SCHOOL SETTING FIRE DESIGN

Writing Assignment 1- School Setting Fire Design

Ahmad Alshatti

FSE 224 Human Behavior in Fire

August 29, 2022

School Setting Fire Design

In the construction of a school, there are several social processes that need to be

considered in order to protect against fires. Some of these social processes include

personal space, territoriality, appropriation, crowding and privacy. Additionally, this

paper will also address design requirements and policies that should be implemented in

the school setting if a fire were to occur.

Personal space is one of the most important considerations when it comes to

designing for fire. Personal space is the distance between one person to the other. In a

school setting, personal space might mean the distance between students, instructors, and

other support staff such as administrators and cleaners. Personal space in schools affects

communication and this determines how fast information spread among the stakeholders

in the school. When designing for fire in a school setting, it is important to determine the

appropriate personal space, which determines the number of occupants in any particular

space such as classroom. This will guide any evacuation plans in case of a fire incident

and also determine how fast the information spreads for evacuation purposes (Cote et al,

2008). For an efficient design, it is crucial to ensure that classrooms and offices in the

school settings maintain an appropriate personal distance such as 18-30 inches (Cote et

al, 2008). This prevents a crowding scenario and ensures that information can easily

spread between people in the case of a fire incident. This makes evacuation easier and

minimizes fatalities.

Territoriality is another important social process to consider when designing for

fire. Humans, just like the other animals, are highly protective of their territory and

attempt to control or defend it. In a school setting, protection of territory may be done
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through fencing the school property, and the use of doors, cards and keys to control

access into classrooms and offices. While territoriality increases security of an area, it

can also be a hindrance in case of a fire incident. Therefore, a proper design should

ensure that the doors could be opened from both inside and outside. In case of

classrooms, the doors can be designed such that they do not require keys to open. In case

of offices that use cards, there should be an override button and spare cards to ensure that

in case of a fire incident, the doors can be easily opened (Robertson, 2005).

Appropriation is another social process that includes personalization and

markings to as to define a particular territory. In a school setting, appropriation may

occur when the teachers, staff or even students consistently and repetitively use an area,

which is then perceived as their own. For instance, the administrative offices are mainly

used by instructors and staff and therefore, students are rarely seen in those offices unless

it for important issues. In an instance where a fire starts in administrative offices and staff

is absent, rescuers should be able to access the offices and put out the fire (Robertson,

2005). Therefore, just like in territoriality, the entry points of the administrative offices

such as doors and windows should be easily open-able. Doors should have spare keys and

cards and an even an override button to easily open them in case of fire (Robertson,

2005).

Crowding is another social process, which needs to be taken into consideration

when designing for fire in school buildings. Overcrowding in schools occurs when

students are crammed into classrooms either due to a high number of students or few

teachers. Crowding can also occur during activities such as entertainment, which draws a

large number of students into a single area. Crowding makes it hard to perform rescue
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operations in case of a fire and may even lead to injuries through trampling. Therefore,

when designing for a new school, crowd management and crowd control should be

considered. The expected number of occupants per space means of communication, the

group behaviour, adequacy of the assembling areas and means of egress and ingress

should be considered for the school when designing for fire (Cote et al, 2008).

The last social process that should be considered when designing for a school is

privacy. Privacy is an individual secludes themselves from other people. Privacy is

usually very crucial in almost all settings including in schools. Privacy in schools might

be achieved in some areas such as washrooms and through the use of lockers where

students can keep their items in secret. In offices, administrators and staff might have

their own private offices and lockers, which are mainly accessible by only them. In rooms

were privacy is required, automatic sprinklers should be installed in order to help fight

fire without invading privacy. Additionally, there should be an override button in these

rooms in case of a fire emergency (Robertson, 2005).

In conclusion, some of these social processes that might affect fire design in a

school setting include personal space, territoriality, appropriation, crowding and privacy

Generally, schools should also have fire extinguishers, fire alarms, emergency lights, and

evacuation maps in very entrance and exit to facilitate easier escape and rescue in case of

a fire incident (Cote et al, 2008). Students should also be regularly taught about fire

safety and fire drills should be conducted often to reinforce the learnt skills.
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References

Cote, A. E., Grant, C. C., Hall, J. R., Solomon, R. E., & Powell, P. A. (2008). Fire

protection handbook. National Fire Protection Association.

Robertson, J. C. (2005). Introduction to fire prevention. Pearson/Prentice Hall.