AIS DISASTER PROTECTION

Fires, floods, windstorms, and earthquakes all tend to have the same basic effects on AIS operations. They cause the physical destruction of the facility and its contents and interrupt normal operations. They also represent a threat to the life and safety of the AIS staff. To illustrate the effects of the physical destruction of a facility, we have selected fire safety. Other causes of disasters include the loss of support utilities and breaches of AIS facility physical security.

FIRE SAFETY

Experience over the last two decades demonstrates the sensitivity of AIS facilities to fire damage resulting in disruption of operations. A number of major losses

Table 4-4.-Threat Matrix Table

have involved noncombustible buildings. In the cases where vital magnetic media tapes were safeguarded and the computer hardware was relatively uncomplicated, rapid recovery was possible, often in a matter of days. However, if a large computer configuration were destroyed or if backup records were inadequate, recovery could take many weeks or months.

Fire safety should be a key part of the AIS facility's security program. It should include the following elements:

l Location, design, construction, and maintenance of the AIS facility to minimize the exposure to fire damage;

l Measures to ensure prompt detection of and response to a fire emergency;

l Provision for quick human intervention and adequate means to extinguish fires; and

l Provision of adequate means and personnel to limit damage and effect prompt recovery.

Facility Fire Exposure

The first factor to consider in evaluating the fire safety of an AIS facility is what fire exposure results from the nature of the occupancy (material) of adjacent buildings and the AIS facility building. Generally speaking, the degree of hazard associated with a given occupancy (material) depends on the amount of combustible materials, the ease with which they can be ignited, and the likelihood of a source of ignition.

The second and third fire safety factors are the design and construction of the building. Five basic types of construction are described in table 4-5, with their approximate destruction times.

Table 4-5.-Estimated Destruction Time by Fire for SelectedConstruction Types

The actual performance of a building will depend not only on the type of construction, but also on design details, such as:

l Fire walls, which, in effect, divide a structure into separate buildings with respect to fires;

l Fire-rated partitions, which retard the spread of a fire within a building;

l Fire-rated stairwells, dampers, or shutters in ducts; fire stops at the junction of floors, and walls and similar measures to retard the spread of smoke and fire within a building; and

l Use of low-flame spread materials for floor, wall, and ceiling finish to retard propagation of flame.

Understand that this discussion is very simplified. However, consideration of these factors as they apply to an existing or projected AIS facility will help to determine the amount of attention to pay to fire safety. Seek the assistance of a qualified fire protection engineer or local base fire personnel in evaluating the inherent fire safety of the AIS facility and identifying hazards.

The fourth factor in fire safety is the way in which the building is operated. Keep in mind that the inherent fire safety of a building can be rendered ineffective by careless operation; for example:

l Fire doors propped open;

l Undue accumulation of debris or trash;

l Careless use of flammable fluids, welding equipment, and cutting torches;

l Substandard electric wiring;

l Inadequate maintenance of safety controls on ovens and boilers; or

l Excessive concentration of flammable materials (AIS facilities, for example, have a particular hazard from the accumulation of lint from paper operations).

The AIS security program should strive, in coordination with the building maintenance staff, to identify and eliminate dangerous conditions. NOTE: This must be a continuing effort and a consideration in the assignment of security management responsibilities. The security inspection plan should include verification of compliance with established standards.

Fire Detection

Despite careful attention to the location, design, construction, and operation of the AIS facility, there is still the possibility of a fire. Experience shows repeatedly that prompt detection is a major factor in limiting fire damage. Typically, a fire goes through three stages. Some event, such as a failure of electrical insulation, causes ignition. An electrical fire will often smolder for a long period of time. When an open flame develops, the fire spreads through direct flame contact, progressing relatively slowly, with a rise in the temperature of the surrounding air. The duration of this stage is dependent on the combustibility of the materials at and near the point of ignition. Finally, the temperature reaches the point at which adjacent combustible materials give off flammable gases. At this point, the fire spreads rapidly and ignition of nearby materials will result from heat radiation as well as direct flame contact. Because of the high temperatures and volumes of smoke and toxic gases associated with this third stage, fire fighting becomes increasingly difficult and often prevents people from remaining at the fire site.

Given the objective to discover and deal with a fire before it reaches the third stage, one can see the limitation of fire detection that depends on detecting a rise in air temperature. For this reason, the areas in which electronic equipment is installed should be equipped with products-of-combustion (smoke) detectors. Such detectors use electronic circuitry to detect the presence of abnormal constituents in the air that are usually associated with combustion.

In designing an effective fire detection system, consider the following points:

Location and spacing of detectors. The location and spacing of detectors should take into consideration the direction and velocity of air flow, the presence of areas with stagnant air, and the location of equipment and other potential fire sites. Note that detectors may be required under the raised floor, above the hung ceiling, and in air-conditioning ducts as well as at the ceiling. It may also be wise to put detectors in electric and telephone equipment closets and cable tunnels.

Control panel design. The design of the detection control panel should make it easy to identify the detector that has alarmed. This implies that the detectors in definable areas (for example, the tape vault, the east end of the 4-20 computer room, and administrative offices) should be displayed as a group on the control panel. In other words, when an alarm sounds, inspection of the control panel should indicate which area or zone caused the alarm. Generally, and preferably, each detector includes a pilot light that lights when the detector is in the alarm state. In some cases there should be a separate indicator light at the control panel for each detector. It is also important to see that the alarm system itself is secure. Its design should cause a trouble alarm to sound if any portion of it fails, or if there is a power failure. Take steps to assure the system cannot be deactivated readily, either maliciously or accidentally.

Personnel response. Meaningful human response to the detection and alarm systems is necessary if they are to be of any value. This means the fire detection system should be designed to assure that someone will always be alerted to the fire. Typically, the computer room staff is expected to respond to an alarm from the AIS facility alarm system. A remote alarm should also be located at another point in the building that is occupied at all times, such as the lobby guard post, security center, or building engineer's station. This provides a backup response when the computer area is not occupied. If there is any possibility the remote alarm point will not be occupied at all times, a third alarm point should be located offsite, usually at the nearest fire station or the command's fire department for the facility.

Maintenance. Proper maintenance is essential to the fire detection system. The nature of smoke detectors is such that nuisance alarms may be caused by dust in the air or other factors. Because of this, there is a tendency to reduce sensitivity of the detectors to eliminate nuisance alarms, with the result that detection of an actual fire may be delayed. To ensure proper operation, see that qualified personnel (a vendor representative, building engineer, or Public Works Center personnel) verify correct operation at the time of installation, and at least once each year thereafter. Furthermore, each fault condition should be corrected immediately. Unfortunately, a common tendency is to turn off the fire detection system or silence the alarm bell, creating the danger that there will be no response if a fire should occur.

In addition to alerting personnel to the presence of a fire, the detection equipment can be used to control the air-conditioning system. There is some support for the view that, upon detection, air-handling equipment be shutdown automatically to avoid fanning the flames and spreading smoke. This is not the best plan, as nuisance alarms will result in needless disruption. The preferred technique is to cause the system to exhaust smoke by stopping recirculation, and switching to 100-percent outside air intake and room air discharge. As a rule, this can be done by adjusting air-conditioning damper controls and their interconnection with the fire detection system. However, it may be necessary to modify the air-conditioning system. The use of either technique is at the discretion of command policy.

Fire Extinguishment

Fire extinguishment may be accomplished using one or more of the following four methods:

l Portable or hand extinguishers. Operated by military or civil service personnel to help control the fire before it gets out of hand.

l Hose lines. Used by military, civil service, or professional fire fighters to attack the fire with water.

l Automatic sprinkler systems. Release water from sprinkler heads activated in the temperature range of 135F to 280F.

l Volume extinguishment systems. Fill the room with a gas that interferes with the combustion process.

To ensure the effectiveness of portable extinguishers, several measures should be observed. Place extinguishers in readily accesssible locations, not in comers or behind equipment. Mark each location for rapid identification; for example, paint a large red spot or band on the wall or around the column above the point where each extinguisher is mounted. It is important for each AIS technical manager to ensure proper inspection in accordance with command policy. Each extinguisher should have an inspection tag affixed to it with the signature of the inspecting petty officer or fire marshal and the inspection date.

In all probability, the AIS facility technical manager will want to establish a first line of defense against fire involvement between the time of notification of, and response by, professional or highly trained firefighters, and will incorporate this as part of the command's Disaster Control Plan. Every command, regardless of size, needs military personnel who are knowledgeable and trained in fire safety. Any practical and effective organization for fire protection must be designed to assure prompt action immediately at the point where a fire breaks out. This usually necessitates every organizational unit or area of a command having a nucleus of key personnel who are prepared, through instruction and training, to extinguish fires promptly in their beginning stage. Such individuals become knowledgeable in specialized fire protection and the systems applicable to the facility in question: how to turn in an alarm, which type of extinguisher to use for which type of fire, and how to use it. Further, such individuals can serve as on-the-job fire inspectors, constantly seeking out, reporting, and correcting conditions that may cause fires. They can help ensure that fire-fighting equipment is properly located and maintained, that storage does not cause congestion that could hamper fire fighting, and that general housekeeping is maintained at a reasonably high level to minimize fire risk.