Fire safety: When choosing the right cable can help protect lives

In a world where safety is paramount, the first step to securing assets and protecting lives begins with the right cables. 

Picture this: every two minutes, a destructive electrical fire ignites in Europe, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. The devastating toll includes over 4,000 lives lost and a staggering 134,000 people injured every year. But that's not all; the financial impact amounts to billions, with Allianz insurance reporting fire as the leading cause of corporate insurance losses, tallying a jaw-dropping €18 billion in claims over the past five years alone.

To anticipate and mitigate the risks, each country has developed its own regulation regarding potential hazards in sensitive buildings where human lives are at stake, such as public buildings (hotel, cinema, theatre, schools, retirement homes…) or high-rise buildings. All concepts are based on the reliability and efficiency of fire safety systems, which encompass emergency lighting, smoke detectors, alarms, voice speakers, and smoke ventilation systems. These crucial elements ensure swift and safe evacuation of people, while facilitating the work of firefighting rescue teams.

Introducing Fire-Resistant cables

Designed to function flawlessly in the event of extreme temperatures and without a hint of performance decline, they lie at the heart of safety systems and play a crucial role in guaranteeing a constant supply of energy and information to critical equipment. When designing your building's Fire-Safety system, it's absolutely vital to select cables that are classified and certified as fire-resistant. Furthermore, determining the cable size, specifically its cross-section, is critical in ensuring optimal protection. 

Your journey towards a safer future: use the appropriate cable sizing assessment method

Here's the secret: dimensioning Fire-Resistant (FR) cables isn't your everyday calculation, as it doesn't factor in the temperature surge during a fire when done only considering their normal condition (70°C, 90°C). This becomes a pivotal consideration when sizing FR cables because electrical resistance experiences a dramatic spike as temperatures rise, directly impacting the efficacy of your entire fire safety system and, ultimately, the lives it could save! 

Europacable, the European Cable Manufacturer Association, and the European Copper Institute (ECI) joined forces to issue a groundbreaking position paper to address this critical issue.

The objective is clear: to raise awareness about the risks related to having undersized conductors supplying the critical equipment that must remain functional during a fire. Cable sizing under fire conditions differs drastically from doing it under normal operating conditions. This fact is often ignored, potentially leading to unsafe installations.  

The document jointly issued by Europacable and the European Copper Institute offers a practical method for evaluating the potential impact of fire on cable integrity. It goes a step further, by proposing the use of a correction factor to ensure the precise selection of the right design. As an active member of Europacable and a responsible provider, Nexans fully endorses this approach. We place our customers’ and partners’ safety at the heart of everything we do, offering our expertise to help you anticipate risks, secure your assets, and protect life.