BSI ID: G 0.1

Fire can cause serious damage to people, buildings and their contents. In addition to direct damage caused by fire, there is also consequential damage, which can have catastrophic consequences, particularly for information technology. For example, damage caused by extinguishing water does not only occur at the site of the fire. It can also occur in lower parts of the building. The combustion of PVC produces chlorine gases which, together with humidity and extinguishing water, form hydrochloric acid. If the hydrochloric acid vapours are distributed via the air conditioning system, this can cause damage to sensitive electronic equipment located in parts of the building far away from the source of the fire. But even ‘normal’ fire smoke can damage IT equipment in this way.

Fires are not only caused by careless handling of fire (e.g. unattended open flames, welding and soldering work), but also by improper use of electrical equipment (e.g. unattended coffee machines, overloading of multiple sockets). Technical defects in electrical equipment can also cause a fire.

The spread of a fire can be facilitated by, among other things:

• Fire doors being held open with wedges

• Improper storage of combustible materials (e.g. waste paper)

• Failure to comply with the relevant fire prevention standards and regulations

• lack of fire alarm systems (e.g. smoke detectors),

• lack of or non-functional hand-held fire extinguishers or automatic extinguishing systems (e.g. gas extinguishing systems),

• inadequate preventive fire protection (e.g. lack of fire barriers on cable trays or use of unsuitable insulation materials for heat and sound insulation).

Examples:

• In the early 1990s, a large data centre in the Frankfurt area suffered catastrophic fire damage, resulting in a complete shutdown.

• Time and again, small electrical appliances such as coffee machines or table lamps are improperly installed or positioned, causing fires.