The biggest hindrance during fire rescue operations is often the smoke that billows out of a building. People stuck inside a fire emergency often fail to get out of the building or take refuge in a safe corner because the thick smoke simply makes it impossible for them to see and find an exit route quickly. Thus, for a fire rescue operation to be successful, it’s important to contain the smoke in a certain area, to prevent the fire from spreading to other parts of a building. Smoke screens are effective tools that can save valuable lives during a fire by cutting off the smoke.

What is a Smoke curtain?
A Smoke curtain is a tool that can restrict the smoke to a particular area and prevent it from spreading to different parts of a building. Limiting the smoke to a specific area gives enough time to the people trapped inside the building to find their way out or take refuge in a safe zone inside the building. Thus, both losses of human lives and burn injuries are reduced by a huge margin when a building has smoke curtains installed.

Uses of smoke curtain
The design of smoke curtains is such that it effectively blocks or restricts the smoke from spreading. If there are several smoke curtains installed inside a multi-storey shopping mall, this equipment will work to prevent the smoke from spreading to the other floors in the event of a fire in one of the floors. Thus, customers and staff get enough time to escape the building. Firefighters are also able to move quickly through the building to douse the flames.

The smoke curtains can withstand a raging fire for up to 2 hours, which is enough time for the firefighters to control the fire. This is necessary to trap the fire and smoke within a sector of the building.

Places where Smoke curtains are used

• Shopping malls
• Commercial and retail stores
• Train stations and airport
• Office buildings
• Industrial units
• Shared residential spaces and community areas

A smoke curtain is an essential item if you want to protect a building that’s often visited by many people. Thus, not only the shopping malls, theatres, or retail stores but also public spaces like airports and train stations should have good quality smoke curtains installed.

For designers or users who need to know more about the regulations in Singapore that involve smoke curtains and engineered smoke control systems (ESCS). Please refer to the code of practice for Fire Protection in buildings published by Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF).

Singapore has reputable suppliers of smoke curtains that are able to provide complete solutions for an effective smoke control systems in your premises and you can visit their websites to get more insights to this essential smoke prevention tool. However, if you’re not convinced of buying from a particular seller, you can carry out an exhaustive research on the different brands available in the market. It’s always better to buy such equipment from a reliable supplier and installer so that you get only the best quality material.