Report on Fire Suppression Research for High-Density Storage Facilities

Roberta Pilette Director, Preservation Department Yale University Library

HD Library Facility vs Warehouse

HD Library Facility •Solid shelves spaced 12”-18” apart •Narrow aisles due to size of materials being retrieved •Long-term, homogeneous collections Warehouse •Open rack shelving •Large, open aisles to facilitate palletized delivery & retrieval •Short-term, ever changing materials

HD Library Facility vs Warehouse

Project Development

• June 2005 Informal gathering of preservation librarians to determine next steps Columbia University Library of Congress Harvard University University of Chicago University of Michigan Yale University University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign The informal gathering became an informal consortium

Survey Results

– Identified 51 institutions with high density facilities – Survey conducted February 2006; 51% responded – Questions asked regarding: • Type of facility • Environmental conditions • Age of facility • Construction details regarding the roof, exterior & interior walls and overall size with regards to length, height, width • Tier/shelving configuration • What materials are stored in the facility and how stored • Sprinkler/fire suppression systems

Survey Results

•What is stored and how – Bound items directly on shelf 68% – Mss & archival collections, non-plastic containers 88% – Analog audio disks, mechanical recordings, non-plastic containers 54% – Microfilm/fiche, non-plastic containers 47% – Magnetic media in trays on shelf 67% – Oversize maps & drawings in flat files & shelves 56%

Survey Results

•Storage within the a module – Interfile format types within a module 54% – Mixed formats within a section of shelving, the shelf, or within the range/aisle >33% •Fire Suppression systems – In-rack sprinklers 50% – No in-rack sprinklers 50%

Project Timeline

• July 2006 – Survey results in – Meeting at Yale to establish goals and expected outcomes • May 2007 – FMGlobal approves project – Project and testing design begins; research engineer assigned • Feb 2008 – – Update on first set of tests Lessons learned & reaffirmation of goals • March 2010 – All testing complete – Preliminary results & recommendations presented to consortium • June 2011 – Final Report

Project Goals

• Provide fire protection options for a typical high-bay, high-density storage arrangement • Develop loss mitigation methods to reduce non-thermal damage • If necessary, make recommendations for the future design of high density storage modules

Terminology & Test Array

Longitudinal flue

Aisle

Rack

Sprinkler heads

Transverse flue Overhead view of the shelving arrangement for tests.

The Tests

• Test #1 – In-rack sprinklers at 10 & 19 ft level at each transverse & longitudinal intersection – Ceiling sprinklers – Books in trays on shelves • Test #2 – Sprinklers same as #1 – Books in trays & Archive boxes on shelves • Test #3 – Sprinklers same as #1

BUT

add face sprinklers at 10 & 19 ft level – Books in trays & Archive boxes on shelves

Results & Conclusions

• Smoke detectors in all cases went off prior to the first sprinkler head release.

• The combination of in-rack and ceiling sprinklers provides adequate fire protection.

– Additionally, in-rack sprinklers are effective in reducing the temperature of the racks thereby limiting the possibility of rack collapse.

• By adding

face sprinklers

it is estimated that there is 50% less damage to materials due to fire and water.

Other Findings Along the Way

• Narrow aisles make fire fighting difficult • Amount of material affected even in a small incident is large —remember this is ‘high-density’

Other Findings Along the Way

•Cardboard trays failed quickly -Create falling book hazard -Front of tray with barcode info is lost -Weakened trays could not be used to pull books off shelf

Final Recommendations

• Early detection devices mean faster response and less damage • In-rack & ceiling sprinklers are good but adding face sprinklers provides the best protection • Local fire department needs to be familiar with facility and its potential challenges and hazards • Response & recovery plan are necessary • Considering replacing corrugated trays with something that is non-combustible and will not fail when wet

Many thanks to David Fuller, Kristin Jamison & Mary Breighner at FMGlobal; Tom Gaitley at Copper Harbor Consulting, Inc; and fellow consortium members on this project.

Thank you Contact info: [email protected]