Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH
Target Hazards
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines target hazards as “facilities in either the public
or private sector that provide essential products and services to the general public, are otherwise necessary
to preserve the welfare and quality of life in the community, or fulfill important public safety, emergency
response, and/or disaster recovery functions.” The NFPA further breaks these down into three risk categories
for occupancies.
= High-Risk Occupancy: An occupancy that has a history of a high frequency of fires, high potential
for loss of life or economic loss, or that has a low or moderate history of fires or loss of life, but the
occupants have a high dependency on the built-in fire protection features or staff to assist in an
evacuation during a fire or other emergency.
= Moderate-Risk Occupancy: An occupancy with a history of a moderate frequency of fires or a
moderate potential for the loss of life or economic loss.
= Low-Risk Occupancy: An occupancy with a history of a low frequency of fires and minimal potential
for life or economic loss.
Critical infrastructure is defined as the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, that are so
vital to the community that their damage or destruction would have a debilitating effect. Examples of critical
infrastructure or target hazards can include the following:
= Hospitals «= Communications Systems
« Assisted Living Centers « Utilities
= Community Shelters « Emergency Operations Centers
= Schools = Airports
« Hazardous Materials Sites = Important Government Offices
= Roadways » Assembly Occupancies
« Water/Sewage Treatment Facilities = Entertainment Venues
Large buildings, such as warehouses, malls, industrial complexes, and so forth, require larger volumes of
water for firefighting. Additional firefighters are needed to advance hose lines long distances in the building.
Additional safety hose lines and rapid intervention crews (RIC) must be utilized, which also require additional
personnel and water supply capabilities. Large buildings and facilities also create a greater risk for occupants
as search and rescue times are increased in correlation to the number of stories and square footage of the
structure. These structures rely on fire protection systems to extinguish and/or stop the fire from progress
past the area or room of origin. Negative economic impacts follow an emergency incident of this magnitude.
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