General Topics in Emergency Planning Specific case of the Unesco Zone in Brussels (Grand Place)
30th July 2004 Great Industrial Disaster in Ghislenghien Gaz explosion : a civil engineering machine scratched a 80 bar gaz pipe during the construction of an industrial site 1 of the 2 gaz pipelines that connect Norway to south Europe 24 persons died : mainly workers and firefighters 132 persons were burned and mutilated Belgium decided to legislate about emergency planning
The civil security and the cycle of the risk The civil security includes " all the measures and the necessary civilians means to help and to protect in all time, the persons, their goods and their living space ". Previously, the civil security was mainly based on the management of emergency situations (during their emergence) From now on, it takes place on in the wider context of the cycle of the risk.
The cycle of the risk Lessons learned Restoring Previously Crisis Management Identification Prevention The risk cycle Preparation
Definition : Emergency Planning The emergency planning consists in : determining the actions and the mechanisms of coordination during the emergency situation being able to mobilize, as soon as possible, the means in human beings and materials(equipments) organizing the necessary help for the protection of the population and goods
Definition : Emergency situation Emergency situation is an event that causes or may cause fatal consequences for the social life Disturbation of law and order Important threat against human life and/or health Important threat against important material interests (= historical locations)
Who are the actors of the emergency planning? D D D 1 : Fire Brigade Missions to bring under control the emergency situation to look for, liberate, help, save and secure persons and goods 2 : Medical discipline Missions to create the medical chain, certify death, transporte the victims to provide the medical and psychosocial cares 3 : Police Missions to secure and restore order and law, identify the bodies to install, indicate and keep under surveillance the security perimeters D 4 : Logistic D 5 : Communication + The authority (Mayor, Governor, Minister) + The official in charge with the Emergency Planning
How does function the emergency planning? Each authority has to create a security unit composed of : The Mayor (Authority- President) The Official in charge of the Emergency Planning D1 : Director of Fire Brigades D2 : Director of Medical discipline D3 : Director of Police D4 : Director of the Logistic discipline (Civil Protection Army) D5 : Director of the communication Experts In case of emergency situation the Security Unit will be called Emergency Committee (Strategic decisions) In case of overflowing towards others municipalities or provincies the decision goes to the upper level (municipality province Federal State)
Description of the UNESCO zone A few dates : 1936 : City Hall & The King s House 1977 : The houses of the GrandPlace (housefronts and roofs) 1998 : Inscription on the World Heritage List Unesco (creation of the buffer zone) 2002 : Inside of the houses of the Grand-Place 2001 2003 : Houses from the XVII & XVII century in the buffer zone 25 % of the Grand-Place belongs to the City of Brussels
Îlot Sacré ( Sacred urban island) The King s House (Museum) City Hall Police Station The Costum and Lace Museum
The City Hall First stone placed in 1444 Offices Mayor and Aldermans Formal and informal meetings Weddings Exhibitions 4 floors and cellar floor interiors fully in wood The prevention is based on : central fire detection with 314 ionics detectors (combined with the King s House) and 33 sirens alert installation (with copying to the Police Station) presence 24h/24 of security guards lightning conductors extinction materials compartimentation first intervention & evacuation teams evacuation signalisation
The City Hall Nevertheless we had two fires! The first on 31th december 1996 around midnight Fire at 23:45 Alert at 23:47 Departure at 23:50 arrived 23:52 When the fire brigade arrived the fire was extinguished by Policemen who arrived within the 2 minutes! Fire due to technical default of a electrical heater Decisions : Control of all the household electricals appliances Interdiction of electrical heating systems (renovation central heating system)
The City Hall The second fire happened on the 5 th december 2007 A technician in charge of the sound & light show on the GrandPlace left a sodium spotlight switched on, against a wooden framework under the roof Alert alarm Departure Arrived 21:34 21:37 21:39 3 m² slate roof destroyed (fireman s ladder + 1 m³ water) Decisions : All the Sound & light show installation has been changed into Led technology
The King s House Result of a reconstruction during the 19th century to achieve the Grand-Place renovation. Museum of the City. 3 floors and cellar floor interior fully in wood The prevention is based on : central fire detection with 83 ionics detectors (combined with the City Hall) and 6 sirens alert installation (with copying to the Police Station and the security guards in the City Hall) lightning conductors extinguishing materials There is no compartimentation (because of the urbanistic protection) first intervention & evacuation teams evacuation signalisation
The King s House
The King s House
Costum and Lace Museum Situated on the buffer zone line Composed of 5 differents houses, only 2 fronthouses are urbanisticaly protected Completly renovated with fire detection installation, alert installation, fire extinguishers (water + additive), fire hydrants
Costum and Lace Museum
Grand- Place More than 100 days of occupation/year for the events (outside) Concerts (Classical, Jazz, ),Flower Carpet Historical Costumed Representation, Folklorical activities, recordings of TV programmes Security conditions are strong (no gaz for cooking, no fireworks, security corridors min 4 mbetween the temporary installations, escape exits
Îlot Sacré ( Sacred urban island) Historical site with very small streets (some dead-ends) Great concentrations of restaurants (more than 100), tavernes, commercial galleries, cinemas Great congestion of terraces Massive presence of tourists
Îlot Sacré ( Sacred urban island) What has been done! Concertation between disciplines (Police Fire Brigade - ) The passage on the field with Fire Brigade vehicules has been tested Urban furniture has been moved away
Îlot Sacré ( Sacred urban island) The area has been divided in evacuation sectors and an evacuation map with meeting points has been realized
Îlot Sacré ( Sacred urban island) The biggest challenge for all intervention teams is mobility! The buffer zone has been completly traffic isolated (pedestrian area) by means of steel posts to provide free access to the intervention teams (posts can be remoted-controlled by the police)
Conclusions The fire protection of the Unesco zone is based on : Interior fire detection installations (public & private) Quickness of the fire brigade (max 5 min) Rapid deployment of police (Police Station in the Unesco zone) Optimization of the mobility Exercising the evacuation (1/year) Collaboration and coordination between services Planning the protection of patrimonial works of art and the «secret weapon» of Brussels
I thank you for your Attention! The famous Manneken-Pis