Pre-plan / Building Remodeling
Building pre-plans and knowing what is taking place in your first due area(s) should be a priority in your fire department and a part of your companies daily duties. Pre-planning begins the first day on the job and continues on throughout your career. If you notice a remodeling project in a building than check it out. If you notice anything different with a building, check it out. It’s happening in your area, you just need to find it. This is a part of our job.
Building remodeling is a major concern in the fire department. What are they doing to the building? Are they clearing out load bearing walls? Are they adding steel rods for reinforcement? Are they creating new or bigger void spaces? Are they completely remodeling a whole floor? Are they changing the floor layout? These are a few of the things that need to be answered if buildings are being remodeled.
During a recent walkthrough of a building under renovation we were shocked at what we found. What you think may be a compartmentalized fire, may not always be the case. In this building they were completely gutting floor by floor starting from the top floor. During the renovation they were also adding sprinklers. So, there was no fire protection on the floors being remodeled. Contractors were completely remodeling the entire floor by removing every wall and storing all of their tools, all of the insulation, dry wall and wood that would be going into each “compartment” or apartment room. This causes major issues for members responding to a fire on this floor. Not only would we have not known that the floor has become an open air space, essentially resembling a commercial building floor plan, but was also stacked with highly combustible materials. In the instance of a fire on this floor, the fire would be well advanced for several reasons; the materials, the open area and the inability for the fire to be noticed in a fast manner. The construction or remodeling phase of any building makes the building more susceptible to fire.
Take a look at the first picture. The sign on the side of the building is a good indicator there is remodeling taking place. Look for signs in your area for renovations. Also, look just to the right of the sign. Do you notice the wood panel covering one of the windows? Check closely the pictures that show the inside layout of the floor. There are exposed wires, cable and pipes throughout the open floor. Lastly look at the last picture carefully. Do you notice where the sprinkler on the ceiling is? It’s just to the right of the ceiling light. Do you think this sprinkler would flow adequately in the event it discharged water? It’s restricted by the cabinets behind it.
If you notice anything in your area check it out. If there is new construction going up in your first due areas ask to walk through it. In doing this it may change your tactics, your strategies and hopefully will get your mind thinking. Pre plan buildings for FDC’s, apparatus placement and general tactics. It can only help you. Notify the other shifts of your findings so they can check out what’s going on also.
Submitted by administrator on Fri, 10/24/2008 - 23:01.
