Relevant Fire Projects from November 2024
Stadiums and arenas are transforming into multifunctional spaces, offering more than just spectator events. The shift towards year-round usability includes hosting conferences, banquets, private events and various other activities. The multi-purpose use introduces a range of hazards that demand the expertise of design teams and fire-safety engineers, extending beyond the traditional challenges associated with large assembly spaces.
Stadiums now place a premium on crowd safety, incorporating features such as ample entrances and exits, major incident plans (MIPs) and the use of non-combustible construction materials like concrete and steel. International safety standards provided by organizations like the International Building Code (IBC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) guide these design choices, ensuring a consistent and globally recognized benchmark for safety. Reference to the relevant local building codes, Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) requirements and safety regulations must be acknowledged within stadium design along with involvement with all relevant stakeholders.
Last month, we delivered a new fire water pump package for a Sports Arena in Latin America:
- 1 Electric pump 500 GPM@169 psi
- 1 Diesel pump 500 GPM@169 psi
- 1 Jockey pump 7 GPM@181 psi
- UL/FM Approved Fire Pump
- FM Approved Control Panel
- 300 Gallons Double Wall Tank UL-142
Click here to get more information about our Pre-packaged Fire Suppression Systems
The Great Chicago Fire
The Chicago fire disaster, which began on October 8, 1871, and raged until early October 10, devastated a significant portion of the city.
In the mid-19th century, Chicago experienced remarkable growth, with the population soaring from around 30,000 in 1850 to nearly triple that figure just a decade later. Affordable transportation encouraged middle-class families to move to the outskirts, while poor neighborhoods near downtown became overcrowded. Many structures in these areas were built of wood, making them particularly vulnerable to fires. However, none could compare to the blaze that ignited on October 8. Months of drought had parched the landscape, and the intense heat, combined with a major fire the previous night, had exhausted firefighters and damaged their equipment.
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The Great Chicago Fire began on the city’s West Side, in the De Koven Street barn of the O’Leary family, though it is not known the real cause of how the blaze started. Misdirected fire equipment arrived too late, and a steady wind from the southwest carried the flames and blazing debris from block to block. The slums became kindling for the downtown conflagration, where even the supposedly fireproof stone and brick buildings exploded in flames as the destruction swept northward. Only rainfall, the lake, and stretches of unbuilt lots on the North Side finally halted the wave of destruction on the morning of October 10.
The Chicago fire, the most famous in American history, claimed about 300 lives, destroyed some 17,450 buildings covering almost 3.5 square miles (9 square km), and caused more than $200 million in damage. Roughly one-third of the city laid in ruins, and an equal proportion of the population, nearly 100,000 people, was homeless.
While the fire had devastated the downtown and North Side of Chicago, the stockyards and lumberyards on the South and West sides remained intact. The city rebuilt quickly, and by 1880 its population had reached a half million. A new generation of even taller downtown buildings became under construction. Department stores and offices crowded into the central area, and industrial growth along the river branches and rail lines grew rapidly.
Since 1922, the NFPA has sponsored the public observance of Fire Prevention Week. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in our country. During Fire Prevention Week, children, adults, and teachers learn how to stay safe in case of a fire. Firefighters provide lifesaving public education in an effort to drastically decrease casualties caused by fires.
A wildfire is an uncontrolled burn of plant life, including the burning of savannas and forests, grasslands, shrublands, and croplands. Wildfires sometimes are caused by human activity like unattended fires and the loss of control of planned burns, but also by natural causes, such as lightning.
The proliferation of wildfires is determined by a range of elements, such as the amount and types of dry vegetation in the surrounding area, wind direction and speed, moisture levels, and heat. The amount of area burned by wildfires and the impacts on ecosystems, is driven by a combination of weather patterns, human activity, the management of plant life and landscapes, and responses to suppress their spread.
Everyone is affected by wildfires both directly and indirectly. In recent years, several people have died directly from the wildfires. Also, more than ten thousand people have been evacuated, or in some cases, permanently displaced from their homes. Wildfires also emit pollution and carbon dioxide and damages our health.
To track the sequence of wildfires over the years and understand historical trends in these fires, scientists have used satellite imagery obtained from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite), the NASA and UN´s space program working together in a joint initiative.
Relevant Ruhrpumpen´s Fire Projects from October 2024
The VTP pump line is specifically designed for operation in wells or sumps. Its bowl assembly features a suction case or bell, one or more pump bowls, and a discharge case. This assembly is positioned at an appropriate depth in the sump or well to ensure proper submergence. These vertical turbine pumps, available in both single and multi-stage configurations, are ideal for firefighting applications. They are UL listed and FM approved for suction lift conditions and can be powered by either diesel or electric drive.
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The vertical turbine portrayed above is a Ruhrpumpen VTP model size 20C-600, with a rated flow of 3,500 gpm, equipped with a noise enclosure to provide noise attenuation to the engine as well as protection from the environment.
Applications: Commercial, municipal and residential high-rise buildings, Large industrial premises and storage warehouses, Offshore and remote facilities, Airports, Power stations.
CHARACTERISTICS
- Stuffing box machined with bushing to guide shaft
- Discharge head provides support for motor and entire pump
- Column connections can be flanged or threaded with coupling
- Bearings available in a variety of materials
- Line shaft couplings machined from solid steel stock
- Column assembly manufactures in-plant to ensure accurate fit
- Sleeve bearings to provide long life and low friction
- Enclosed impellers designed for long life and high efficiency
- Standard tapered collets to secure impeller to pump shaft
- Suction bowl that provides rigid support of the lower end of the pump shaft
- Strainer to prevent entry of foreign objets into pump suction
- Diesel or electric driven
Ruhrpumpen's vertical turbine fire pumps are available as single pumping units or complete pre-packaged fire systems (with or without enclosure). See more details of the VTP Pump doing click here.
A man watches a fire in a sugar cane plantation near Dumon city, São Paulo, Brazil, on 24 August 2024
Extreme heat across parts of Brazil this week with temperatures about 5C to 10C above the 1991 to 2020 average. Daytime temperatures will reach 35C to 40C in parts of the Central West region, affecting cities such as Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Manaus. This great heat is likely to continue into next week, with temperatures above 40C possible in places.
This heat will amplify the risk of wildfires that have been raging across parts of Brazil, especially across the Amazon rainforest, Cerrado savanna, Pantanal wetlands and the southern state of São Paulo. Local reports say these fires have been exacerbated by high temperatures, strong winds and low relative humidity, with São Paulo and the Amazon suffering the worst fire season in decades.
Over the past week, 2,700 fires have ripped through São Paulo state, and authorities say more than 59,000 hectares (146,000 acres) have been destroyed by the fires. Brazil’s largest sugar group, Raizen SA, has estimated that about 1.8tn tonnes of its sugarcane have been affected by the fires, about 2% of its total forecasted crop for the year.
People in the region have been reporting coughs, a burning sensation at the back of their throats, and reddening of their eyes from smoke in the area. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there have been 53,620 fire spots in the Amazon between 1 January and 27 August this year – an 83% increase on the same period last year.
Relevant Ruhrpumpen´s Fire Projects
Offshore fire suppression application.
The pumps were supplied in a packaged, open skid configuration, with integrated systems such as:
- Common baseplate for pump driver and accessories.
- Pre-wired UL&FM pump controllers.
- Discharge piping with non-return valve.
- Air release and vacuum breaker valve.
- Main relief valve & waste cone.
- Fuel tank along with supply and return lines.
- Pressure sensing lines.
- Cooling lines for diesel engine and right-angle gear drive.
- Primary electric starting system with dual battery banks.
- Secondary pneumatic starting system, inclusive of air accumulator.
The pumps were delivered to an offshore platform in the Gulf of México. When emergencies occur, it’s better to be prepared. One more customer that relies on the efficiency of our firefighting equipment. The Oil & Gas Industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation, and marketing of petroleum products.
The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline. Oil is crucial to the global economic framework, impacting everything from transportation to heating and electricity to industrial production and manufacturing.
Contact Ruhrpumpen for any of your urgent pumping needs… we are here to help you! Find more information about our Fire Pumps and Systems here.