New computer system gives crews chance to get to know tall buildings

Beijing's firefighters will be able to practice their high-rise rescue skills thanks to a three-dimensional computer simulation that will familiarize them with the city's tallest buildings.

The system has been tailor made for the department and so far includes the plans for only one building - the 330-meter China World Trade Center Tower 3, which is the capital's tallest building. Other buildings will soon be added.

The system won official acceptance at the weekend from the Center of Public Safety Research at Tsinghua University.

The software will be in use "very soon" in Chaoyang district's fire department, which is responsible for looking after the World Trade Center Tower 3's fire safety, according to Yuan Hongyong, a professor with the center and the chief technology expert on the new system.

But Yuan said it will take "at least two years" for all of the capital's 58 high-rises that are more than 100 meters tall to be included in the system.

The software contains comprehensive detailed information about the capital's tallest building, including data and photos of all of its elevators, stairs, fire-fighting facilities, pipelines, exits and inflammable materials.

"In case of a fire, the fire command center can immediately find the nearest fire-fighting devices, the most convenient evacuation routes and so on by using the system," Yuan explained.

"The most important thing is that it helps firefighters train, so that they can become familiar with the building's structure."

Work on the new system began at the end of 2008 under the direction of the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission. The project was commissioned by both the Fire Department of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and the Center for Public Safety Research at Tsinghua University.

According to the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the high-rise fire protection project was pushed forward after the China Central Television (CCTV) building fire in February 2009.

Yuan said it will not be an easy task to track down all the information needed for all the buildings in the capital.

"Four researchers will need four months to finish each building and that is a conservative estimate," he said.

"Each room needs to be measured and photographed," he said. "The World Trade Center Tower 3 might be the easiest building for us because we started our research before the building was brought into use.

"For other buildings that already have multiple property owners, our work could get even harder."

Li Jin, vice-director of the fire department and the project's chief expert, said fire detachments within districts housing high-rise buildings and those from neighboring districts will be required to familiarize themselves with the new system.