- Author
- Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board
- Title
- Fire Safety Considerations of Correctional Facilities.
- Coporate
- Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, Melbourne, Australia
- Distribution
- For more information contact: Website: http://www.mfbb.vic.gov.au
- Keywords
- correctional institutions | fire safety | mattresses | fire load | combustibles | ignition source | fire incidence | standards | methodology | life safety | fire hazards | egress | fire protection | maintenance | emergency plans | training | fire fighters | fire risks | heat of ignition | prisons
- Identifiers
- structural fire incidents within Victorian correctional facilities; cell environment; jails
- Abstract
- The report documents and analyses issues of fire safety within Victorian Correctional Facilities. The issues covered in the report focus on mattresses; other related fire safety issues are analysed in terms of the fire load (amount of combustible items), availability of ignition source, fire safety systems and procedures. Even though this report focuses on fire-safety issues, within Correctional Facilities, similar issues and recommendations could be applied to other places of detention, including psychiatric wards. The report initially analyses structural fire incidents that have occurred within Victorian prisons over the past decade (1990-2000). In total there have been 349 structural fires, 20 of which resulted in injuries emanating from 12 incidents. There were no recorded fatalities. The analysis involves the annual incidence of these fires before documenting the proportion of fires according to the time of day, as well as analysing fire pathologies. A brief overview of the current arrangements, regarding the use of mattresses and bed linen has been provided. Prison guidelines in regards to personal effects allowed in cells as well as an insight into the some forms of fire retardant materials available, are documented. A summary of available Standards for the testing of mattresses and associated components has been reviewed, for the purpose of identifying the most suitable mattress for use in Correctional Facilities. These Standards from Britain, United States of America, Australia and New Zealand, analyse the material properties used in mattresses and their resistance to various ignition sources, flammability, heat production and smoke development. The majority of tests in these Standards rate the mattress with a pass or fail grading system, however some use indices as a classification method. It was found that no Standard alone assesses the fire hazard of the material or the product made from this material under actual fire conditions. A major part of this report relates to the flammability of mattresses that have the potential to be, or are currently, in use in Victorian prisons. The primary objective of the mattress burns testing was to ignite a variety of mattresses, of differing specifications, in order to document their ability to produce untenable conditions, so to assess their suitability for Correctional Facilities in relation to a fire risk.