Volunteer View: When Ordinary Construction Isn’t So Ordinary
Multiple firefighters have been killed in the line of duty operating in and around ordinary constructed buildings. Every small town and city has a Main Street, so this isn’t just a big city problem.
Fires in ordinary construction buildings present unique characteristics and challenges that other buildings lack. For this reason, it’s incumbent upon officers to rely less on experience, which might not be adequate, and more on analysis of the hazards of this type of structure.
Problems for firefighters
The NFPA considers ordinary construction to include exterior walls and structural elements that are composed of noncombustible or limited-combustible materials as well as interior structural elements, walls, arches, floors and roofs that are composed of wood that are smaller than what’s required for Type IV construction. An example of this is a mixed masonry/wood building.
Some of the more common problems with these types of buildings are the structural stability of the masonry walls, void spaces, and shared walls that promote smoke and fire spread.
By and large, these buildings, which can be more than a century old, have undergone numerous occupancy changes throughout many decades. Therefore, consider the number of holes that are made in the shared walls for utilities, wiring and other renovations, which create pathways for smoke and fire to spread to adjoining spaces.
Preplanning
How often is the building inspected for code compliance? In my jurisdiction, businesses are inspected every three years, just as residential occupancies are. A lot can happen in three years that can be detrimental to firefighters when the building is on fire.
In my volunteer fire department, we often conduct walk-throughs of our high-hazard areas for the benefit of new members and to refresh existing members on potential changes within buildings. While walking through one of our downtown ordinary construction buildings, my firefighters couldn’t believe what was on the second floor. The building was constructed in 1883 and has businesses on the first floor and residences on the second and third floors. A section of the roof area is a doghouse of glass panels that allow sunlight in. Below the glass panels is a section of the floor that’s glass, to provide light to the second-floor hallway. This glass floor could create considerable challenges for firefighters, particularly if fire were to communicate to the hallway, potentially causing the floor to break and creating a large hole for smoke and fire to spread or, even worse, for firefighters to fall through.
Do any of your jurisdiction’s buildings have this feature, and, if so, does everyone in your department know this information? If your answer to the question is, “I don’t know,” then you have work to do.
In the same jurisdiction, a building in the middle of other ordinary construction buildings isn’t what it appears to be. In the space used to be a building that was two stories, with a theater on the first floor and residences on the floor above that. There was a fire in 1993 (the theater wasn’t in operation). The building sustained catastrophic damage and was torn down. A two-story commercial building was built in its place. The building looks like ordinary construction from the outside but is lightweight wood construction that has a brick veneer on the front. The floor construction consists of wooden I-beams, and the roof structure is parallel chord wood trusses.
Attacking this building as an ordinary construction building—and thinking that there is more time for firefighting than there actually is—would put firefighters in extreme danger of early collapse. Many of our members weren’t in the department in 1993, so a walk-through to inform of what awaits them inside was paramount for deciding on strategy and tactics.
How many of these buildings are in your district? If your answer to the question again is, “I don’t know,” you have work to do.
In volume
Fires in ordinary construction buildings aren’t routine. They require lots of staffing and lots of water. Abundant staffing isn’t only needed to conduct searches and to attack the fire; opening up many different spaces is extremely labor-intensive. An example of this would be a basement fire. Fires of this kind and magnitude often skip floors and show themselves in the attic or cockloft. Companies must open walls and ceilings on all floors to check for extension.
Also, remember that just because the building is old doesn’t mean that the contents are, and today’s household materials produce flashover rates in a few minutes, which exposes the fire to the building, not just the contents.
Risk management
As we continue to respond to fires in ordinary construction building, risk management should be part of our continual size-up of what’s happening with the building and the fire. Sometimes, you must write off the original fire building and save the exposures.
Furthermore, let’s not forget the past, so, despite the tragedy, we can learn from firefighter line-of-duty death events, such as those in Buffalo, NY, on Aug. 24, 2009, when two firefighters lost their life, and, recently, in Baltimore on Jan. 24, 2022, when three firefighters perished in a rowhouse fire. These events should remind us that ordinary construction isn’t so ordinary. Vv—vv
Sprinklers, Smoke Detectors, Fire Escapes
Ordinary construction commonly is called a “taxpayer” type building. Such a building often has a commercial occupancy on the first floor and residential occupancies on the floors above that.
If the building is only two stories in height, most of the time, a fire sprinkler system isn’t installed. If the building is three stories or taller, a fire sprinkler system sometimes is found in the common hallway and stairway but not inside of the dwelling units.
If a fire sprinkler system is present, in what condition is the system? When was the last time that an inspection was completed on the system?
Because of local code enforcement or fire marshal practices, battery-powered smoke and carbon monoxide detectors might be present.
If a fire escape is available, has it been maintained or was it left to demise because of constant weather conditions over the years?
Timothy Cowan
Timothy S. Cowan is a deputy fire chief with the Dewitt Fire District in central New York and a 32-year veteran of fire and emergency services. He recently retired as a deputy fire chief/fire marshal with the City of Oneida, NY, Fire Department. Cowan also is a volunteer firefighter with the Canastota, NY, Fire Department. He is a deputy fire coordinator and fire instructor for Madison County, NY, Office of Emergency Management. Cowan is completing the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy. He earned an associate degree in fire and emergency services and a bachelor’s degree in fire and emergency management, both from the SUNY Empire State College.
