A nationwide survey conducted by Society of Fire Protection Engineers revealed that only 7% of Americans feel safer from fire in high-rise buildings since the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Because most people will always remember the images of the World Trade Center Towers collapsing, it’s understandable only a small percentage of the population would feel safer in tall buildings,” SPFE Engineering Program Manager Chris Jelenewicz said in a statement. “However, since 9/11, fire protection engineers have increased their scrutiny of extreme events and have significantly improved the science & technology that is needed to make high-rise buildings safer during emergencies.”
In its 2005 World Trade Center report, NIST recommended including fire protection engineers in building design teams in order to prevent future devastation, especially with high rise buildings. The report also recommended significant changes to the way tall buildings are constructed to make them more resistant to fire and more easily evacuated during emergencies. Many of these recommendations resulted in changes to the model building and fire codes. Some of the changes to the way tall buildings are designed and constructed that have occurred since 9/11 include:
- Facilitating more efficient building evacuations
- Improvements in the marking of exits
- Protecting the integrity of stair and elevator enclosures
- Increasing the reliability of fire protection systems
- Improving the installation of structural fireproofing
- Facilitating improved emergency responder operations.
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