Preplanning Building Hazards
BY FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN,SFPE (FELLOW)
Editor`s note: For further reference, consult Building Construction for the Fire Service, Third Edition (BCFS3). Page numbers, where applicable, are included after each caption for your convenience.
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The floor closing over the area from which a stairway was removed is much weaker than the rest of the floor. (Photos by author.)
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A failed wooden column is replaced with unprotected steel.
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Sharp eyes are needed. Note the escutcheon plate near the upper left. This is the end of a steel rod that extends upward to provide undetermined support to a failing beam or the area from which a column was removed.
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This cast-iron column passes through the beam full size. The beam is supported on two slim “ears” of wood. (BCFS3, 176)
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The opening in an interior brick bearing wall of this unsprinklered heavy timber building is supported by an unprotected steel beam used as a lintel.
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“Dog irons,” big “staples,” stabilize a floor that is “self-releasing.”
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The lintel of this window (and all others in the building) consists of several planks nailed together, even though a brick arch shows outside. Don`t let paint fool you. n
n FRANCIS L. (FRANK) BRANNIGAN, SFPE (Fellow), recipient of Fire Engineering`s first Lifetime Achievement Award, has devoted more than half of his 57-year career to the safety of firefighters in building fires. He is well known for his lectures and videotapes and as the author of Building Construction for the Fire Service, Third Edition, published by the National Fire Protection Association. Brannigan is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering.
