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 the caption.
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Many old brick walls are in trouble. Often, they are braced. Except for major buildings that sometimes were designed to tie the walls to the floors for stability, spreaders on the wall are an indication of an unstable wall. This spreader is different from most. An exterior nut on a threaded end of the tie rod is taking up the tension on the steel rods. Steel tie rods will elongate if heated. If the rod elongates, whatever it is supposed to be doing for the wall is not being done. (BCFS3, 192)
Most often, a turnbuckle on the inside, often hidden in a floor or ceiling void, is taking up the tension.
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Note: The thermal imaging camera (the firefighter’s radar) should be used with the initial attack line, to learn the extent of hidden fire in the void. There is now no excuse for the disastrous surprises that have taken many firefighters’ lives. Firefighters on or under trusses where there is fire in the void are in mortal danger.
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Fire in low-density combustible tile is persistent. This area had just been swept with a 21/2-inch line.
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A very hazardous situation exists when a new ceiling conceals the combustible tile above it. If you see a nice new lay-in tile ceiling in a rehabilitated building, pop a tile and see if combustible tile is above it. If so, plan to use a big line to blow down the new ceiling and thus eliminate the void in which CO can accumulate. Two firefighters were killed when they pulled a rehabilitated basement ceiling and fire enveloped the room. (BCFS3, 389)
FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN, SFPE (Fellow), the recipient of Fire Engineering’s first Lifetime Achievement Award, has devoted more than half of his 59-year career to the safety of firefighters in building fires. He is well known as the author of Building Construction for the Fire Service, Third Edition (National Fire Protection Association, 1992), and for his lectures and videotapes. Brannigan is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering.
