Use of Elevators During Fires

Collected Publications Related to the Use of Elevators During Fires (NIST SP 983)

Richard W. Bukowski, S. Regina Burgess and Paul A. Reneke, Editors

In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., provisions for emergency egress from tall buildings are being re-examined, worldwide. Possibilities being discussed include the utilization of protected elevators with stairways for both occupant egress and fire service access. These have been discussed over the years and have been the subject of research by a number of parties, including a cooperative program between NIST, the National Research Council of Canada, and the U.S. elevator industry.

Because of the renewed interest and in support of ongoing standards activities in ISO, NIST has collected relevant literature and made it available on its website. Permission of all copyright holders was obtained for any protected documents.

Alternate Floor Recall Provisions for Elevators Should Be Maintained. Sumka, E. H. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 5-7 pp, 1991.

Analysis of the Influence of Piston Effect on Elevator Smoke Control. Klote, J. H. NBSIR 88-3751; 24 p. April 1988.

Application of Performance Based Concepts at the Stratosphere Tower, Las Vegas, Nevada. Quiter, J. R. Rolf Jensen and Associates, Inc., Deerfield, IL. Fire Risk and Hazard Assessment Symposium. Research and Practice: Bridging the Gap. Proceedings. National Fire Protection Research Foundation. June 26-28, 1996, San Francisco, CA, 118-126 pp, 1996.
Reprinted with permission from Jim Quiter and The Fire Protection Research Foundation, Copyright 1996, Fire Protection Research Foundation. All rights reserved.

Computer Program for Analysis of Pressurized Stairwells and Pressurized Elevator Shafts. Klote, J. H. NBSIR 80-2157; 85 p. January 1981.

Computer Program for Analysis of Smoke Control Systems. Final Report. Klote, J. H. NBSIR 82-2512; 69 p. June 1982.

Elevator Design for the 21st Century: Design Criteria for Elevators When used as the Primary Means of Evacuation During Fire Emergencies. Chapman, E. F. Journal of Applied Science, Vol. 1, No. 4, 339-347, 1990-1991. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY, 157-162 pp, 1995.(Permission to reprint not obtained)

Elevator Fire Safety. Webb, W. A. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 56-58 pp, 1991.

Elevator Operation During Fire Emergencies in High Buildings. Aikman, A. J. M. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 16-21 pp, 1991.

Elevator Piston Effect and the Smoke Problem. Klote, J. H.; Tamura, G. Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 11, No. 2, 227-233, December 1986. IRC Paper 1485; NRCC 28445.

Elevator Usage During a Building Fire. Degenkolb, J. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 76-79 pp, 1991.

Elevator Use for Egress: The Human-Factors Problems and Prospects. Pauls, J.; Gatfield, A. J.; Juillet, E. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 63-75 pp, 1991.

Elevators and Fire. Donoghue, E. A. Journal of Applied Science, Vol. 1, No. 4, 349-359, 1990-1991.(Permission to reprint not obtained)

Elevators and Fire: Designing for Safety. Gatfield, A. J. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 95-107 pp, 1991.

Elevators and People With Disabilities in Japan: From Accessibility to Egressibility? Kose, S.; Hokugo, A. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY, 151-156 pp, 1995.

Elevators and Sprinklers. Donoghue, E. A. Building Official and Code Administrator, Vol. 23, No. 6, 26-27, November/December 1989. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 47-49 pp, 1989.

Elevators as a Means of Fire Escape. Klote, J. H. American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers Transactions, Vol. 89, No. 2, 1-16, 1983. NBSIR 82-2507; 37 p. May 1982.

Elevators for Evacuation of Occupants and Firefighter Access. Editorial Note. DeCicco, P. R. Journal of Applied Fire Science, Vol. 2, No. 1, 3-4, 1992/1993.(Permission to reprint not obtained)

Evacuation Procedures for Occupants With Disabilities in Highrise Buildings. Proulx, G.; Yung, D. National Building Research Institute. CIB-ASTM-ISO-RILEM International Symposium, 3rd. Applications of the Concept in Building. Proceedings. Volume 2. December 9-12, 1997, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1996.

Evacuation Safety for Locomotion Disabled People. Brand, A.; Sorqvist, M.; Hakansson, P.; Johansson, J. E. Human Behavior in Fire: Understanding Human Behavior for Better Fire Safety Design. International Symposium, 2nd. Proceedings. March 26-28, 2001, Boston, MA, Interscience Communications Ltd., London, England, 445-450 pp, 2001.

Fire and Elevators: The Building Environment. Strakosch, G. R. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers,New York, NY, 23-27 pp, 1995.

Fire Evacuation by Elevators. Klote, J. H.; Deal, S.; Donoghue, E. A.; Levin, B. M.; Groner, N. E. Elevator World, Vol. 41, No. 6, 66-70,72-75, June 1993.

Fire Protection Challenges of the Americans Disabilities Act: Elevator Evacuation and Refuge Areas. Klote, J. H.; Fowell, A. J. University of Ulster and Fire Research Station. CIB W14: Fire Safety Engineering. International Symposium and Workshops Engineering Fire Safety in the Process of Design: Demonstrating Equivalency. Part 1. Symposium: Engineering Fire Safety for People With Mixed Abilities. September 13-16, 1993, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, 79-95 pp, 1993.

General Services Administration Policy Sprinklers in Elevator Hoistways and Machine Rooms. Levy, S. J. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 59-60 pp, 1991.

Handicapped Use of Elevators. Fox, C. C. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 80-82 pp, 1991.

High-Rise Building Emergencies: Education, Evacuation by Elevator, Firefighter's Elevators, External Platform. Holt, L. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY, 197-204 pp, 1995.

High Temperature Operation of Elevators. Marchitto, N. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 25-31 pp, 1991.

High Temperature Operation of Elevators. Robibero, V. P. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 37-43 pp, 1991.

Human Factors Considerations for the Potential Use of Elevators for Fire Evacuation of FAA Air Traffic Control Towers. Levin, B. M.; Groner, N. E. NIST GCR 94-656; 23 p. August 1994.

Human Factors Considerations in the Potential for Using Elevators in Building Emergency Evacuation Plans. Groner, N. E.; Levin, B. M. NIST GCR 92-615; 61 p. August 1992.

In Consideration of Elevators as Part of a Building Evacuation Scheme. Favro, P. C. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY, 181-185 pp, 1995.

Multi-Purpose Elevators for Persons With Disabilities and Firefighters in High-Rise Office Buildings in the U.S. (With Concepts for Accessibility and Other Buildings and Locations). Barker, F. H., Jr. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY, 207-219 pp, 1995.

Principles of Fire Safety for Disabled People in Buildings: The Use of Lifts for Evacuation. Gatfield, A. J. Annual Meeting of the National Fire Protection Association. Proceedings. May 14-18, 1989, Washington, DC, 1-14 pp, 1989.(Permission to reprint not obtained)

Safety Rules for the Construction and Installation of Lifts - Part 72: Firefighters Lifts. ***DRAFT*** Comite Europeen De Normalisation (CEN), Brussels CEN TC 10; prEN 81-72; March 2001.

Safety Rules for the Construction and Installation of Lifts Particular Applications for Passenger and Goods Passenger Lifts - Part 73: Behaviour of Lifts in the Event of Fire. English Version. Public Enquiry Version. ***DRAFT*** Comite Europeen De Normalisation (CEN), Brussels prEN81-73; E013 Revision 12; April 2001.

Selecting Strategies for Elevator Evacuations. Groner, N. E. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY, 186-189 pp, 1995.

Smoke Control Calculation for Pressurized Elevator Shaft. Matsushita, T. NISTIR 4449; U.S./Japan Government Cooperative Program on Natural Resources (UJNR). Fire Research and Safety. 11th Joint Panel Meeting. October 19-24, 1989, Berkeley, CA, Jason, N. H.; Cramer, D. M., Editors, 188-192 pp, 1990.

Smoke Control for Elevators. Klote, J. H. ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 26, No. 4, 23-33, April 1984. NBSIR 83-2715; 60 p. June 1983.

Smoke Control Systems for Elevator Fire Evacuation. Klote, J. H.; Tamura, G. T. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 83-94 pp, 1991.

Some Control and Communication Considerations in Designing an Emergency Elevator Evacuation System. Levin, B. M.; Groner, N. E. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY, 190-193 pp, 1995.

Sprinklers in Elevator Hoistways and Machine Rooms. Holland, G. A. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 50-52 pp, 1991.

Sprinklers in Elevator Hoistways and Machine Rooms. Koffel, W. E. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 53-55 pp, 1991.

Staging Areas for Persons With Mobility Limitations. Klote, J. H.; Nelson, H. E.; Deal, S.; Levin, B. M. NISTIR 4770; 186 p. February 1992.

Using Elevators as a Means of Egress. Koffel, W. E. NFPA Journal, Vol. 90, No. 1, 30, January/February 1996.
Reprinted with permission from NFPA Journal (Vol. 90, #1) copyright 1996, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA All rights reserved

Utilization of Elevators During Fire Emergencies. Chapman, E. F. American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Council of American Building Officials and National Fire Protection Association. Elevators and Fire. February 19-20, 1991, Baltimore, MD, 8-15 pp, 1991.

Vertical Exiting: Are Elevators Another Way Out? Semple, J. B. NFPA Journal, Vol. 87, No. 3, 49-52, May/June 1993.
Reprinted with permission from NFPA Journal (Vol. 87, #3) copyright 1993, National Fire Protections Association, Quincy, MA. All rights reserved.

Will Building Occupants Use Elevators for Evacuation? Factors Affecting Compliance With the Emergency Plan. Groner, N. E.; Levin, B. M. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Elevators, Fire and Accessibility, 2nd Symposium. Proceedings. April 19-21, 1995, Am. Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, New York, NY, 194-196 pp, 1995.

Workshop on Elevator Use During Fires. Klote, J. H.; Deal, S.; Levin, B. M.; Groner, N. E.; Donoghue, E. A. NISTIR 4993; 18 p. January 1993.