DISASTERS WAITING TO HAPPEN — A CHALLENGE TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT MANAGER
TRAINING NOTEBOOK
“THE WHOLE SITUATION was just a disaster waiting to happen” is a judgment often made after a catastrophe.
In this article, I present some “disasters waiting to happen.” If one or more of these “ticking time bombs” exist in your community, I urge you to take the steps necessary to ensure that your city, town, or county does not become the unfortunate subject of investigations by the NFPA, private consultants, the prosecutor, plaintiffs attorneys, and fire service/law enforcement experts.
The alert reader may recognize that most of these potential catastrophes have been covered previously in one article or another. Don’t be so smug. The significant consideration is not that “Brannigan is getting old, he is repeating himself,” but rather, “Am I sitting here, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic without understanding what is really happening?” It is certainly true, as one chief remarked, that “there is no fun in being the chief anymore!”
QUIZ TIME
Have you developed tactics for fires in buildings of trussed-roof or -floor construction?
Do you understand the disaster potential that exists when floor trusses are extended out to support the entry/exit balcony in a multiple dwelling or an office building?
Would your units just charge into a fire in falsework in a concrete building under construction?
Do your officers really understand that when fire involves the structure of a combustible building, the gravity-resistance system is failing rapidly?
Do you have a clear signal for “everybody out NOW” that is drilled on and enforced?
Do you understand that automatic sprinkler integrity is your responsibility?
Are your officers aware of the insidious problem concealed in the clean, noncombustible appearance of the underside of the typical, metal-deck, builtup roof?
Have you studied critical highway bridges and overpasses to determine how you would use water to protect them from exposure to a vehicle or structure fire?
Do your people really understand the difference between solid masonry and the increasingly popular masonry (particularly brick) veneer?
Do you dismiss concerns about highstack warehouses with the words “it’s sprinklered”?
Do your officers understand that the integrity of the roof is vital to tilt-slab buildings?
Are your dispatchers trained to recognize and relay to the FGC vital data received from occupants of high-rise and other complex buildings, or do they cut them off with “the units are on the scene—they’ll take care of it”?
Do you conduct vigorous efforts to keep all interior fire-barrier doors and toxic gas-barrier doors in proper operating condition?
Does your plan for sector commanders of high-rise fires include the function of “smoke control officer”?
Do building managers, school principals, church pastors, and others responsible for the safety of large groups UNDERSTAND that they have NO RIGHT to block or lock an exit, and that the consequences of being caught doing so are themselves serious enough as to be an effective deterrent against allowing such a practice?
Do you require that personnel visit, hotels and motels during the late-night hours and ask the desk clerk exactly what action would be taken if a fire alarm sounded or if a fire was reported by a guest?
Have you presented the city authorities with a list of “disasters waiting to happen” that are beyond your resources or authority to rectify?
Are you so bogged down in the management of the fire department that you neglect the management of the fire problem?
Are you aware of the fact that the availability of fire service literature warning against these hazards can severely weaken the defense in a civil lawsuit based on the belief that “the catastrophe could not be anticipated”?
ACTION PLAN
Would you like a suggestion as to what to do?
DISASTERS WAITING TO HAPPEN
Make a number of photocopies of this article. Assign each item to a subordinate. Request that they research and report on your department’s present situation regarding these items and submit an action plan to overcome deficiencies.
If this article inspires you to take some specific actions, why not take the trouble to write us? We would like to run a future follow-up article.
REFERENCES
Someday you may be asked in court, “Are you familiar with these documents?”
“I’m too busy with the budget” is not a good answer.
A list of suggested readings (or rereadings) follows. There are many other available sources, but these will do for a start.
“Are Wood Trusses Good For Your Health?” Brannigan, Fire Engineering, June ’88.
“Lightweight Wood Truss Floor Construction: A Fire Lesson” Corbett, Fire Engineering, July ’88.
“Joist-Rafter Versus Lightweight Truss” Mittendorf, Fire Engineering, July ’88.
“Letters To The Editor” Goehring/ Brannigan, Fire Engineering, Sept. ’88.
“Wooden Structures High In The Sky” Brannigan, Fire Engineering, April ’87.
“Beware The Truss” Brannigan, Fire Engineering, August ’85.
“Know Your Roof” Brannigan, Fire Engineering, Sept. ’86.
“Built Like a Brick Outhouse, Or Is It?” Brannigan, Fire Engineering, Feb. ’86.
“Automatic Sprinklers—Prelude To Disaster?” Brannigan, Fire Engineering, May ’85.
“Manhattan Residence Hotel Fire” Cantillo, Fire Engineering, Sept. ’88.
“Where’s The Fire, Lady?” (Editor’s Opinion) Brennan, Fire Engineering, Sept. ’87.
“Stack Effect” Brannigan, Building Construction For The Fire Service, 2nd Edition, NFPA, pp. 358-62.
