Fire safety systems within a high-rise rarely get put to the test. That’s why they’re there. That’s the intention, permanent systems are available for something that (hopefully) never happens to this building full of occupants. But if and when an emergency occurs, firefighters need these systems to operate at maximum efficiency. There can be no mistakes, no delays, and certainly no components are frozen shut or installed in a location that proves impractical over time.
Inlet points of dry riser systems are in this category. These external connection points allow a fire crew hose to connect to the system to pump water into the system’s standpipe. It’s not a complicated device, but installation requires the developer to think of something that may not happen for years, if at all.
Location, Location, Location
Take a trip down any commercial stretch and see red or yellow marked locations on the sides of buildings. Some of them are next to the entry doors. Many are around corners or blocked by large planters growing over ten years. Some are even out of reach; some may be too far from a fire engine for practical use.
Location is more important than people care to believe. The inlet needs to be in a practical space for the fire engine to park and connect. This sounds standard, except that loading zones, landscaping changes post-construction and orientation of the building favoring the inlet on the side with the least access can impede connection abilities.
When a crew shows up on the scene, they need to spot this connection point immediately. They will be working under poor visibility conditions, they need to locate the inlet easily, but if it’s behind a unique architectural feature where they can’t get a truck close enough to utilize it, it’s useless.
Getting it on level with the ground is standard practice for good measure. A fire crew needs to access pressurized hoses from their unit; the last thing anyone wants is for them to have to awkwardly angle themselves with equipment in place, using ladders, as they operate under duress.
When a developer employs an inlet dry riser door up to code and at an appropriate location, it shows that they’re thinking about real-world emergency incidents instead of just compliance checks. The door itself needs to operate after years of wear and tear from weather elements, and the internal connections must be protected yet accessible.
Two Ways Are Better Than One
An inlet point has one connection point; in situations where a building has one singular connection point and is square or rectangular, this is fine. However, a two-way breech inlet makes more practical sense. In case a fire crew parks their engine on opposite sides or if an incident occurs requiring another approach, having two connections (one on either side) makes operational efforts that much easier.
This isn’t redundancy; this is functional efficiency as seconds matter when lives hang in the balance. Complicated footprints or corner lot properties merit two-way access configurations; if there’s even a slight chance that an approach could be different due to traffic or other operating vehicles (or even configurations that aren’t readily apparent), a fire unit doesn’t have time to change their entire approach mid-fight; they shouldn’t have to reposition their set-up if this is avoided effectively.
The coupling system itself, those connections that are distinctive but need trained articulation under duress, needs to be applicable to whatever municipality requires such access. Sometimes regions differ; bearing this in mind seems minute until someone tries forcing an incompatible connection during a fire response.
Weather Elements and Longevity
These inlet points live outside for decades and decades exposed to everything without use ever again. Rain, seasonal changes, road salt in climates not meant for salt, sun – all take their toll on materials and operative components of a system. The door that secures this coupling needs protection from weather so that rust doesn’t start on the inside and render useless use on the inside without any way of access opening effectively.
Stainless steel protects but powder coatings increase this resiliency but their existence over time doesn’t matter. The hinges, locks and seals must withstand environmental elements without freezing up or deteriorating. Maintenance visits should involve opening the door and checking no rust has formed inside and no connections have exceeded instead of visual checks from outside of the door.
Corrosion involves the couplings when it comes to actual breech inlet types. If they’re frozen shut or corroded thanks to years of wear, firefighters need to work around what should’ve worked for them in their time of need. Some facilities managers consider these points install-and-forget without regards down the road, defeating their purpose entirely.
Compliance Meets Inconsistencies
The building code illustrates where inlet points must be positioned based on height compared to floor area per level. If these accessibility points meet legal requirements, signed off by a building inspector, no one will hold them accountable during an incident, and rightly so, if they’re ineffective.
However, this is where compliance meets gaps and issues of usability. A building could have inlet points exactly where they need them legally yet poorly placed in positioning relative to others within close proximity, decisions made regarding materials or how the system operates down the line.
Fire safety inspections typically check necessary materials exist and appear functional; they’re not likely to note that an inlet is accessible but needs 120 psi effort behind it to open, hoses are flammable yet functioning yet corroded starting at 90 psi because it wasn’t properly maintained last decade.
Installation Factors That Count
The cabinet or door features must be colored appropriately for local fire service preferences (red is typical) and marked accordingly from all angles (reflective qualities help at night). Inside must appeal from a standard vantage point, not too low/high, but meets requirements once all parties involved are suited and working with hoses for pressure-testing purposes.
Drainage is another issue that can be easily overlooked. Water needs to leak upon testing instead of making a basin which ultimately allows corrosion down the line instead of functional capacity from common sense design features (angled at bases or integrated drainage holes).
Testing happens regularly enough with dry risers but testing doesn’t treat inlet points as they’re meant to be used, they’re more for show than anything else. Having a test pump attached and pressure-tested or used is nice, but nothing like actually doing it as if it were needed on-site for real, especially when you’ve got various members opening various doors instead of just one facilities manager who does it once a year by themselves.
Better testing involves assessing how different members can open the doors (or how many times someone has opened one door all year since); it’s about seeing how couplings reach pressure potential when someone attempts them who’s not overly familiar with positioning nuances since it’s not theirs, they just happen to be responding as the incident dictates.
Better Testing Trains Everyone to Expect Problems Before They Matter
Assessing inlet points realizes potential faults before they matter, a sticky door is one thing during testing, but an issue creating delays while someone works in zero visibility because smoke’s filled up the entire corridor results in a serious safety concern.
Real incidents occur once these inlet points are needed but one would hope better not they ever would be needed because additional questions arise during after-action reports for building fires concerning assessments made, rarely do reports note inlet accessibility as issues with equipment malfunctioning determined effectiveness.
These incidents separate systems installed because someone required them rather than installed with critical thinking behind how/where they’d be most useful, if people put little thought into using them effectively before it mattered, they’d be installed improperly over time with negligent maintenance through the lifespan.
Fire system inlet points aren’t sexy or visible to building occupants, even those who work in buildings where they need to be accessed – they don’t provide aesthetic appeal or daily operations plans, but when they’re needed, they need to function instantly without question.
How systems are installed account for such concerns long before then; therefore, developers/installers must get it right from jump.
Further Reading
