Tuesday 5 July 2005
Fighting fires
Did the title get your attention? No there hasn't been a fire here, but it is a question that I've been asked quite a bit - what would we do if the base burnt down in the winter?
Actually it's a much bigger risk here than you might expect. Although it's obviously very cold, the air is also extremely dry which makes fires more likely to start and helps them to spread. Also, we're basically living in a big wooden box 5 metres off the ground, with generators running on aviation fuel inside. Finally, if a big fire did start, we don't have a source of water sufficient to be used for firefighting as all our water comes from melted snow (which is dug by hand). All this combined with the complete lack of outside help makes fire one of the biggest dangers we face here.
So what do we do about it? Well the first line of defence is to have several independent buildings each with their own power generators. One of the other science platforms has its own generator and water supply and is located 350 metres from the main building. If the main accommodation platform was to burn down that would be where we would evacuate to. After that we would need to restart the generators in the summer accommodation building which is better equipped for living in for any length of time.
Our approach to fighting a big fire is that we don't - everyone just gets out. To help us the bedrooms are at the opposite end of the building to the generators, separated by doors that will close and seal shut automatically if the fire alarm goes off. There is a staircase at each end of the building and we all keep a bag of outdoor clothes in our bedrooms in case we need to leave quickly in bad weather. There are no sprinklers, but the generators are fitted with halon extinguishers and are surrounded by fireproof cases.
If the fire alarm goes off we all gather at the sign out board and use it to check that everyone can be accounted for. The worst case scenario is that someone is missing in a smoke filled part of the building. To cover that possibility we have monthly practice breathing apparatus where we practice putting on all the gear and testing it before use. That gives us 20 minutes of breathable air to use to search for anyone who is missing.
Here I am all ready to go - note the mock fire in the background for added realism.
Posted by simon at 8:00 AM | Feedback (5)