2 Fire
Fire prevention measures are designed to reduce the probability of a fire breaking out and to minimize the damage caused by a fire. Fire regulations primarily focus on protecting the lives of residents, neighbors, staff, visitors and firefighters.
These measures also indirectly serve to protect objects. The information on this page is particularly important for listed historic buildings containing valuable artworks and cultural artifacts of great significance as fire can irretrievably destroy the heritage value of such cultural assets – including the built heritage.
Performing fire safety assessments and implementing fire safety measures in listed historic buildings can pose problems as their architecture and design frequently do not allow strict compliance with requirements that were drawn up with modern buildings in mind.
Differentiated and coordinated individual measures must nevertheless be taken to minimize the risks and put in place adequate fire protection so that historic buildings are not exposed to any greater risk than necessary.
The respective state building regulations specify standards and provide a point of reference for historic properties – and are binding for all new builds. In the case of any special solutions or variances from these standards, appropriate alternatives should be put in place wherever possible. As a rule it is essential to consult a fire safety expert.
Fires represent a danger to cultural institutions of all kinds. Fire poses the greatest threat to cultural property as it can destroy large parts of collections and buildings within a very short space of time. If a fire gets out of control, it can cause immeasurable damage. In addition, secondary damage can occur due to soot, extinguishing agents and improper handling during the evacuation of collections. Fire prevention measures are therefore extremely important – small fires or fire hazards such as short-circuits must be detected and suppressed as quickly as possible in order to avoid larger fires and even greater damage. For institutions holding collections, there is also the further complication that the collections are often housed in listed buildings or other historic buildings which were not originally intended to be used as museums, libraries or archives, and which cannot be easily adapted to meet modern fire safety standards.
How do fires arise and what are the typical causes?
Combustion happens when the following conditions are present at the same time:
1. Combustible material
2. Sufficient supply of oxygen
3. The right mix of 1 and 2
4. A sufficiently high ignition temperature that heats the combustible material until it ignites
Combustible materials are solid, liquid or gaseous substances, including vapors, mists and dust, that can ignite when brought into contact with air or oxygen. The flammability of materials is classed as low, moderate or high. After they catch fire, the combustibility of materials is likewise classed as low, moderate or high.
A fire is a chemical process involving oxygen. Since oxygen makes up around 21% of the air around us, it is very difficult to avoid its presence without considerable technical effort. One way to do so would be to reduce the proportion of oxygen in the air in a room by adding other gases until the concentration of oxygen falls below the point at which a fire can be ignited.
The third condition relates to the correct proportion of the gaseous commixture with oxygen, i.e. solid and gaseous substances must first be wholly or partially transformed into a gaseous state through the application of heat (thermal action). If the thermal action is of sufficient duration and intensity, combustible gaseous elements are evolved which mix with the oxygen in the air and spontaneous combustion then occurs when the ignition point is reached.
Materials can also ignite as a result of smoldering: the porous char produced where heat builds up (e.g. on a wooden beam) draws in oxygen from the air and binds (absorbs) it. If this layer of char reaches ignition temperature as a result of warming or heat build-up, a smoldering process begins, which can then – if oxygen continues to be supplied – proceed through an ember stage to flaming combustion. Such conditions can be brought about by, for example, an insufficient distance being maintained for an extended period between combustible materials and a source of radiation (chimney, fan heater, etc.).
The critical role that the ignition temperature plays for solid combustible materials has already been mentioned above. In the case of liquids, two temperature states are distinguished: the flash point at which vaporization commences and the vapor/air mix suddenly ignites, and the fire point, which is the point at a higher temperature at which sufficient vapor is produced to support ongoing combustion.
Despite the apparently complex prerequisites for an (accidental/unintentional) fire to break out, there is a high likelihood of a fire occurring almost anywhere – not just in a domestic or industrial setting. There are no statistics available specifically for museums, libraries and archives, but the most important causes of fires have been recorded for churches and other listed buildings in statistics compiled from over 200 fires:
| Arson | 57 |
| Maintenance work | 41 |
| Unexplained | 37 |
| Carelessness | 32 |
| Heating / chimneys | 25 |
| Electrical systems | 22 |
| Lightning | 4 |
| Miscellaneous | 4 |
Table in: Frieder Kircher: Brandschutz im Bild. 1998, p. 36
Presumably many of the “unexplained” instances can also be attributed to “carelessness” and “maintenance work”. The high incidence of arson will not be discussed in any great detail here. It is important to note, however, that the threat of arson may be particularly significant for museums, monuments or exhibitions that deal with certain themes.
“Electrical” causes cover a very wide range of triggering incidents from, for example, the overloading of electrical connections, distributors or wiring, defective plugs, cables or equipment, improperly maintained or non-inspected electrical systems, especially antiquated ones.
Fires resulting from the improper use of electrical appliances or lighting can perhaps be attributed to the infinitely wide category of “carelessness”.
Nowadays we tend to pay much greater attention to fire safety in general. Among other things, fire safety is specifically covered
- by building regulations, i.e. in the various specifications of the state building regulations and in regulations for specific types of building (e.g. restaurants, places of assembly, garages etc.)
- in the technical standards for specific systems and materials – e.g. ventilation systems and pipework, double or cavity floors, elevators, etc.
- in standards and regulations for individual technical trades, in particular for electrical installations
- in installation, inspection and acceptance specifications for technical systems associated with fire prevention or fire safety (e.g. fire detection systems, smoke and heat extractor systems, door controls, extinguishing systems, fire extinguishers)
- by labor law in the form of workplace regulations and directives etc.
There is an extensively interlinked body of rules and regulations on fire safety for buildings, systems and organizational structures which is currently being developed, expanded and revised as part of European harmonization efforts.
As a rule, museums, libraries and archives require a property-specific risk assessment on the basis of which they can then draw up a fire safety and security concept that takes account of any special factors specific to the building and the collection in question, such as whether:
- the building stands alone in a rural area or is located in an inner city, or the institution is a “subtenant” etc.
- the building is historic, listed, or modern
- the construction type is wood/half-timbering, masonry, reinforced concrete etc.
- the collection contains many fire loads or “only” painting galleries, sculptures, or the like
- “traditional” exhibitions are held or experimental modern installations, e.g. ones involving naked flames, collections with alcohol-preserved specimens (risk of explosion) etc.
As part of the fire safety concept, potential threats must be identified and the protection objectives defined precisely. It is necessary to take into account the presence of restoration workshops or other facilities with a higher fire risk, as well as neighboring and adjacent residential or industrial premises, the technical condition of the property, the capabilities of the local fire service, the availability of water for extinguishing purposes and the like.
In all cases, every institution should work closely with and obtain advice from the local fire service. Regular liaison and drills where appropriate are essential. All staff should be made aware of the issues surrounding fire and fire drills should be held regularly (e.g. to practice evacuation and the use of fire extinguishers).