Abstract
Abstract. Cultural heritages and historical buildings are vulnerable against severe threats from fire. Since the 1970s, ten fire-spread events involving historic buildings have occurred in Taiwan, affecting a total of 132 nearby buildings. Developed under the influence of traditional Taiwanese culture, historic buildings in Taiwan are often built using non-fire resistant brick-wood structure and located in proximity to residential occupancies. Fire outbreak in these types of neighborhood will lead to severe damage of antiquities, leaving only unrecoverable historical imagery. This study is aimed to investigate the minimal safety distance required between a historical building and its surroundings in order to reduce the risk of external fire. This study is based on literature analysis and the fire spread model using a Fire Dynamics Simulator. The selected target is Jingmei Temple in Taipei City. This study explored local geography to identify patterns behind historical buildings distribution. In the past, risk reduction engineering for cultural heritages and historical buildings focused mainly on fire equipment and the available personnel with emergency response ability, and little attention was given to external fire risks and the affected damage. Through discussions on the required safety distance, this research provides guidelines for the following items: management of neighborhoods with historical buildings and consultation between the protection of cultural heritages and disaster prevention, reducing the frequency and extent of fire damages, and preserving cultural resource.
Highlights
1.1 Potential Fire RiskAccording to the Natural Hazard Risks—Absolute Economic Exposure Index, reported by Verisk Maplecroft in 2014—Taiwan ranks the 3rd in global, facing the highest total financial costs from natural hazards
The comparison of the situations with different safety distances and ignition locations is shown in Figure7.The result shows that: 1. In the initial stage of simulation, the scenario with 50cm safety distance and an ignition location far from residence has higher value of heat release rate in the period from 0 to 180seconds
In the comparison of 80cm and 100cm safety distances, the fire growing and heat release rates are stable in room space, and the highest value is about 120MW
Summary
According to the Natural Hazard Risks—Absolute Economic Exposure Index, reported by Verisk Maplecroft in 2014—Taiwan ranks the 3rd in global, facing the highest total financial costs from natural hazards. Potential risks are from natural, such as typhoons, flooding, earthquakes, fires and biological damages, and due to human activities. Cultural heritages and historical buildings suffered from different levels of natural threats. In 2011, Ayutthaya in Thailand was damaged by flood, 815 people's life lost, most of heritages soaking in flood, and a total 45700 million dollars cost for reconstruction. The tsunami and post-earthquake fire, following Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, caused a lot of casualties and property damages. The above-mentioned disasters compose the main threats to the existence of cultural heritages and historical buildings
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