Chapter 2 <br />Building and Site Design <br />GENERAL <br />The faster the fire service can respond, enter, <br />locate the incident, and safely operate in a build- <br />ing, the sooner they can mitigate an incident in a <br />safe manner for themselves as well as occupants. <br />This chapter contains guidance on this topic for <br />both building site layout and interior design fea- <br />tures. Those preparing design documents such as <br />site plans, civil plans, foundation plans, and archi- <br />tectural layouts would typically use this informa- <br />tion. Building designers desiring to locate fire pro- <br />tection systems features should consult the appro- <br />priate chapters of this manual for further guidance. <br />FIRE APPARATUS ACCESS <br />Properly positioning fire apparatus can be critical at <br />a fire scene. In particular, placing aerial apparatus is <br />critical for positioning of the aerial ladder or elevat- <br />ing platform, which is mounted on top of these <br />vehicles (Figure 2.1). Pumper apparatus also need <br />to get close enough to the building to facilitate hose <br />line use. The location of other specialized appara- <br />tus, or small vehicles, such as chief's cars or ambu- <br />lances, should only be of particular concern to the <br />designer of unusual facilities. For instance, a sports <br />arena may need to be designed for entry of ambu- <br />lances but not fire apparatus. <br />Many structures are situated on public streets <br />that provide fire fighting access. Others, which are <br />set back from public streets, have private fire appa- <br />ratus access lanes or "fire lanes, " for short. These <br />enable fire apparatus to approach the building and <br />operate effectively (Figure 2.2). Fire lanes can be <br />dedicated to fire service use, or can serve ordinary <br />vehicular traffic as well. <br />There are many considerations for both public <br />roads and fire lanes: clear width, clear height, <br />length, turn radius, arrangement, distance from the <br />building, and paving materials. In all cases, the <br />most stringent practicable dimensions should be <br />considered for design, since future apparatus pur- <br />chases or mutual aid apparatus from other jurisdic- <br />tions may exceed the specifications required in a <br />given jurisdiction at any given time. <br />Extent of Access <br />Minimum building access for fire apparatus is a <br />function of the access road reaching to within a cer- <br />tain distance of all portions of the building's first <br />t i <br />v 4 y <br />(Fig. 2.1) Good aerial apparatus access at an apartment <br />fire. This fire lane is wide enough to allow passing even <br />when aerial outriggers are extended, and it is located a <br />proper distance from the building to facilitate aerial <br />operations. <br />(Fig. 2.2) Fire lane dimensions, reprinted with permission <br />from NFPA 2003 Uniform Fire Code Handbook, © 2003, <br />National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA. <br />FIRE SERVICE FEATURES OF BUILDINGS AND FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS 1 1 <br />127 <br />