Monday, January 30, 2017: 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Fundamentals and Applications
Chair:
Peter Simmonds, Ph.D., Buildings and Systems Analytics
Technical Committee: 9.12 Tall Buildings
The MGM Grand Fire in 1980 created a new thought process and applications on how fire and life safety systems in buildings are addressed. This session provides a description of the 1980 fire and lessons learned as well as an overview of present day fire and life safety codes, especially applications for tall, supertall and Mega-tall buildings.
1 The MGM Grand Fire and What Was Learned
On November 21, 1980, one of the worst fire tragedies in US history happened at the MGM Grand Hotel on the famous Las Vegas “strip.” This fire killed 87 people, and approximately 70% of the fatalities were on the upper floors due to smoke inhalation. This paper discusses the fire including what made this tragedy happen. After this fire, many fire safety improvements have been made including advances in smoke control that would have significantly reduced the death toll.
2 What Are the Latest Fire and Life Safety Codes and Regulations for Buildings, Especially Tall, Supertall and Mega-tall Buildings?
Fire and life safety is probably the most important code compliant factors in modern building design. This presentation reviews the present code regulations and applications and in particular fire and life safety code issues for tall, supertall and megatall building systems.