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Welcome to this, the first Fire Handbook.

Based on the success of the Access Control Handbook published by Hi-Tech Security Solutions late in 2004, this Handbook is designed not so much to highlight fire protection, detection or suppression products specifically, but to educate end-users and fire engineering professionals about the principles which underpin successful fire protection solutions. We sincerely hope that you find it of value.

As you might appreciate, it is never easy to get end-users to discuss their safety and security systems and solutions, but I have always maintained that one can do so without compromising safety/security, simply by highlighting the principles of success. What to do, what not to do. And why? In this Handbook we have attempted to do just that, with a focus on case studies and best practices, technology trends and operational guidelines. A special word of thanks to the contributors to this Fire Handbook. You know who you are.

Fire! Fire!

Do South African business and fire engineering professionals need education in matters fire? We all do. Whilst the principles of success might not change, the technology and integration trends are ensuring we are all in need of continued learning. And it is commonly accepted that many (if not most) of the buildings in our major city centres are accidents waiting to happen (from a fire and safety perspective). Systems are in poor states of repair, guidelines and best practice (in terms of system maintenance, system testing, evacuation procedures, etc) are paid lip service, and regulations are poorly policed and seldom enforced ... or so it seems. I cannot recall having been taken through a fire drill in the last 15 years at any employer or as a result of any building owner doing what is right from a safety perspective.

Trend setting

In the absence of available South African data at the time of going to print, I thought it might be instructive to give you a little insight into fire trends in the US, which appear as per the table.

The most interesting observation from our perspective is that the above trends indicate a continued reduction in the number of fires (in spite of increasing population numbers and density ... so improved fire prevention and detection seems to have had an impact), a continued decline in civilian and fire-fighter deaths and injuries (though this appears to track the reduction in the number of fires), and finally the continued rise in the cost of fire to the economy.

A simple picture of the fact that one simply cannot be complacent when it comes to safety.

Have we covered it all?

Not at all. We have barely scraped the surface. But there are gems of value in the case studies, opinion pieces, and guidelines we have published.

And if you feel we have missed something, or even missed it all, let me know. We will take your kudos and brickbats to heart.

Sincerely,

Darren Smith

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