FIRE DEPARTMENT ACCESS

Fire department access to your facility is an essential element during emergency operations. Specific design criteria are specified in local building and fire codes in order to provide an effective and fast response by first responders. First responders must be able to access all areas of a building as fire or other emergencies can occur anywhere both inside and outside of your facility. Local jurisdictions typically adopt the International Building Code, International Fire Code, NFPA 1 Fire Code, or a combination thereof. These codes have specific criteria that must be met and will be reviewed during the permitting and construction phases of your facility. Your local fire marshal’s office or fire department should be contacted as many jurisdictions have additional or modified code requirements in order to meet their specific operational capabilities.

Types of fire apparatus and fire department capabilities vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Typically, fire departments will have fire engines, which contain various supply hose sizes and lengths. Code criteria will stipulate distance requirements from fire hydrants, fire department connections, access doors, and hose lay distances both inside and outside of your facility. These maximum distance allowances coincide with the strict requirements fire apparatus must meet with regards to minimum amounts of supply and attack hose lines. Another type of fire apparatus is the ladder truck. A ladder truck typically contains a long mounted ladder which can reach long distances along with various portable ladders. The length of a mounted ladder varies but is typically 80120 feet in length. Location of fire department access roads from your facility account for these limitations.

Fire department access roads may consist of public streets, alleys, parking lots, or dedicated access roads. Fire apparatus not only need to be able to travel to their destination, but they need to be able to get close enough to any building to effectively deploy hose lines, access fire hydrants, access exterior doors, and access fire department connections. Fire department access roads must be provided so fire apparatus can drive within 50 feet of at least one exterior door that allows access to the interior of the building. The fire department access roads also need to be located so that any portion of the building or facility is not more than 150 feet from fire department access roads as measured around the exterior of the building or facility. This requirement ensures that first responders can reach most parts of the building with their hose lines. This 150-foot distance can be increased to 450 feet in buildings that are protected with an automatic sprinkler system because the fire risk and endangerment to occupants and fire responders is significantly reduced. This requirement allows for fire departments to deploy preconnected hose lines and access any area of the first floor from the outside of the building without having to extend hose lines and cause delays in operations.

Access

Access roads need to allow adequate access to the building and to allow for fire apparatus to set up and perform emergency operations. Fire department access roads require 20 feet of unobstructed width, 13 feet, six inches of unobstructed vertical clearance, and an appropriate radius for turns in the roads and dead ends for the vehicle’s apparatus to turn around. The minimum width allows for two-way vehicular traffic and for one fire apparatus vehicle to pass while another is working at a fire hydrant or conducting aerial operations while the vertical clearance ensures that fire apparatus can safely pass under power lines, bridges, and other obstructions. Local jurisdictions require fire department access roads to be marked and these marked portions of the fire department access roads are called fire lanes. Fire lanes may be required to be marked with signage and/or painting along curbs and roadways.

Your local jurisdiction should also be contacted with regards to requirements for accessing your facility during off-hour operations. Building key access may be required and many fire departments require Knox Boxes (small, wall-mounted safes) to be installed at specified locations on the outside of your building. This allows for faster access into your facility and helps prevent additional damage to doors and windows. Knox Boxes may also contain other keys for elevator controls, access to specific rooms, card access information, etc.

Fire department access criteria should be discussed during the early stages of your building design, specifically during the civil and landscaping design phases. This prevents issues later on as adding access roads or changing landscapes may be costly and may impact other utilities and building designs. Access roads on properties that have significant grades need to be carefully designed as additional slope limitations are required and may create additional challenges for clear access to buildings.