Rapport

124

FFI-RAPPORT 16/00707

incident occurs in the middle of the working day, but it takes several

hours before the fire department alerts the Piql personnel and orders

them to evacuate as quickly as possible. Before they leave, they activate

the oxygen reduction suppression mechanism inside the piqlVault.

Vault description

The scenario takes place while the piqlFilm is in storage in the

piqlVault. The vault is placed in the lower floors of the National

Archive building. Underneath the building there is a mountain

repository with the highly rare documents, but for the purposes of this

scenario we analyse the piqlFilms in the building aboveground, as the

films placed in the mountain hall would be completely safe from the fire

and extreme temperatures.

The vault is regulated through ventilation to uphold the ISO standards

governing levels of humidity and temperature, but the day itself is very

hot.

Local safety

measures

All safety measures required by Piql AS are in place, see section 5.5.1

for details. Of special notice here: the oxygen reduction suppression

solution is in place and activated during the incident, but there is a

limited supply of the oxygen restricting gas to suffocate the fire.

Local security

measures

All security measures required by Piql AS are in place.

Consequences

Outer building

The physical infrastructure of the building and the storage room are

severely affected by the fire, though there are some remedying factors

which help the situation. Due to the building’s location on the outskirts

of the forest, it takes some time for the fire to spread out to the forest

edge. Once it does, however, the fire spreads quickly from the

vegetation to the building structure. Another positive thing about the

location of the building is that it is more easily accessible to the fire

department than it would have been had it been located deeper into the

forest. Additionally, the construction is made of cement/brick, so it does

not burn to the ground.

Vault

The parts of the piqlVault system which are touched by fire are highly

affected by increase in temperature and the flames themselves. As the

piqlVault is placed on the lower floors of the National Archive, it is

easily accessible to the fire. Even though the piqlVault is equipped with

the oxygen reduction suppression mechanism, the forest fire persists to

the point when the supply of the oxygen restricting gas is depleted.

Once the fire is allowed to spread to the piqlVault, and the grid is

subjected to the flames, the structural integrity of the aluminium grid

collapses completely, as the exposure to the fire is prolonged. The

aluminium in the grid has a melting point of between 600 and 660°

Celsius. The aluminium will not burn, but it will melt. However, this