NY_Yankees_Fan
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- Mar 4, 2002
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- Kubota BX 2200
Bob,
If your warehouse has a lot of idle wood pallets, some things to keep in mind. The following is from NFPA 13, 2002 edition which is the standard most fire departments use.
Idle pallet storage introduces a severe fire condition. Stacking idle pallets in piles is the best arrangement of combustibles to promote rapid spread of fire, heat release, and complete combustion. After pallets are used for a short time in warehouses, they dry out and edges become frayed and splintered. In this condition they are subject to easy ignition from a small ignition source. Again, high piling increases considerably both the challenge to sprinklers and the probability of involving a large number of pallets when fire occurs. Therefore, it is preferable to store pallets outdoors where possible.
A fire in stacks of idle plastic or wooden pallets is one of the greatest challenges to sprinklers. The undersides of the pallets create a dry area on which a fire can grow and expand to other dry or partially wet areas. This process of jumping to other dry, closely located, parallel, combustible surfaces continues until the fire bursts through the top of the stack. Once this happens, very little water is able to reach the base of the fire. The only practical method of stopping a fire in a large concentration of pallets with ceiling sprinklers is by means of prewetting. In high stacks, this cannot be done without abnormally high water supplies. The storage of empty wood pallets should not be permitted in an unsprinklered warehouse containing other storage.
If pallets are stored inside they should be limited to the following, unless the sprinkler system is designed for the height of storage of pallets.
1.Pallets shall be stored no higher than 6 ft (1.8 m).
2. Each pallet pile of no more than four stacks shall be separated from other pallet piles by at least 8 ft (1.4 m) of clear space or 25 ft (7.6 m) of commodity.
I have attached a table for how far wood pallets need to be stored away from a building.
If you have or are considering plastic pallets, review the info below:
12.1.9.2.2 Plastic pallets where stored indoors shall be protected as follows:
(1) Where stored in cutoff rooms the following shall apply:
(a) The cutoff rooms shall have at least one exterior wall.
(b) The plastic pallet storage shall be separated from the remainder of the building by 3 hour–rated fire walls.
(c) Sprinkler protection by one of the following:
i. The storage shall be protected by sprinklers designed to deliver 0.6 gpm/ft2 (24.5 mm/min) for the entire room or by high-expansion foam and sprinklers as indicated in 12.1.11.
ii. K-14 ESFR upright sprinklers when the storage is on floor and the system is designed to supply all sprinklers in the room at 50 psi (3.4 bar) for a maximum of 30 ft (9.1 m) ceiling or 75 psi (5.2 bar) for a maximum 35 ft (10.7 m) ceiling.
(d) The storage shall be piled no higher than 12 ft (3.7 m).
(e) Any steel columns shall be protected by 1-hour fireproofing or a sidewall sprinkler directed to one side of the column at the top or at the 15-ft (4.6-m) level, whichever is lower. Flow from these sprinklers shall be permitted to be omitted from the sprinkler system demand for hydraulic calculations.
(2)Where stored without cutoffs from other storage the following shall apply:
(a) Plastic pallet storage shall be piled no higher than 4 ft (1.2 m).
(b) Sprinkler protection shall employ high temperature–rated sprinklers.
(c) Each pallet pile of no more than two stacks shall be separated from other pallet piles by at least 8 ft (2.4 m) of clear space or 25 ft (7.6 m) of stored commodity.
If your warehouse has a lot of idle wood pallets, some things to keep in mind. The following is from NFPA 13, 2002 edition which is the standard most fire departments use.
Idle pallet storage introduces a severe fire condition. Stacking idle pallets in piles is the best arrangement of combustibles to promote rapid spread of fire, heat release, and complete combustion. After pallets are used for a short time in warehouses, they dry out and edges become frayed and splintered. In this condition they are subject to easy ignition from a small ignition source. Again, high piling increases considerably both the challenge to sprinklers and the probability of involving a large number of pallets when fire occurs. Therefore, it is preferable to store pallets outdoors where possible.
A fire in stacks of idle plastic or wooden pallets is one of the greatest challenges to sprinklers. The undersides of the pallets create a dry area on which a fire can grow and expand to other dry or partially wet areas. This process of jumping to other dry, closely located, parallel, combustible surfaces continues until the fire bursts through the top of the stack. Once this happens, very little water is able to reach the base of the fire. The only practical method of stopping a fire in a large concentration of pallets with ceiling sprinklers is by means of prewetting. In high stacks, this cannot be done without abnormally high water supplies. The storage of empty wood pallets should not be permitted in an unsprinklered warehouse containing other storage.
If pallets are stored inside they should be limited to the following, unless the sprinkler system is designed for the height of storage of pallets.
1.Pallets shall be stored no higher than 6 ft (1.8 m).
2. Each pallet pile of no more than four stacks shall be separated from other pallet piles by at least 8 ft (1.4 m) of clear space or 25 ft (7.6 m) of commodity.
I have attached a table for how far wood pallets need to be stored away from a building.
If you have or are considering plastic pallets, review the info below:
12.1.9.2.2 Plastic pallets where stored indoors shall be protected as follows:
(1) Where stored in cutoff rooms the following shall apply:
(a) The cutoff rooms shall have at least one exterior wall.
(b) The plastic pallet storage shall be separated from the remainder of the building by 3 hour–rated fire walls.
(c) Sprinkler protection by one of the following:
i. The storage shall be protected by sprinklers designed to deliver 0.6 gpm/ft2 (24.5 mm/min) for the entire room or by high-expansion foam and sprinklers as indicated in 12.1.11.
ii. K-14 ESFR upright sprinklers when the storage is on floor and the system is designed to supply all sprinklers in the room at 50 psi (3.4 bar) for a maximum of 30 ft (9.1 m) ceiling or 75 psi (5.2 bar) for a maximum 35 ft (10.7 m) ceiling.
(d) The storage shall be piled no higher than 12 ft (3.7 m).
(e) Any steel columns shall be protected by 1-hour fireproofing or a sidewall sprinkler directed to one side of the column at the top or at the 15-ft (4.6-m) level, whichever is lower. Flow from these sprinklers shall be permitted to be omitted from the sprinkler system demand for hydraulic calculations.
(2)Where stored without cutoffs from other storage the following shall apply:
(a) Plastic pallet storage shall be piled no higher than 4 ft (1.2 m).
(b) Sprinkler protection shall employ high temperature–rated sprinklers.
(c) Each pallet pile of no more than two stacks shall be separated from other pallet piles by at least 8 ft (2.4 m) of clear space or 25 ft (7.6 m) of stored commodity.
