number of natural disasters affecting millions of people, destroying property and resulting in loss of human life. These events include major flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes and many others. Today the world faces unparalleled threats from humanmade disasters that can be attributed to failure of industrial and energy installations as well as terrorism. Added to this is the unparalleled threat of emerging and re-emerging diseases, with scientists predicting events such as an influenza pandemic. Human made and natural disasters in 2004 were estimated to have claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide with economic losses in the order of US$100 billion. The year 2005 further tested the international relief community with ‘unparalleled frequency and scale of natural disast

Eleventh International Conference on Structural Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture (STREMAH 2009), 22-24 July 2009, Tallinn, Estonia. INTRODUCTION: STREMAH 2009 is the 11th International Conference on Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture. The meeting, which has taken place on a regular basis over more than 20 years, has become an event attracting specialists from all over the world. It offers a channel for state-of-the-art technology and the most up-to-date scientific discoveries to be applied to the conservation of our architectural heritage. The importance of the architectural heritage for the historical identity of a region, town or nation is now widely recognised throughout the world. In order to take care of our heritage we need to look beyond borders and continents to benefit from the experience gained by others and to gain a better understanding of its cultural background. This series of conferences marks an important contribution as each meeti

THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SAFETY AND SECURITY ENGINEERING 2009 (SAFE 2009), 1-3 July 2009, Rome, Italy INTRODUCTION The success of the first two International Conferences on Safety and Security Engineering held in Rome in 2005, and Malta in 2007, has prompted the organisers to reconvene the meeting in 2009. The purpose of the Conference is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of the most recent developments in the theoretical and practical aspects of Safety and Security Engineering. Safety and Security Engineering, due to its special nature, is an interdisciplinary area of research and applications that bring together in a systematic view, many disciplines of engineering, from the traditional to the most technologically advanced. The conference covers areas such as crisis management; security engineering; natural disasters and emergencies; terrorism; IT security; man-made hazards; risk management; control; protection and mitigation issues. The meeting aims to

Kidd (2005) and Maxwell (2007) recommended that all fire protection improvements in heritage buildings should follow the following principles: 1 Essential The fire systems should be central to meeting the objectives of the protection of life, buildings and contents. 2 Appropriate to Risk Any system that is installed should be opposite to risks being considered. 3 Compliant with legislation Systems should be installed according to demonstrable performance-based and other legislatively prescribed standards of safety. 4 Minimally invasive The retrospective fitting of fire systems should involve minimal degrees of physical intervention on the historic structure. 5 Sensitively integrated Installed systems should be designed to be integrated sympathetically with the historic fabric and its detail. 6 Reversib

Arches of sprayed water are formed over World Heritage-designated houses during a fire prevention drill in the mountainous village of Shirakawa, central Japan, on Sunday November 2, 2008 . A group of thatched, multi-storied structures are on the list of the World Heritage sites of UNESCO. Source: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2008/11/180_33738.html Accessed: 03 November 2008

Author: Herb Stovel (1998) Rome: ICCROM ISBN 92-9077-152-6 http://www.iccrom.org/pdf/ ICCROM_17_RiskPreparedness_en. pdf

Before fire Oct.2003 2006 Sept.2008

“COST Action C17 Built Heritage: Fire Loss to Historic Buildings” , which was formally inaugurated in Brussels in December 2002. The agreed MoU identified four work-packages: • Working Group 1 : Data, loss statistics and evaluating risks. • Working Group 2 : Available and developing technology. • Working Group 3 : Cultural and financial value. • Working Group 4 : Property management strategies. COST C17 had as its central objective the definition, at a European level, of the degree of loss to built heritage through the effects of fire, and the promotion of remedial actions and recommendations to combat these using minimal invasive techniques. The Action also aimed to address a general lack of statistical information, and a common lack of understanding and appreciation of what measures are available and required. It sought to provide good practice guidance on how to sensitively retrofit modern day fire protection equipment into historic fabric, and to develop related management expert

Regulating Fire Safety in Historic and Cultural Structures By: Prof. Vincent M. Brannigan J.D. (2007) ABSTRACT Fires can easily destroy our cultural heritage. Most societies use the legal system to protect against fire. However historic structures are not well protected by typical fire safety codes. First, fire codes are designed to protect lives rather than property. Second, older buildings are usually excused from full compliance with the codes. Third, actual compliance in older buildings may be spotty due to the way such buildings are used. Curators and those responsible for such buildings often have an unrealistically low estimate of the destruction that fire can cause, and may place unreasonable reliance on compliance with a code that is not actually designed to protect historical cultural structures. Resolving this issue requires a novel approach to code compliance. A combination of modern technical analysis and the installation of a properly empowered fire safety controller can

LIST OF MALAYSIAN STANDARDS A) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (OSHMS) NO CODE TITLE 1 MS 1722:Part 1:2005 Occupational safety and health management systems-Part 1: Requirements 2 MS 1722: Part 2:2003 Occupational safety and health management systems - Part 2 - Guidelines B) FIRE PROTECTION & FIRE FIGHTING NO CODE TITLE 1 MS 555: Part 1:2003 Fire dampers: Part 1: Specification (Second revision) 2 MS 555: Part 2:2003 Fire dampers: Part 2: Installation (Second revision) 3 MS 980: 1985 Specification for safety signs and colours: Colorimetric and photometric properties of materials 4 MS 981: 1985 Specification for safety signs and colours: Colour and design 5 MS 982: 1985 Specification for fire safety signs, notices an

Category Total % HERITAGE MUSEUMS 55 42 Melaka 14 25 Sarawak 7 13 Perak 6 11 Kuala Lumpur 5 9 Kelantan 5 9 Kedah 4 7 Pulau Pinang 4 7 Johor 3 5 Pahang 3 5 Selangor 2 4 Negeri Sembilan 2 4 Labuan 0 0 Sabah 0 0 Terengganu 0 0 Perlis 0 0 GRAND TOTAL 55 100

MANAGEMENT CATEGORY Total % Federal Government (FG) 22 17 States Government (SG) 64 49 Government Agencies (GA) 31 24 Government Link Companies (GLC) 2 2 Private / Individual (PI) 12 9 GRAND TOTAL 131 100 MANAGEMENT BY STATES FG SG GA GLC PI Total Kuala Lumpur 6 0 13 2 4 25 Melaka 2 16 2 0 3 23 Perak 3 5 2 0 1 11 Sarawak 0 8 5 0 0 13 Selangor 2 5 3 0 1 11 Johor 1 7 0 0 0 8 Kedah 3 5 3 0 1 12 Pahang 1 3 0 0 0 4 Negeri Sembilan 1 4 0 0 0 5 Pulau Pinang 0 1 3 0 2 6 Labuan 3 0