The critical importance of fire protection in stadiums

Luckily, our fire professionals here at DEM Fire have experience supporting large-scale projects in stadiums. So let’s explore the importance of fire protection in stadiums and the unique challenges that can occur.

Our Compliance and Accounts Manager, Mick McGrath, can share insight into the sheer number of fire assets required for large stadiums, with Stadium Australia having “approximately 400 fire extinguishers, 200 hydrants, over 200 hose reels, over 1000 detectors, 20 sprinkler valve sets and 1400 fire doors.” 

These assets require rotational testing and checking to ensure they’re all in working order with no wear and tear. They also need to meet any changes to fire safety regulations that might have occurred since installation.

Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of stadium operators to ensure facilities are compliant with industry standards and that attendees are safe. This requires a comprehensive approach that includes proper planning, installation and maintenance of fire protection systems.

For anyone who has been part of a large crowd, you might be familiar with the atmosphere. While most crowd atmospheres can be vibrant and lively, there are also crowd dynamics that can be unruly to the point of being dangerous.

Large stadiums can make it difficult to locate and effectively extinguish fires quickly, plus they may have more complicated layouts than a typical building, which can lead to further issues like evacuation challenges or crowd control problems.

High occupancy numbers in stadiums and large venues increase the risk of injury or harm, and it can be challenging to create an evacuation plan that caters to the unpredictability of a panicked crowd dynamic – which can be just as dangerous as a fire hazard. It also makes it harder for emergency services to access the areas they need to access to get any fires under control.

Any fire protection system needs to consider all these factors, as well as crowd density and potential bottleneck areas. But crowd management can also begin before any emergencies, using tools like stadium policies to eject any unruly participants who might contribute to a dangerous crowd dynamic.

The design and construction of stadiums often include a range of different materials, which can make it harder to select the most appropriate fire suppression system. Not to mention the frequent use of special effects such as pyrotechnics and smoke machines, which add further challenges.