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BuildingsOnFire: Thoughts on Residential Size-Up
Reading the Building
Occupancy risk assessment and size-up and the ability to read today's increasingly complex residential structures is rooted in your ability to understand architectural design, features and building construction, know your jurisdiction by getting out into the job sites, preplanning and learning what to look for and at.
Building Knowledge = Firefighter Safety.
And remember: the three-sixty is mission critical- direct or by delegation and reconn.
What are some for your insights from these various images of four different residential occupancies?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by captnjak on
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Appear to be newer construction and fairly large. I'm expecting wood truss roof systems. Rapid extension in attic along with early roof failure. Possible truss floor joists creating "trusslofts" between foors. Again, rapid extension in all directions with early failure. Or some other lightweight floor support system such as wooden I-beams. Same problem with early failure but a little better protection against extension perpendicular to member. Probably well insulated with good energy efficient windows and doors to "hide" fire for awhile. Multiple garage bays for vehicles so absence of car in driveway means even less than usual. Could be sleeping areas on any level, including walk-out basement level. Looks to be out in the boonies a little so there may be no hydrant system. Response times could be longer, allowing fire to be advanced upon arrival.
The combination of fast fire spread, early collapse potential and possible long response time means many departments would be forced to go to an outside operation on arrival, especially if staffing is light.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Very true on many levels, but a couple things.
Multiple garage bays for vehicles so absence of car in driveway means even less than usual
Yes, having multiple doors can hide vehicles that could otherwise indicate if there are still residents. Although in many such structures, the multiple garages still tend to act like a typical 2 stall, wth many people using the extra bays for storage for lawn tractors, bikes, etc, etc where you once saw more out buildings instead.
Another thing with the newer construction (at least around here) you tend to also have basement stairs located inside the garage......which means one wouldn't need to walk over a fire floor like in some older constructed homes. Also, typically this means in most cases, there are multiple stairwells in the homes.
Along with that, all the homes depicted here have walkout basements, which makes access and ventilation for such fires much easier to manage than an older home.
Looks to be out in the boonies a little so there may be no hydrant system. Response times could be longer, allowing fire to be advanced upon arrival.
Not necessarily. We have several neighborhoods comprised of such homes, that may be close to a conservancy etc. There are hydrant systems in place and at least here, the mains around such homes tend to be larger mains than the older neighborhoods. I know of several such homes like this in my neighborhood, while my house is a standard 3 bedroom ranch built in the 70's, a few blocks away we have several homes with multiple stalls and walk outs.
I'm not criticizing anything you said, just expanding on some things as opposed to repeating the same stuff.
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Permalink Reply by Jerry Corson on
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All these homes represent the homes of the future, They're all light weight Type v construction with truss roofs. This new construction posses a lot of threats to firefighters as a whole. They use materials made with various glues and resins which will create various poisonous gases. Therefore it is essential to SCBA's and rules of air management (ROAM) . Also not only do they produce a lot of poisonous gases, they produce higher heat temperatures from the buildings of the past. As a result, firefighters must use extreme caution when attacking them, a complete 360 must be completed before entering the dwelling, ladders need to be place for egress, and ventilation needs to be completed at the right times. Always remember this Life safety, Incident Stabilization, and Property Conservation.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Peirce on
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There are floor(s) below the line of vision from the Alpha side of the structures.
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There are plenty of poisonous gases present at a working fire. Not to mention high heat. The construction type is not really a concern to me as far as that goes. Those issues are secondary by far, IMO, to the rapid fire spread and early collapse potential that these buildings exhibit. The higher temperatures vs the past are more likely due to synthetic, carbon based contents present in today's homes regardless of construction type.
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