MOST international fire departments define a high-rise building as one that is more than four storeys, or 75 feet in height, an elevation that most aerial ladders rarely exceed. And although the high-rise buildings of Kingston are nowhere on the scale of their American and European counterparts, local owners and managers – despite the fire department’s concerns – say the issue of fire prevention and overall safety remains an important one for them.

Gone are the days when a fire extinguisher and an evacuation drill were enough to say a building was safe. Modern buildings now also have automatic fire suppression systems, many feature the use of flame-retardant coatings on exposed surfaces, along with internal and external exits (such as the exit stairway installed onto the facade of the Hilton Kingston Hotel a few years ago).

Gary Francis is the operations manager for Pan-Jamaica Investment Trust, which owns/manages a number of buildings in New Kingston. Referring specifically to the Pan-Caribbean headquarters on Knutsford Boulevard, Francis said the building had a pull station alarm system, linked to a central panel, which indicates to the monitoring security personnel on which floor of the building there is a problem.

“Additionally, there are smoke detectors and a fire hose on each floor, along with fire extinguishers of various types,” he said.

The building, Francis pointed out, is inspected and audited annually by the fire department. But this process, he said, did not take into account the condition of the pipes, cables, air-conditioning ducts and other infrastructure, which building maintenance checks regularly for their structural integrity.

LOJ Property Management formerly managed The Towers complex on Dominica Drive, and presently manages the massive LOJ Centre building that runs from Knutsford Boulevard to Grenada Crescent.

The building is equipped with heat sensors and fire suppression systems, with both the relevant alarms (warning sounds and flashing lights) and an auto-dial feature to alert both the police and fire department, said property manager Robert Wallace.

He added that LOJ had also retained the services of a fire safety company, which conducts audits on a quarterly basis.

Another feature of the safety system is that the design allows for individual sections to be isolated and dealt with, allowing a greater opportunity for containment of a fire. Wallace added, however, that in case of emergencies all sections of the building would be notified.

As an added safety boost, auxiliary water tanks have been installed to provide water supply for firefighters in the event of any problems with the main supply.

While LOJ no longer manages The Towers, Wallace explained that from his experience, that building was zoned into quadrants (with a total of 48 quadrants for the 12 floors) and, additionally, it had several of the safety features of the larger building.