BY ERIC G. BACHMAN
The benefits of gathering preincident intelligence at target hazards cannot be overstressed. Our communities are constantly changing, and we must maintain up-to-date and accurate information on the facilities we protect. Articles in fire service periodicals constantly reinforce the need to gather information on construction types, life hazards, utilities, hazardous materials storage, industrial processes, and so on. There is good reason for this, since some firefighter injuries and deaths can be attributed to the lack of preincident preparedness.
Although preincident intelligence will enhance your knowledge about the hazards of a facility, it is just as important to gather information on situations and systems that will benefit your operations or make some part of your job easier. It is important to understand facility detection systems by knowing what system types monitor which areas. The same goes for sprinkler systems. A properly maintained detection or sprinkler system will greatly aid in our efforts by identifying the location of a fire as well as confining and controlling a fire.
We must identify all systems that will affect our operations. I recently encountered a life safety system with which I was unfamiliar until a recent building renovation project at my workplace. When two wings and a second floor were added to the building, so was a unique life safety medium called an Area of Rescue Assistance (ARA). Curious about what this feature was and how it worked, I researched how this system came to be installed in my workplace.
I first questioned other local fire service professionals, many of whom were unfamiliar with this provision. Further research led me to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),1 which was signed into law on July 26, 1990. I had known of the ADA and recognized some of the access modifications resulting from the legislation such as access ramps and other interior access modifications. I was not, however, well educated on the specifics of the ADA and how it would influence emergency operational considerations.
 1. The ADA is Public Law 101-336, Department of Justice, 28 CFR Part 35. For more information, go to www.ada.gov. Photos by author. |
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The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, programs, services, and goods provided by state and local governments as well as private and commercial facilities. It requires that access requirements be included in new construction, alterations, and renovations to buildings. It also specifies improvements for access at facilities that provide programs, goods, and services to the public, such as a school or theater. The legislation also addresses communication issues concerning people with disabilities. This in-cludes access to public telephones for people in wheelchairs and text telephone technology for people with hearing and speech impairments. As a fire officer, not knowing the ramifications of this legislation could have serious consequences.
An ARA is defined as an area that has direct access to an exit and in which people who are unable to use stairs may safely remain temporarily to await further instructions or assistance during emergencies. Section 4.3.10 of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines, as amended through January 1998, includes the egress specifications regarding ARAs. This section dictates that accessible routes that serve accessible spaces or “elements” shall serve as a “means of egress” for emergencies or connect to an accessible ARA. An “element” as defined in the guide is an architectural component of a building, facility, space, or site such as a door, drinking fountain, or seating area. A “means of egress” is defined as a continuous and unobstructed way of exit travel from any point in a building or facility to a public way. It comprises vertical and horizontal travel and may include intervening room spaces, doorways, hallways, corridors, passageways, balconies, ramps, stairs, enclosures, lobbies, horizontal exits, courts, and yards. ARAs or evacuation elevators may be included; however, “means of egress” does not include stairs, steps, or escalators. The guide defines the location and construction of an ARA as follows:
(1) “A portion of a stairway landing within a smoke-proof enclosure (complying with local requirement).
(2) “A portion of an exterior exit balcony located immediately adjacent to an exit stairway. Openings to the interior of the building located within 20 feet of the ARA shall be protected with fire resistive assemblies having a three-fourths hour fire protection rating.
(3) “A portion of a one-hour fire-resistive corridor (complying with local requirements for fire-resistive construction and for openings) located immediately adjacent to an exit enclosure.
(4) “A vestibule located immediately adjacent to an exit enclosure and constructed to the same fire-resistive standards as required for corridors and openings.
(5) “A portion of a stairway landing within an exit enclosure which is vented to the exterior and is separated from the interior building with not less than one-hour fire-resistive doors.
(6) “When approved by the appropriate local authority, an area or a room which is separated from other portions of the building by a smoke barrier. Smoke barriers shall have a fire-resistive rating of not less than one hour and shall completely enclose the area or room. Doors in the smoke barrier shall be tight-fitting smoke- and draft-control assemblies having a fire protection rating of not less than 20 minutes and shall be self-closing or automatic closing. The area or room shall be provided with an exit directly to an exit enclosure. Where the room or area exits into an exit enclosure which is required to be of more than one-hour fire-resistive construction, the room or area shall have the same fire-resistive construction, including the same opening protection, as required for the adjacent exit enclosure.
(7) “An elevator lobby when elevator shafts and adjacent lobbies are pressurized as required for smoke-proof enclosures by local regulations and when complying with requirements herein for size, communication, and signage. Such pressurization system shall be activated by smoke detectors on each floor located in a manner approved by the appropriate local authority. Pressurization equipment and its ductwork within the building shall be separated from other portions of the building by a minimum two-hour fire-resistive construction.”
Other provisions include size. At a minimum, at least two accessible spaces shall be provided at each ARA with dimensions of at least 30 inches by 48 inches. The ARA shall not infringe on any mandatory exit widths. Per story, the total number of 30-inch by 48-inch areas shall not be less than one for every calculated occupant load of 200 persons served by the ARA. The local authority, however, may reduce the minimum number of 30-inch by 48-inch areas to one for each ARA on floors where the occupant load is fewer than 200. Stairway widths adjacent to an ARA shall have a minimum clear width of 48 inches between hand rails.
The requirements of the ADA include two-way communications between each ARA and the primary entry. The entry control panel shall have both visible and audible signals (photo 1). The fire department or authority having jurisdiction may approve a location other than the primary entry.
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Each ARA shall be identified by an “AREA OF RESCUE ASSISTANCE” sign. In photo 2, this ARA is located in a smokeproof pressurized elevator lobby. It shall include the international accessibility symbol and be illuminated when exit sign illumination is required. The signs are to be installed at all inaccessible exits to indicate the direction to an ARA.
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At each ARA are instructions on the system’s use. During an emergency, a person utilizing the ARA will press the button (photo 3), which will activate both a visual and an audible signal at the primary entry panel (photo 1). On entry, firefighters checking the panel may identify the zone activated. Then, they may communicate directly to that zone to give instructions to the person at the ARA (photo 4). This is all well and good if the fire department knows the system exists and how it works.
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ARAs will impact fire department services, and gathering preincident intelligence on them is essential. Do you have them in your first-due area? Do you know how they work? Are they a part of your preincident intelligence program and training? If the answer is no to one or more of the questions or if you don’t know, then you may be unprepared to deal with or not recognize when you should consider an ARA should there be an emergency at a facility with this type of system.
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Although you may know such a system exists, do you know how it works, where the control panel is (photo 5), and what the location reference for each zone is (photo 6)? For example, at the facility depicted in the accompanying photographs, the entry control panel provides generic zone identifications such as Zone 1 through Zone 8. However, at the entry panel or at the remote ARA stations, is there a reference that correlates that zone number to the specific area? In this case, the fire department will know in which zone a person in need is but not where that zone is in the building. Where exactly is Zone 8? Is it the front second-floor elevator ARA (photo 7)? Or is it the rear basement elevator ARA? When gathering preincident intelligence on this system, ensure that the zone identifications are clear not only on the entry panel but also at each ARA.
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Next to firefighter safety, occupant life safety is the primary concern at an emergency. In most emergencies, we do not know where individuals are located in a building and we have to physically look for them. Knowing that ARAs exist in a building is essential. Including it as part of your department’s search and rescue guidelines and preincident intelligence media and training will increase the chances of a favorable outcome. Not considering it during an emergency may delay occupants’ accountability and jeopardize their safety. The intent of an ARA is to keep people out of harm’s way, but Murphy’s law may also apply. So it is important not to be complacent—i.e., “They will be okay until we get to them.” Not that other search areas should be ignored, but ARAs should be a search and rescue consideration.
Endnote
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The ARA is an important life safety tool and an integral public protection medium. Facility occupants and fire department personnel need to be aware of and trained in them before an emergency, and fire officials must consider them in an emergency. The only way to create awareness of these systems’ existence is through preincident intelligence. ARAs provide a sense of security to building occupants, but these benefits can be realized only if fire officials know they are there and factor them into their emergency plans. If you don’t go out to see what challenges they might present in an emergency, you won’t know how to address those challenges.
ERIC G. BACHMAN, a 21-year veteran of the fire service, is former chief of the Eden Volunteer Fire/Rescue Department in Lancaster County, Pennsyl-vania. He is the hazardous materials administrator for the County of Lancaster Emergency Management Agency and public information officer for the Local Emergency Planning Committee of Lancaster County. He is registered with the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications as a Fire Officer II and Fire Instructor I. He has an associate’s degree in fire science and earned professional certification in emergency management through the state of Pennsylvania. He is also a volunteer firefighter with the Manheim (PA) Fire Department.
