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Fire Suppression Systems. Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster (NIST NCSTAR 1-4B) ***DRAFT for Public Comments***

Published

Author(s)

M Hopkins, J Schoenrock, E K. Budnick

Abstract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducted a building and fire safety investigation of the World Trade Center (WTC) disasters. The work documented in this report was performed in support of the investigation of active fire protection systems. Specifically, this effort involved documentation and evaluation of the automatic sprinkler and standpipe/pre-connected hose systems and their associated water supplies in WTC 1, 2, and 7. An extensive literature review was performed in order to document the installed fire suppression features. Hydraulic analyses were performed to provide estimates of the baseline capabilities of the suppression systems as well as capabilities under different fire incident scenarios, including the events of September 11, 2001. In general, the installed water supplies, automatic sprinkler, and standpipe/pre-connected hose systems in WTC 1, 2 and 7 met or exceeded the capabilities of systems typically installed to protect high-rise office buildings. The sprinkler systems were capable of providing adequate water densities to areas as much as two or three times the typical design areas. Based on initial building damage estimates, the sprinkler and standpipe systems sustained considerable damage in the impact areas of WTC 1 and WTC 2. However, even if the sprinkler systems had remained fully operational and had been designed to protect higher hazard levels (e.g., Extra Hazard), the size, number, and extended area of the initial fires would have opened a large number of sprinklers, involving floor areas significantly larger than those associated with the required water demand for the design area associated with the installed systems.
Citation
National Construction Safety Team Act Reports (NIST NCSTAR) - 1-4
Report Number
1-4

Keywords

World Trade Center, high rise buildings, building collapse, disasters, fire safety, fire investigations, terrorists, terrorism, fire hoses, hydraulic analyses, spray density, sprinkler systems, standpipes, fire suppression, water supply, codes, standards, sprinklers, evaluation, scenarios

Citation

Hopkins, M. , Schoenrock, J. and Budnick, E. (2005), Fire Suppression Systems. Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster (NIST NCSTAR 1-4B) ***DRAFT for Public Comments***, National Construction Safety Team Act Reports (NIST NCSTAR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=909069 (Accessed March 28, 2024)
Created September 1, 2005, Updated February 19, 2017