Chapter 12 - Special Structures and Design Features

Question 1

• Any building that requires fire fighting on levels above the reach of the department’s equipment, often generally given as a building more than _____ feet in height.

Answer 1

High-rise building / 75

p 340

Question 2

High rise buildings:

The height is measured from the lowest level of emergency vehicle _________ to the ________ of the highest occupied story.

Answer 2

access / floor

p 340

Question 3

Early high rise buildings:

These buildings were made possible (and practical) by two developments: ______-______ construction and the __________.

Answer 3

steel-frame / elevator

p 341

Question 4

Today, high rise buildings are of _____-____________ construction. Often a high rise building will be constructed of a combination of reinforced _________ and a protected ________ frame.

Answer 4

fire-resistive / concrete / steel

p 343

Question 5

High rise construction:

Typically, model building codes require ___ or ___ hour fire resistance for the structural frame of a high rise building depending on the number of stories and occupancy, and ____ hour fire resistive rating for floor construction.

Answer 5

2 or 3 / 2

p 343

Question 6

High rise construction

Significant __________ failure in high-rise buildings is extremely rare.

Answer 6

structural

p 343

Question 7

All model building codes require smokeproof exit enclosures in all stairs serving floors _____ feet or higher. Entrance to these stairways must be made through an open _________ or pressurized ___________.

Answer 7

75 / balcony / vestibule

p 346

Question 8

Typically, a fire command center is located on the ______ floor or level of fire department ________.

Answer 8

first / access

p 347

Question 9

In a ________ _____ configuration such building services as elevators, stairwells, and service shafts are grouped in the center of the floor.

Answer 9

central core

p 348

Question 10

Safety during emergency elevator use:

• Do not use an elevator to travel to the ______ _______ - stay below the ______ ________ according to SOPs.
• Never use an elevator that has been exposed to _______.

Answer 10

• fire floor / fire floor
• water

p 349

Question 11

• Emergency operating mode for elevators. This mode of operation recalls the car to a certain floor and opens the doors.

Answer 11

Phase 1 Operation

p 350

Question 12

Phase I operations

Codes contain mandatory provisions for the recall of all passenger elevators with vertical travel greater than _____ feet in the event of fire.

Answer 12

25 feet

p 350

Question 13

Phase I operation is designed to prevent the deaths of civilians who may find themselves in an elevator that is called to the ______ ________, as happened in high rise fires in the 1970s.

Answer 13

fire floor

p 350

Question 14

Phase I operation automatically stops all the cars that serve the fire floor if they are moving away from their ________ floor.

Answer 14

terminal (the lobby)

p 350

Question 15

Phase I operation opens the _____ _______ and keeps them open when the car reaches the recall floor.

Answer 15

car doors

p 350

Question 16

During Phase I operation, the elevator car’s ___________ ______ and _______ __________ buttons are rendered inoperable so that car occupants who may be unaware of the fire or emergency cannot stop the car anywhere but at the terminal floor.

Answer 16

emergency stop / floor selection

p 350

Question 17

• Emergency elevator operating mode that allows emergency use of the elevator with certain safeguards and special functions.

Answer 17

Phase II Operation

p 351

Question 18

Elevators

The codes specify that all new elevators must be equipped for _______ ____ operation.

Answer 18

Phase II

p 351

Question 19

Elevators

During this phase an elevator becomes essentially a manually operated elevator ?

Answer 19

Phase II operations

p 351

Question 20

The _________ ______ safety which prevents the doors from closing if there is a person or smoke in the doorway, is disabled during Phase II operations. This is done so the car doors can be closed and the car moved if it inadvertently stops at a _______-_______ floor.

Answer 20

electric eye / smoke-filled

p 351

Question 21

The ____________ ______ button that was inoperable in Phase I should be operable during Phase II.

Answer 21

emergency stop

p 351

Question 22

An underground building is defined by some codes as one in which the lowest level used for human occupancy is ____ feet below the main exit that serves that level.

Answer 22

30

p 352

Question 23

With the current trend toward ____________ (_________) building design, there are many more underground buildings being built or planned.

Answer 23

sustainable (green)

p 352

Question 24

The difficulty in __________ ______ and _________ is probably the greatest single challenge in controlling fires in underground buildings.

Answer 24

venting heat and smoke

p 352

Question 25

____________ enclosures are now required for buildings with levels more than _____ feet below level of exit discharge.

Answer 25

Smokeproof / 30

p 353

Question 26

The structural support system of an underground facility is ___________ compared to the framing systems used for above ground buildings.

Answer 26

massive

p 354

Question 27

A ____________ structure is a building having its exterior skin consist of a thin “waterproof” fabric.

Answer 27

membrane

p 355

Question 28

• Membrane structure that is fully or partially held up by interior air pressure.

Answer 28

Air-supported structure

p 356

Question 29

Detention and correctional facilities:

Where evacuation is a last resort, it is necessary to apply the concept of _______-___-________ similar to the approach used for hospitals.

Answer 29

defend-in-place

p 360

Question 30

• Procedures taken to shelter persons from harm during an emergency without evacuating them from a structure. Used especially in hospitals and prisons.

Answer 30

Defend in place

p 360

Question 31

• Open area in the center of a building, extending through two or more stories, similar to a courtyard but usually covered by a skylight, to allow natural light and ventilation to interior rooms.

Answer 31

Atrium

p 362

Question 32

The building codes have a basic requirement that an atrium be enclosed with ___ hour fire rated construction or a combination of _______ and automatic sprinklers.

Answer 32

1 / glass

p 362

Question 33

Atriums

A ________ __________ system is required to vent the products of combustion to the outside whether floors are enclosed or not.

Answer 33

smoke control

p 362

Question 34

Large, open areas like this university atrium require an active smoke control system because of the extended length of time it may take to ___________ the structure and gain access to the fire.

Answer 34

evacuate

p 363

Question 35

Atriums

Providing adequate fire protection in a building with an atrium is complicated by the height of many atriums, which can extend up to _____ stories or more.

Answer 35

50

p 363-364

Question 36

Atriums

Some codes now waive the requirements for sprinklers where the ceilings of atriums are more than _____ feet above the floor.

Answer 36

55

p 364

Question 37

• A physical or chemical process that results in the rapid release of high pressure gas into the environment.

Answer 37

Explosion

p 364

Question 38

An ___________ can be defined as an event that produces a rapid release of energy.

Answer 38

explosion

p 364

Question 39

Explosions

The sudden release of energy produces outward pressures, often referred to as ________ ________.

Answer 39

blast waves

p 364

Question 40

Two general methods can be employed to reduce the structural damage from an explosion: ____________ or ___________.

Answer 40

containment or venting

p 365

Question 41

In _____________, the building enclosure is constructed with adequate reinforcement to contain the pressure resulting from an explosion without failure.

Answer 41

containment

p 365

Question 42

Explosion __________ is designed to quickly relieve the pressure produced by an explosion before it causes excessive damage.

Answer 42

venting

p 365

Question 43

Ideally, explosion vent panels should not weigh more than ____ pounds per square foot.

Answer 43

3

p 366

Question 44

Areas of refuge:

Generally, the area of refuge is designed to accommodate _____ or _____ wheelchairs, depending on the occupant load served.

Answer 44

one or two

p 367

Question 45

______ _________ varies from the simple use of forklifts positioning pallets in the racks to specialized automated warehouses in which unmanned pickers or stackers handle large commodities.

Answer 45

Rack storage

p 368

Question 46

Storage racks can vary from two or three tiers with a total height of just ____ feet to in excess of _____ feet.

Answer 46

12 / 100

p 368

Question 47

Storage racks can vary from two or three tiers with a total height of just ____ feet to in excess of _____ feet.

Answer 47

12 / 100

p 368