Smoke & Fire Curtains Provide Great Levels of Smoke Containment

Smoke compartments are formed to prevent smoke spreading throughout a building. They must be impermeable to smoke leakage within set criteria, but also offer a level of resistance to heat. In particular protection must be provided to the rapid build up in heat caused by hot smoke hitting the barrier, a scenario in which some types of glass will shatter. BLE curtains provide excellent levels of smoke containment as well as high heat resistance.

Smoke & Fire Curtains Provide External Fire Escape Protection

A number of buildings still utilize an external staircase running down a building to allow escape from each floor. However if the fire is on a lower floor then this means of escape is compromised. The installation of a BLE Curtain with IP rating allows curtains to be installed to the exterior of the windows in the zone of the external escape route providing protection to the stairs from smoke, irradiance of heat and high temperatures as well as naked flames.

Atrium Chimneys & Fire & Smoke Curtains

There are numerous office blocks and department stores that have impressive open atria designs spanning over many floors. To prevent the spread of smoke and fire from one floor to another and to facilitate the rapid extraction of smoke many of these use a roof level access system complemented by an inlet make up air facility and deployment of BLE Curtains around the perimeter edge. Sophisticated control systems allow for the curtains to facilitate these strategies by employing staged and separate deployments, level by level or even curtain by curtain, with multiple alarm inputs being reacted to.

Can Fire & Smoke Curtains Be Used In Elevator Lobbies?

While BLE Smoke & Fire can offer a smoke sealed curtain for the immediate face of any elevator door this may not suit the building fire strategy. It may be required to create a protected lobby in front of a bank of elevator doors. Where this would previously have required the construction of a physical fire and smoke rated partition, a three sided lobby can now be produced using curtains. Again, when not in use there is not physical impediment or restriction but once required a full integrity and, if required, smoke sealed lobby can be created.