Spacing between tents

[leejr71]

Hi can anyone advise me at a festival or other organised event is there any set spacing between tents in the unlicensed areas of the site I am aware it's usually 6 m in licensed areas for larger tents and marquees. I'm referring to the fields the public tents are pitched or is the safety of this area down to the management strategy the organisers should provide. When you see the pictures of the event they all seem to be almost on top of each other

Thanks in advance

[kurnal]

There is a paucity of current practical guidance on this topic, the RRO guidance for outdoor events is worse than useless giving almost no guidance other than for a photo of a camping area and references in a sample risk assessment.
The older guidance, HSG195 is no longer current as far as I am aware but referred to a density factor of tents per hectare. I attach a link to it in case it is of use- but dont take this as a definitive answer. The 6m figure for spacing originates from the model standards for caravan sites - see local authority licensing  conditions available from most local authority websites.

http://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/sites/sportandrecreation.org.uk/files/Event-Safety-Guide.pdf

[SamFIRT]

Kent FRS did some test burns with tents a few years ago. They may be able to share the data.

[wee brian]

The UN did some work on this subject a while ago - aimed at refugee camps etc. Must be on-line somewhere.

the 6m figure crops up a lot - i think it stems from some testing done on park homes and caravans so not really credible.

[Dinnertime Dave]

Hi can anyone advise me at a festival or other organised event is there any set spacing between tents in the unlicensed areas of the site I am aware it's usually 6 m in licensed areas for larger tents and marquees. I'm referring to the fields the public tents are pitched or is the safety of this area down to the management strategy the organisers should provide. When you see the pictures of the event they all seem to be almost on top of each other

Thanks in advance

No particular set spacing as far as I know, did some enforcement at a festival, but unfortunately I dealt with concessions!! 

I think the rational is that any fire in a tent remains relatively small as the tent will collapse within its own area and run out of fuel quickly. Most festivals tend to be hot on maintaining the fire lanes and keeping the people on the watch towers awake.

[Mike Buckley]

If you have a look at the MOD Guides there is a gfuide for tented compounds, however it does not seem to specify any particular distance. The specific document is JSP 426 Vol 2 Fire Safety for Tented Camps, Operations and Exercises.

[Phoenix]

If you make people leave a gap of 6m between tents someone will come along and put a tent in the gap.  And another one...

[leejr71]

Thanks everyone good food for thought

[Mr. P]

The Americans had a good sized tent city fire during one of the Iraq periods