Another reason to back up your files

Every year, nearly 2,000 fires occur that involve electronic equipment rooms or electronic equipment, resulting in approximately $40 million in damages.

Properties wholly dedicated to computer or telecommunications activities are actually a comparatively small part of the U.S. fire problem. From 1990 to 1994, computer and data processing centers annually averaged 29 structure fires, no reported civilian deaths,1 civilian injury, and $1.31 million in direct property damage. All communications, defense, and document facilities combinedincluding defense radio and radar sites, police and fire communications centers, telephone exchanges, and document centers and record repositories-annually averaged 249 structure fires, no civilian deaths, 6 civilian injuries, and $7.21 million in direct property damage.

The larger problem actually occurs in electronic equipment rooms or areas, where more than 1,000 structure fires are reported each year to U.S. fire departments (see Table 1).1,2 Throughout the 1980s, there was a fairly steady decline in such fires, but from 1990 to 1994, the number rose slightly. Civilian deaths have been rare, but it's estimated that four people died in such fires from 1991 to 1994. And from 1980 to 1994, reported civilian injuries ranged from 18 to 96 per year. Though these numbers have varied widely from year to year, with no steady trend, multiyear averages suggest a long-term downward trend. Direct property damage has averaged roughly $30 million a year in recent years.

From 1990 to 1994, an average of 1,179 structure fires originated each year in electronic equipment rooms or areas, resulting in an annual average of 1 civilian death, 36 civilian injuries, and $28.9 million in direct damages. Dwellings, duplexes, and manufactured homes collectively ranked first among properties experiencing these fires, with 178 fires, 4 civilian injuries, and $2.78 million in direct damages. General business offices ranked second, accounting for 139 fires, 3 civilian injuries, and $2.67 million in direct damages, while apartments, with 67 fires, 1 civilian injury, and S0.33 million in direct damages, ranked third. Hospitals ranked fourth, accounting for 62 fires, 4 civilian injuries, and $0.4 million in direct damages.3 No other property group accounted for 2 percent or more of these fires.

Table 2 shows that 541 of the fires that occurred in electronic equipment rooms or areas began in electrical distribution system equipment, accounting for 1 civilian death, 25 civilian injuries, and $10.91 million in direct damages.

"Other equipment," a category that includes electronic equipment, caused another 339 fires, 7 civilian injuries, and $12.51 million in direct damages. Together, these two categories caused 75 percent of all structure fires originating in electronic equipment rooms.

Table 3 breaks these fires down by the equipment involved in ignition. The largest group, accounting for 165 fires, was the one in which no equipment was involved. Fuses, circuit breakers, and other overcurrent protection devices ranked second with 153 fires, while electronic equipment and the fixed wiring of the room accounted for 148 and 137 fires, respectively. These four groups accounted for the majority of the fires and more than half of the associated direct property loss.

Fires starting with electronic equipment

In view of Table 3, it may not surprise you that fewer structure fires start with electronic equipment than start in electronic equipment rooms (see Table 4). Despite considerable year-to-year variation, the trend has generally been downward in the number of fires, while the trend in associated losses has generally been upward.

From 1990 to 1994, an average of 892 structure fires per year started with electronic equipment, accounting for an annual average of 5 civilian deaths, 44 civilian injuries, and $19.13 million in direct damage. Note that these losses are lower than the number of fires and associated property damage originating in electronic equipment rooms but much higher than the number of electronic equipment fires and associated property damage originating in electronic equipment rooms. The two fire problems overlap only slightly, as shown in Table 3. Eliminating the overlap, electronic equipment and electronic equipment rooms combined account for nearly 2,000 fires a year and roughly $40 million annually in direct property damage.

Duplexes and single-family dwellings, including manufactured homes, ranked first in the annual number of electronic equipment fires, with 265 fires resulting in 5 civilian deaths, 15 civilian injuries, and $4.05 million in direct damages. General business offices and hospitals tied for a distant second, followed by apartments.

In September 1991, for example, a passerby discovered a fire in a two-story California office building of wood-frame construction and called 911.

The blaze began when the power unit of a computer processing unit short-circuited. Flames spread from the processing unit through a wall outlet into a concealed wall space, extending above a suspended ceiling and through exterior windows to the second floor.

Three of the firefighters who responded to the alarm were injured when the second floor collapsed over the area of origin, trapping them in burning debris. Fortunately, they were quickly rescued, and the fire was confined to approximately one-quarter of the building. However, the entire building sustained considerable smoke, heat, and water damage, for a loss of $3.75 million.

Fire protection equipment

Of fires that began in electronic equipment rooms for which the performance of the automatic suppression equipment was known, 32 percent occurred in properties where such equipment was present, and the average property damage per fire was 25 percent lower than it was in properties that had no equipment. Of fires starting with electronic equipment in which the performance of the automatic suppression equipment was known, 28 percent were in properties that had such equipment, but the average property damage per fire didn't change.

Sprinklers paid off in a March 1994 blaze at a graphics company printing and office facility in Wisconsin. The fire was started by undetermined causes inside a computer uninterrupted power supply unit in the corner of a computer storage room. The facility was operating with a reduced staff when the water flow alarm sounded. The alarm monitoring company called the fire department.

Firefighters responding to the 351,000-square-foot, single-story, metal-and-block building found that flames had spread from the unit to nearby cables, then up the wall and across the ceiling, where they activated a single sprinkler, which controlled the fire. Water damage pushed total losses to $125,000, but because the building and its contents were valued at $40 million, losses were considered minimal.

Fire officials later said that "if the sprinkler hadn't knocked the fire down, the consequences could have been disastrous."

Of fires originating in electronic equipment rooms for which the performance of the automatic detection equipment was known, 61 percent occurred in properties where such equipment was present, and the average property damage per fire was 16 percent lower than it was in properties that had no such equipment. Of the fires that started with electronic equipment for which the performance of the automatic detection equipment was known, 67 percent occurred in properties that had such equipment, but the average property damage per fire showed no reduction.

Extent of flame and smoke damage

In the majority of fires that began in electronic equipment rooms or with electronic equipment, flame damage was confined to the object of origin. In fires originating in electronic equipment rooms, flame damage was confined to the object of origin in 761, or 65 percent, of the fires. In fires starting with electronic equipment, flame damage was confined to the object of origin in 526, or 59 percent, of the fires. However, in both cases, most of the property damage occurred in fires that spread beyond the area of origin.

For example, flames spreading from an Ohio appliance store's computer room during a May 1994 blaze destroyed the entire building. The store's owners had installed carpeting on the room's wall to reduce the noise caused by the computers and printers, but the carpeting was too close to wall-mounted outlets. Eventually, it pyrolized and started a fire.

The single-story, concrete block building was closed for the night when a passing motorist noticed the fire and called the public safety dispatch center. Firefighters responded at 3:30 a.m. and began an interior attack, but they were forced out by deteriorating conditions. The building, which contained heat detectors but no sprinklers, and its contents, valued at $3.3 million, were a total loss.

Half of the fires that began in electronic equipment rooms and with electronic equipment involved no smoke damage, or the smoke damage was confined to the object or area of origin. Again, most of the property damage occurred in fires where smoke spread beyond the area of origin.

1. Computer equipment and computer areas aren't uniquely identified in the national fire incident databases. Rather, computer equipment is part of a larger category of electronic equipment, which also includes telephone equipment and some other types of equipment, such as radar, x-ray equipment, and transmitters, that factor in only a few select types of properties. Similarly, computer or data-processing areas are coded as part of a larger category of electronic equipment areas, which also includes telephone equipment rooms and telephone booths, control centers, and radar rooms. This statistical analysis, therefore, unavoidably covers all electronic equipment rooms and electronic equipment.

2. Computer equipment, or other electronic equipment, need not be located in a room or area dedicated to such equipment. Conversely, a fire in a room that is dedicated to such equipment need not start with the equipment. For example, fire could start in trash or in the rooms wiring system.

3. Under the definitions, an x-ray room that wasn't an operating room would qualify as part of this category.

For the full report on fires involving computer equipment and computer areas, from which this article was taken, call Nancy Schwartz of the NFPA's Fire Analysis and Research Division's One-Stop Data Shop at (617) 984-7450.

Copyright National Fire Protection Association May/Jun 1997
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