Building Code says that Class II floor finish can be used in a fully sprinklered building, including within occupancies that require Class I otherwise. I agree that this isn't a profound hazard; what potential sources of ignition will be present in the normal use and occupancy of this facility? Would such potential heat and/or ignition points sustain heat long enough to compromise the non-flammable turf layer and involve the rubber dust?
We're currently designing sprinklers in a warehouse that is accessory to a tire manufacturing plant, so I just looked at Chapter 15 earlier this week. The client is storing palletized raw rubber blocks and finished treads and harvested rubber waste in tiny pebble and granular form, stored in 4' high sacks, single course on pallets. So for the rubber waste we go to the decision tree in Chapter 15 to find that less than 5' in height doesn't even register. Here, you have what - less than an inch of this stuff? Your concerns are very well-placed but don't overthink it. I'd be more concerned about the allegedly carcinogenic properties of rubber dust. Steve L. -----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of å... .... Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 8:42 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Indoor Soccer Facility and combustible flooring Generally, very generally speaking, if the floor is involved and contributing significantly to a fire, there are real problems. That does not mean, by most means, that floors do contribute significantly to fires. Floors usually do not contribute significantly to fires, even with combustible material. Years back (15 years), I remember NFPA 101 was considering relaxing their flame spread rating on flooring in exits, because floor material is usually so inconsequential, to a fast growing fire. NPFA 101 may well have relaxed their requirements; I didn't follow up on the results. There was reason for this consideration on relaxing the prescriptive performance of flooring. By the time the floor became significantly involved, the fire has usually already defeated whatever suppression system was supposed to control it. By the time flooring significantly contributes to most non-arson fires, the other combustibles are already well off and their pyrolysis is pushing the fire in the direction of flashover. Flashover is not a real risky proposition on a very large open space such as a soccer/football pitch with few combustibles at elevated levels above the floor. My overall consideration of this seemingly hazardous situation, is that it is not as hazardous as your fears imagine it to be. Sure, if someone comes in and pours gasoline on a large area of the ground up tire inlay, there could be a large initial fire. But if you believe at full occupant load that evacuation can reasonably occur in 4 minutes (or well before a hazardous layer envelopes building occupants), then I would sleep sound at night with the 0.2/1,500 sprinkler system you have described for this situaiton. Yes, this decision is accepting a risk. The Dutch accept (and have the courage to publish the acceptance) of killing ~1,500 people by sea levee failure, with the likelihood estimated in the 1 in 40,000 range. Short of a arson situation, I think the risk of death by fire-in-tiny-spheres of ground-tire to be significantly less than this risk accepted by the Dutch, both in terms of likelihood of occurrence and in terms of final death count. The Dutch are, in my opinion, world-class leaders in risk acceptance and likelihood estimation. If you are looking for some peace-of-mind, ask for two samples of the flooring. Burn the samples in a worse-case scenario (corner configuration). You will have trouble igniting the rubber spheres. Sprinkle gingerly with gasoline and attempt re-ignition. Remember though that small scale tests do NOT duplicate real-scale fires. Small-scale fires often underestimate the fire growth rate and size. My apologies for a brusque treatment of a sensitive subject (fire deaths), but this is where the rubber meets the road. Scot Deal Excelsior Risk/Fire Engineering gsm: +33 (0) 64.96.67.44.46 Chris Ellsworth Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 10:03 AM Subject: Indoor Soccer Facility We were contracted to do a few add/relocates on an existing concrete tee construction facility. A flag was thrown up once we found out what was being installed for this tenants flooring. They are using an astro turf type field. The problem isn't with the turf itself. It has undergone extensive testing to prove that it is not flammable. The problem is with the inlay. They have used the type of inlay you would see on an outdoor facility which is ground up tires. I have checked with the plant manager who supplied their product and they do not use any type of a fire proofing spray on the product. Essentially it is ground up tires. We have a deck height of approximately 16 feet and it is double tee concrete construction. The fire marshal and my concern is that the existing sprinkler system can not handle this type of fire. I have already calced it and the best the system could do is a .2/1500. This gives a 13 lb safety. Has anybody dealt with anything close to this on an indoor facility and should we be concerned with this inlay? Thanks in advance. _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org -- Amo a los que puede sonreír a sus problemas, que puede tomar fuerzas de sus angustias, y crecer valiente entre reflejo. Es el negocio de las mentes pequeñas a disminuir, pero cuyo corazón está firme, y cuya conciencia aprueba su conducta, continuarán sus principios hasta la muerte - da vinci Scot Deal MSc Fire Protection Engineer/BSc Chemical Engineering Chartered Engineer EU Schengen Chartered Chemical Engineer, Engineers Australia Licensed Fire Protection Engineer, Oman FPE/PE USA gsm: +00 33 (0)649 667 446 _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
