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Fighting Fires in Disposable Structures by Gary Bowker

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Fighting Fires in Disposable Structures by Gary Bowker Continuing Education Course Fighting Fires in Disposable Structures BY GARY BOWKER TRAINING THE FIRE SERVICE FOR 136 YEARS To earn continuing education credits, you must successfully complete the course examination. The cost for this CE exam is $25.00. For group rates, call (973) 251-5055. Fighting Fires in Disposable Structures Educational Objectives On completion of this course, students will 1. Discover why lightweight wood-frame structures burn faster 3. Define “Disposable Structure” and fail sooner 4. Review The Blue Diamond Hazard ID Program 2. Learn the four current residential structural features that pose major risks during fires BY GARY BOWKER this country since the 19th century for homes and businesses. During the great American expansion westward, many prairie ODAy’S RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE FIRE IS NOT YOUR towns were built exclusively of wood-frame material. Lumber daddy’s residential structure fire.T he contemporary was plentiful and cost effective but posed a significant fire T lightweight wood-frame structure burns faster and problem. As building and fire codes evolved, ordinary (Type fails sooner—often with tragic results—much more quickly III) construction increased for business and industrial use. than traditional wood-frame structures built in the past. In Quick recovery after a fire was essential for economic survival. the past several years, an increasing number of fires in large Most homes continued to be built of wood-frame construction lightweight wood-frame apartment buildings and single-family well into the 20th century. It is essential to understand that dwellings have resulted in firefighters being injured and killed. wood-frame structural members used in home construction As the Ol’ Professor the late Francis Brannigan taught, “The during that time period used full dimension lumber (“legacy building is your enemy. Know your enemy!” Today the light- construction”), which yielded more mass for structural sup- weight wood-frame structure fire is the enemy. It has evolved port during a fire. Floors and roofs were typically built using into one of the most dangerous types of structure fires you a minimum dimension of 2- × 8-inch and 2- × 10-inch solid will encounter. wood. The walls and ceilings were typically covered with plas- We must know where we have been in terms of construc- ter and lath, giving the structure reasonably good resistance to tion and culture in the American fire service to understand a room-and-contents fire.T hese structures were built to last a and appreciate where we are going. Fire officers must under- lifetime and could generally survive a moderate to serious fire. stand the nature of the risk they face to effectively manage it. Typical fire loads during that era were mainly natural materi- Four current residential structure features pose major risks als used for furnishings and contents, which continued into in fires: the 1950s and 1960s. Also during this time, traditional aggres- 1. Extensive use of engineered low-mass (lightweight) sive interior firefighting operations became well established in wood-frame construction ma- our fire service culture. terials. 1 However, in the 1970s, a sig- 2. Synthetic fire loading in the nificant shift began to occur in the interior and on the exterior. 3. Void spaces. 4. Open floor plan/atrium-like design living spaces (lack of compartmentation allows for (1) Typical lightweight engineered faster fire involvement through- wood-frame components. Clockwise from top left, truss joist I-beams, fin- out and may block escape gerjointed wood truss, and lightweight routes). wood truss components connected Wood frame (Type V) construc- with a gusset plate. (Photo courtesy of tion has been used extensively in Underwriters Laboratories.) www.FireEngineeringUniversity.com DISPOSABLE STRUCTURES ● wood-frame construction dynamic. (2) The I-stair is just the latest challenge 2 The introduction of smaller 2- × 4-inch we face in today’s disposable structure. lumber in floor and roof truss support This unprotected stairway may pose a systems gave birth to “lightweight” significant risk for occupants trying to evacuate a burning residence. (Photo by construction. This trend has continued Dennis Van Tassell.) with the use of ever lighter, cheaper materials that have less mass for struc- tural support, which in a fire means quicker failure. The combustibility of VOID SPACE DANGERS lightweight building components is Firefighters face a very serious threat also greater compared to that of tradi- once the fire in a disposable structure tional wood-frame construction. enters the truss void space underneath Most new homes, apartments, fast the floors or in the attic. Large open food restaurants, hotels, and com- void spaces are common to all light- mercial buildings constructed in the weight wood-frame structures. These past 20 years are lightweight wood- void spaces provide an abundance of frame construction. Lightweight or exposed fuel surfaces and plenty of air engineered wood-frame support for a fire to rapidly develop and violent- systems include wood products of less ly spread throughout the void. Attic and than two-inch dimension that are not floor voids create very effective “fire solid lumber. Glued and finger-jointed boxes” within the structure. Exposed wooden trusses and truss/joist I-beams made of wood chips or fuels may consist of compressed wood products, polyurethane particleboard that are pressed together with combustible ad- binding and construction adhesives, PVC plumbing, plastic- hesives to eliminate waste are commonly found today. In addi- wrapped ductwork, and electrical wiring insulation. Fires that tion, most of these newer wood-frame structures are wrapped start or extend into the void space, especially from the exterior, in synthetic insulating material, which adds to the fuel load, have a tendency to become violent very quickly with little or no speed, and toxicity of a fire. Wood-frame structures today are warning, trapping unsuspecting firefighters conducting interior not built to last like the wood-frame structures prior to the operations. It is well documented that once flames or high heat 1960s. Today’s wood-frame structure is “disposable.” Much in impinge on exposed wooden lightweight structural compo- our society has become disposable, from diapers to appliances nents, failure can be expected in as little as four to six minutes. to homes. Time is money, and less material and less waste are In addition, void spaces filled with heated fuel vapors create money. So it should come as no great surprise that this has an increased risk of a backdraft when oxygen is introduced by occurred within the building industry. unsuspecting firefighters pulling ceilings or from ceiling panel failure. DISPOSABLE STRUCTURE DEFINED Among the dangers a void space fire may present are the My definition of a disposable structure is as follows: “any following: lightweight wood-frame construction using engineered wood • Hidden fire. assemblies/synthetic products of lesser mass that contribute • Rapid fire spread throughout the structure. significantly to the fuel load and have a faster flame spread • Preheating of structural supporting members ahead of the fire. and failure time when exposed to fire or heat than traditional • Accumulation of fire gases and depletion of oxygen. solid dimensional wood-frame construction.” This includes • Increased backdraft potential. site-built and factory-built structures. • Catastrophic ceiling failure, resulting in full room involve- Fire loads up to the 1950s featured natural fiber materials, ment below, which can trap unsuspecting firefighters. whereas fire loads today are primarily synthetic materials.T his • Early structural failure. has contributed significantly to faster-developing fires, with • Increased fire load from storage and foam insulation. less time to flashover, less time for escape, and less time to • HVAC unit installation. structural failure. Another significant risk facing firefighters Today’s wood-frame structure demands that firefighters take involves manufactured and modular homes and buildings. In a different tactical approach. The American fire service culture 2009, the International Residential Code began allowing man- has been hard-wired for many decades to extend a fast and ufacturers to use polyurethane foam construction adhesive in aggressive interior fire attack from the unburned side whenever lieu of mechanical fasteners (screws or nails) to install gypsum possible. Although this strategy has served us well in certain wallboard to the interior ceilings and walls of these structures. situations and for traditional types of construction, it can be an This highly combustible adhesive off-gases at approximately absolutely lethal approach for the disposable wood-frame struc- 480°F. As a result, a room-and-contents fire can result in early ture fires we are seeing today. failure of the compartment walls and ceiling, allowing them to A seemingly nonlife-threatening fire originating on the drop and cause very rapid fire spread to occur throughout the exterior of a disposable structure can quickly spread up the structure. synthetic vinyl siding, breach the soffit, and involve the attic www.FireEngineeringUniversity.com ● DISPOSABLE STRUCTURES Exposures are also at an increased risk with the use of vinyl 3 siding. The September 2010 Everyone Goes Home® newsletter presented research on the dangers of wind-driven residential structure fires conducted by retired SanA ntonio (TX) Fire Department Captain
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