"Fire Insulation Must Be Used to Prevent Risks in Buildings"

"Fire insulation in buildings is a vital precaution we must take" İZODER, which aims to raise awareness among the public and the sector on thermal, water, sound and fire insulation, issued a statement within the scope of 'Fire Safety Week'. Emphasising that fire insulation in buildings is an indispensable requirement for safety, İZODER Chairman Emrullah Eruslu stated: "To protect ourselves from fire in the buildings we inhabit and to be able to safely evacuate the structure in the event of a fire, taking precautions with fire insulation is of vital importance. Fire insulation applications, which are one of the most important safety components of building design and construction processes, should be part of new building and renovation work today." İZODER Board Chairman Emrullah Eruslu made the following remarks in a statement issued for '25 September - 1 October Fire Safety Week': "Fire insulation applications limit the spread of heat and smoke released in fires within the building and enable the safest and quickest evacuation of the structure. Therefore, we should consider fire insulation as an indispensable component of all building design and construction applications.

The risk of fire in our buildings is not as low as assumed

Turkey experiences numerous fire incidents every year. This results in loss of life and injuries, as well as material losses. Statistics from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department, which show that 11,713 fires were responded to in Istanbul as of the end of August 2021, demonstrate the fire hazard we face. When we also consider that combustible items and oxygen are indispensable parts of life and that technological devices capable of igniting combustible materials surround us, these statistics actually show that the probability of fire occurring in our living spaces is not as low as commonly assumed. Spreading fire insulation, by limiting the spread of heat and smoke released in fires, will significantly reduce loss of life and property. Fire insulation should be applied to the walls, ceilings and floors of compartments created to limit the harmful effects of fire and create safe evacuation zones, to areas where installations pass through walls or floors, to ventilation systems and to all structurally necessary points. Fire insulation ensures that building elements withstand fire for certain periods, during which the spread of fire and its harmful effects to other spaces is prevented. In this way, fire insulation allows occupants within the building to safely evacuate the fire area and minimises loss of life and property. In fire-safe building design, structural fire insulation measures to be taken and active measures such as fire suppression, detection and alarm that come into play during a fire should be considered and implemented together.

No materials should be flammable in curtain wall systems

In recent years, external façade fires occurring on the external facades of buildings such as residences, hospitals and hotels have been brought up repeatedly and highlighted the importance of fire safety measures to be taken in buildings, particularly in external façade solutions. We see that curtain wall systems are preferred in these fires' external facades. In curtain wall details that are frequently preferred in commercial buildings and generally give aesthetic appearance to the building, external facade coverings are placed on the facade with ventilation gaps remaining between them and the external wall. From a fire safety perspective, this ventilation gap creates a chimney effect during fires, causing flames to spread rapidly across the facade. In our country's regulations, it is stated that no materials, including insulation materials, should be flammable in such ventilated curtain wall details. Despite this, in these fires we see that external facade coverings, insulation materials or both may have been selected incorrectly. In curtain wall applications where fire safety measures are compromised for aesthetic considerations, inspections on correct material selection should be increased to avoid poor results.