In designing tube houses, townhouses in urban areas, people often pay attention to usable area, distribution of rooms, and other facilities, but few people think about emergency exit plans.
In less than a week, two serious fires in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have claimed 10 lives. Not long ago, on February 4, 2021, a fire at an inn on Tam Khuong street, Khuong Thuong ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi also caused 4 deaths, including 3 students from Thuy University. Profit. In these cases, houses on fire are in the form of tube houses (also called townhouses). The issue of fire prevention and fighting and escape from the fires in pipe houses needs to be paid careful attention to reduce the damage when there is a fire – especially human life.
Where possible, it is necessary to open the emergency exit at the back or side of the house. The fact is that most of the fires that occur cause loss of life as victims cannot get out of the fire when they first emerge; The reason is the lack of escape routes in the tube houses. Meanwhile, the firefighters and rescuers are very difficult to access these works, especially works in alleyways. The problem of escape in the tube house is very important to be concerned from an architectural perspective, is how easy it is to escape when the incident occurs. Most of the tube houses have the same disadvantage: narrow and deep, small area, little airy, surrounding space is usually close-up high-rise buildings. Therefore, in the design of tube houses and townhouses in urban areas, people often pay attention to the usable area, the distribution of rooms, and other facilities, but few people think about emergency exit plans. The stairs to the roof, if made convenient and easy to use, are also an effective escape route. In addition, due to concerns about theft, and safe use (avoid falling on high), the tube house is often built discreetly with multi-layered lock doors, shielding the facade with flower bricks, bars, nets, Iron cages, windows have iron flowers … so when something goes wrong, there is usually no way out and very easily suffocated. Also due to the specific characteristics of the tube building, this type of construction cannot / difficult to design fire protection according to common standards as well as the installation of fire alarm and fire fighting equipment such as large projects. Therefore, when there is a fire, it often causes very heavy damage to people and property. The emergency exit is really necessary for the tube house and should be seriously viewed from the perspective of architectural design … So where and how to arrange the escape route; and related solutions to minimize the damage in the event of a fire? A balcony is a good escape route while waiting for rescue. – The house should have a balcony, lo-gia: Townhouse should have a lo-gia balcony in front with balustrade. This is an effective escape route. The balcony and the lo-gia are not only an aesthetic part of the project, but also contribute to sun protection, rain protection and a escape area when something goes wrong. In the event of an indoor fire having smoky smoke, this area is also well ventilated to sustain life waiting for rescue. In the case of balconies, lo-houses do not use balustrades, but crank bars, nets … there should be a doorway that opens with a hinge, with a lock so that it can be opened when necessary. – The house should have a terrace and a skylight: The terrace is a large, airy space that helps to effectively escape like a balcony, a lo-gia. Depending on the specific terrain, the person in distress in the rooftop can escape to the next neighbor’s house, or wait for the rescue team to assist. The skylight in the townhouse helps to ventilate and escape smoke straight up when a fire incident occurs, reducing the smoke in the house that causes suffocation. – In the possible conditions for houses with more than one facade, the emergency exit should be arranged behind or on the side of the house, in case it is impossible to get out at the main door, exit at the side door. Key locking systems should be noted for their good performance, simplicity, and ease of operation. – Arranging the emergency staircase to the roof floor: Usually with a tube house, the roof floor is flattened to place the roof water tank; and often have a technical ladder from the terrace or some other area to the roof. This is also an important escape route. But for easy escape, this technical staircase needs to be designed to be convenient to use. Usually, these technical ladders are often made of steel plugged into the wall (monkey ladder) or using an A-type aluminum ladder, but if you switch to having a ladder with handrails, it will be much more convenient. The skylight is not only aesthetic, making the house airy and bright, but also has the effect of escaping. – Arrange for each floor to have at least two emergency exits: One exit to the stairs (up or down) and another escape route (window, balcony, loggia). – The main door, if there is a layer, make the door open outwards (in case possible), it will be easier to escape. Iron pull doors, aluminum rolling doors are not convenient for escape. Indoor doors such as room door, door opening to balcony, doorway, terrace should use a simple locking system, easy to operate; Should use locks with all kinds of latches, not using keys. Currently, some economically capable families have installed fire alarm and fire fighting systems for their family houses (townhouses, tube houses), however this is not common; So the architectural solution is still important. In addition, to ensure safety, families should equip themselves with fire extinguishers (CO2 bottles, powder bottles); and regularly check the positions of doors and emergency exits for easy operation in case of problems; as well as inspect and promptly handle the electrical system to prevent overload and fire. In addition, it is also necessary to have a number of emergency escape aids standing on hand such as: crowbar, hammer, rope … in appropriate positions. And the most important thing is the sense of fire alert, being careful in fire-related activities such as cooking, burning incense, burning votive, smoking … Building an escape scenario is also what. necessary to ensure human life./.
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