MFB-Post Incident Analysis Lacrosse Building Docklands, Melbourne
of 124
date post
07-Aug-2018Category
Documents
view
234download
5
Embed Size (px)
Transcript of MFB-Post Incident Analysis Lacrosse Building Docklands, Melbourne
8/20/2019 MFB-Post Incident Analysis Lacrosse Building Docklands, Melbourne
1/124
Lacrosse Docklands
673-675 La Trobe Street, Docklands 25 November 2014
Fire Safety
“Reducing the
incidence and
impact of
fire in the
community”
MFB Burnley Complex
450 Burnley Street
Richmond VIC 3121
Post Incident
Analysis Report
8/20/2019 MFB-Post Incident Analysis Lacrosse Building Docklands, Melbourne
2/124
DocCentral # 1009072 Page 2 of 124
DISCLAIMER
The Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board and its employees make no representation as to the completeness, accuracy or suitability for any purposes of the
statements; information and opinions contained in this document and recommend thatany person reading the documents conduct their own investigations and/or seek their own independent advice in relation to the matters contained in it .
The Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board and its employees accept no responsibility for any loss or damage, whether di rect or consequential, suffered by any person as the result of or arising from the reliance on the statements, information or opinions in th is document.
The MFB is subject to the Information Privacy Principles in the Information Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014. Pursuant to that Act the MFB note that this document may contain personal info rmation and as such request that you do not discuss or distribute the contents of this report outside your organisation without first discussing this with the MFB.
Furthermore, it is not the intention of this report to pass judgement on, or fi x liability for, the loss of property or the effects upon the occupants, following the fire.
COPYRIGHT
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means–electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise–without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Copyrighted materials reproduced herein are used under the provisions of the Copyright Act (1968) as amended, or as a result o f application to the copyright owner.
8/20/2019 MFB-Post Incident Analysis Lacrosse Building Docklands, Melbourne
3/124
DocCentral # 1009072 Page 3 of 124
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. 5
1. BUILDING USE AND DESCRIPTION ................................................................................ 7
2.
INSTALLED FIRE SAFETY EQUIPMENT ......................................................................... 8
3. FIRE INCIDENT EVENTS................................................................................................ 11
4. FIRE CAUSE AND ORIGIN ............................................................................................. 14
5. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ASSESSMENT ................................................................. 21
6. ISSUES ............................................................................................................................ 26
6.1. External Wall Cladding (Alucobest) Rapid fire spread............................................... 26
6.2. Use of Combustible External Wall Cladding on Type A construction ........................ 27
6.3. Building Material Design, Selection and Installation .................................................. 28
6.4. High Occupancy Rate ............................................................................................... 29
6.5. Mass evacuation necessary due to fire development and spread ............................. 29
6.6.Emergency Warning and Intercommunication System (EWIS) was compromised .... 30
6.7. Sprinkler System operated well beyond its designed capability ................................ 31
6.8. Sprinklers were not required on the balconies under the BCA. ................................. 32
6.9. Maintenance Issues .................................................................................................. 33
6.9.1. Fire extinguishers not accessible .................................................................... 33
6.9.2. Apartment Smoke Alarms tampered with. ....................................................... 35
7. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 36
8. RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................... 38
APPENDIX 1 - Municipal Building Surveyors Report ................................................................. 42
APPENDIX 2 - Summary of Fire Call Log and FIP Log ............................................................. 90
APPENDIX 3 - CSIRO Combustibility Test Report .................................................................... 92
APPENDIX 4 - Schedule of MFB Reports & Consents (Building Regulations) .......................... 93
APPENDIX 5 - Apartment Exhaust and EWIS Systems ............................................................ 94
APPENDIX 6 - Wiring Diagram for EWIS ................................................................................... 95
APPENDIX 7 - Level 8 Smoke Detection and EWIS Speaker Locations ................................... 96
APPENDIX 8 - Sprinkler / Fire Hydrant Design .......................................................................... 97
APPENDIX 9 - Sprinkler Flow Switch Activation Sequence ....................................................... 98
APPENDIX 10 - Exhaust Duct and EWIS Speaker .................................................................... 99
APPENDIX 11 - Cascading evacuation system designed........................................................ 101
APPENDIX 12 - Similar International Fire incidents ................................................................. 102
APPENDIX 13 - Media Reports ............................................................................................... 106
APPENDIX 14 - MFB Fire Call History..................................................................................... 107
TABLE OF CONTENTS
8/20/2019 MFB-Post Incident Analysis Lacrosse Building Docklands, Melbourne
4/124
DocCentral # 1009072 Page 4 of 124
Post Incident Analysis Details
Point of Interest: Rapid external fire spread in a high-rise apartment building resultingin a mass evacuation
Report No: 1403134A
Incident No: FC 141115657
Date of Incident: 25 November 2014
Time: 02:24
Site/Building Name: Lacrosse Docklands
Address: 673-675 La Trobe Street
Suburb: Docklands
Municipality: Melbourne
Building Use: Residential, Retail and Car Park
BCA Classification: 2, 6 7a
Type of Construction: Walls: Masonry, concrete & Dry Wall Floor: Concrete Roof: Concrete and metal
Storeys Contained: 23
Net Floor Area: 21,600m2
Fire Sprinklers: Yes
Alarm System: Hard wired smoke alarms Mandatory: Yes
Smoke Detection: AS1670.1 (Addressable) and AS 3786 smoke alarms
Fatalities: Nil
Injuries: Nil
Estimated Loss: $5,000,000.00 (estimate only)
Number of Occupants: Approximately 400
Supposed Cause: Discarded cigarette
Area of Origin: Apartment 805 balcony, Level 8
No. of Fire-fighters involved: 122
8/20/2019 MFB-Post Incident Analysis Lacrosse Building Docklands, Melbourne
5/124
DocCentral # 1009072 Page 5 of 124
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Post Incident Analysis (PIA) provides a detailed account of the fire incident that occurred at the Lacrosse building on 25 November 2014.
It includes information compiled by MFB Fire Safety Officers investigating the sequence of fire events, the suitability of building materials used in construction, performance of installed fire safety equipment, evacuation of the building and fire causation.
The main observations are:
• External wall cladding (Alucobest) rapid fire spread.
• Use of combustible external wall cladding on Type A construction.
• Building material design, selection and installation.
• High occupancy rate.
• Mass evacuation necessary due to fire development and spread. • Emergency Warning and Intercommunication System (EWIS) was compromised.
• Sprinkler system operated well beyond its designed capability.
• Sprinklers were not required on the balconies under the Building Codes of Australia (BCA).
• Maintenance Issues:
o Fire extinguishers not accessible.
o Apartment smoke alarms tampered with.
The PIA also includes a report from the Municipal Building Surveyor (MBS) addressing occupancy rates in Class 2 buildings and the product accreditation process. For the full MBS
report see Appendix 1.
Fire Call 15657
At 02:24 hours on Tuesday morning 25 November 2014, MFB fire crews responded to an exchange call for a reported apartment fire at 673 - 675 La Trobe Street, Docklands.
When the first fire crews arrived on scene a
