TEMPORARY HURRICANE SHUTTERS AND FIREFIGHTING OPERATIONS

BY LEIGH T. HOLLINS

In 2004, Atlantic hurricanes caused more than 3,000 deaths, primarily in Haiti, the result of Hurricane Jeanne. Last year also, unadjusted property damage in the United States set an all-time record, estimated to be more than $42 billion. Six hurricanes-Alex (North Carolina), Charley (Florida), Frances (Florida), Gaston (South Carolina), Ivan (Alabama), and Jeanne (Florida)-and three tropical storms-Bonnie (Florida), Hermine (Massachusetts), and Ivan II (Louisiana)-struck the United States in 2004.

Eighteen states have a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean, and almost 4,000 miles of the roughly 5,000 miles of U.S. ocean coastline is on the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. These statistics illustrate the potential for a hurricane’s striking this country. Residents have only a few choices when a hurricane approaches: get out of its way, seek refuge in a shelter, or ride it out at home. Regardless of their choice, many residents try to protect their property (commercial or residential) by covering all openings in the structure with some type of a hurricane shutter.

(1, 2) Hurricane Charley hit the southwest coast of Florida near Punta Gorda on Friday, August 13, 2004, causing widespread damage, as evidenced by this home on the bay and an inland mobile home park, which was decimated. (Photos by author.)

Headlines such as “Hurricane Shutters Were Factor in Florida House Fire That Killed Five” and others less tragic documented the problems of hurricane shutters and fire issues. Many articles were written urging property owners to remove shutters from properties when the storms passed and about the fire hazards posed by candles, oil lamps, camping lanterns, and portable gas stoves that were used because of a lack of electricity for weeks on end. Dangerous, improper wiring from generators contributed to the fire hazards. Some residents heeded the warnings; others did not. The firefighters dealt with the results. There were many fires in shuttered structures in the South.

On September 11, 2004, all 9/11 memorial events in Manatee County were canceled because of the approaching Hurricane Ivan. Off-duty firefighters and Fire Department of New York guests spent the day cutting recycled metal roof decking to size and screwing it directly to the wooden window frame of this structure, my home. Old roof decking was used because not a piece of plywood could be found within 50 miles.

Should a fire occur in a shuttered structure, whether the residents are at home or not, the shutters pose problems for firefighters and occupants. These problems include the following:

• They cause a delay in reporting the fire because the shutters conceal smoke and flames.

4) There were many fires in shuttered structures in the South.

• Fire companies arrive in the later stages of a fire.

(5) Commercially available metal shutters were used to cover all these windows and doors. (6) This was the front door to a large two-story home, which was covered by plywood.

• They increase the chance for flashover or backdraft.

• They make it difficult to determine the location of the seat of the fire.

• Fires are not able to self-vent out windows.

• They create more intense heat conditions inside.

• There is less visibility inside the structure.

• You cannot vent horizontally.

• You cannot use positive-pressure ventilation in conjunction with fire attack.

• Occupants cannot escape out the windows.

• Firefighters cannot make a “grab” from outside a window.

• Firefighters cannot drag a victim to the nearest window for rescue.

(7-12) Among the many methods used to fasten temporary shutters to windows and doors are bolts in preinstalled lags, slide bolts, channel and wing nuts, concrete nails with shims, plywood clips, and sheet metal screws.

• They block escape routes for fire crews operating inside.

10, 11, 12

• Removing the shutters creates a huge burden on resources.

(13) These homes were still boarded up in February 2005, three months after the end of hurricane season.

The obvious solution to these problems is to remove all coverings blocking the windows and, in many cases, the doors.

(14-21) The materials used for temporary hurricane shutters and the methods used to attach them are limited only by the property owner’s imagination. Here we see insulated foam board, plywood, corrugated steel, 2-inch 6-inch lumber, 9-inch lap siding boards, flat aluminum panels, and pressboard.

Residents use many methods to cover these openings; most of them can be referred to as “shutters.” Among them are electrically operated roll-down shutters, Kevlar reinforced screens, and island-style and bimini-style shutters. These types and styles of shutters are usually permanently attached to the structure and put in place when needed. This article will not be addressing these “permanent” shutters but only the most commonly used temporary hurricane shutters. These shutters are nailed, screwed, clipped, and propped up before a storm and, in most cases, are taken down when the storm passes.

(20) (21) (22) This homeowner took an unconventional approach: He mounted the shutters on the inside!

Although the eastern and southern coastal states differ in many ways, they have one thing in common when a hurricane approaches: Residents board up. The methods they use to board up may vary. More residents probably boarded up their homes in 2004 than any other year in history. Where I live (west central Florida), I was amazed to see at least 50 percent of the structures boarded up at some point during the 2004 hurricane season. Many of these structures remained boarded up for months. Some structures in my fire district are boarded up as of press time (May 2005).

HURRICANE CHARLEY

(23, 24) Flush-mounted and recessed-mounted shutters.

First, there was Hurricane Charley, which set its sights directly on west central Florida, before veering into Punta Gorda, 70 miles to our south. This hurricane certainly got the residents’ attention quickly, smashing structures all the way inland to Orlando. Even a huge civic center housing 1,400 evacuees in Arcadia, Florida (50 miles inland) was flattened.

HURRICANE FRANCES

As I emerged from 48 hours of duty in my boarded-up firehouse the morning after we were “skirted” by Hurricane Frances, I took my camera and drove through several areas of Manatee County with the sole intention of documenting what the various neighborhoods were using to board up their homes. As expected, the low-income areas used whatever was lying around, the middle-income neighborhoods used mostly plywood, and the upper-income developments had new corrugated steel shutters installed. Shutters were everywhere!

(25) Recessed shutters mounted with plywood clips can be easily removed by hand. (26-29) In the following series of photos, the thought was, If the shutter cannot be removed by hand or with hand tools, what tools and methods would work best? Here, a bullet-chained chainsaw, a rotary saw, and a reciprocating saw are used with the idea of making the least number of cuts-one-and prying off the shutter. This technique worked well. The chainsaw was the power tool of choice because of its portability, light weight, and depth control. However, all three tools did the job. (30) A two-cut and three-cut method did not work too well.

The use of temporary shutters is increasing dramatically in coastal communities. A recent newspaper ad for a high-end builder boasted: “A corrugated steel hurricane shutter package is included with every home.” This particular builder is developing nine subdivisions in Manatee County alone. In this county, every new home must have hurricane-rated windows or hurricane shutters to be issued a Certificate of Occupancy. Hurricane windows are basically the same as a car windshield’s safety glass, except the plastic sheet in the middle is about 1⁄8 inch thick. Our training has shown that a reciprocating saw is the easiest method to “take” such a window.

Most homeowners are choosing the cheaper of the two-corrugated steel temporary shutters (photo 5).

REMOVING SHUTTERS DURING FIREFIGHTING OPERATIONS

So, if the obvious solution is to remove these temporary shutters before or during firefighting operations to alleviate the long list of problems they pose, how do we do this? The degree of difficulty encountered in removing the shutters will depend on several factors, including the following:

• the type of shutter;

(31, 32) In this case, the scenario was a recessed-mounted shutter that could not be pried out. After testing several methods and power tools, the best choice was a bullet-chained chainsaw with a depth-control shroud. The depth of cut was about six inches. This allowed us to cut through the wood shutter, the glass, and the aluminum window frame-all at the same time-with ease. Do not try this with a regular chainsaw.

• the type of fastener;

• the number of fasteners;

(33-36) The method of attaching the new (required) corrugated steel shutter is shown in the upper left photo. The lag sleeves are installed in the wall when it is built, and the shutters are bolted into the sleeve when needed. With the number of bolts used, removing them all would be very time consuming. However, that may be your best choice. Here, we used a bullet-chained chainsaw, an air chisel, and a rotary saw to remove similar shutters. We also tried a reciprocating saw with a heavy-duty demolition blade. None of these methods worked well. They were very labor-intensive and slow. If we had to choose, the rotary saw worked best.

• the locations of fasteners;

(36)

• whether the shutter is attached on two sides or all four sides;

• the type of material to which the fastener is attached-wood, aluminum, brick, or concrete, for example;

• the types of tools available;

• the number of firefighters available; and

(37) Can you imagine trying to use a rotary saw to remove all the shutters off this house? This may be the very situation when the incident commander decides to alter the tactics and strategies because the shutters are staying in place.

• the firefighters’ size, endurance, and strength.

Mounting

Shutters can be mounted in two general ways:

• flush mount, and

• recessed mount.

In most cases, a flush-mounted shutter is the easiest to remove because you will have access to the shutter’s edges and can pull or pry it off. With a recessed mount, the edges are not accessible and, unless clips are used to mount it, you may find it very difficult to pull or pry the shutter off.

Since there are literally dozens of methods of attaching temporary shutters to structures, and it is our priority to remove them during fire operations, I offer this tactical guideline:

• Plan A-remove by hand.

• Plan B-remove with hand tools.

• Plan C-remove with power tools.

• Plan D-leave shutters in place, and revise your tactics and strategy.

One problem listed earlier is the possibility that the resources of one or two companies may be needed to remove all the temporary shutters. Even if the shutters can be removed by hand, imagine the time and effort that will be spent removing plywood from all the windows of a typical 2,000-square-foot, two-story residence.

• What additional resources would you need if hand tools are required?

• What if power tools are required?

• What power tools will work best?

• Do you have these special cutting tools available?

• What if you are not the officer who has to worry about these tasks? Then you are probably the one going inside, and that is a huge problem that whoever is making the decisions needs to address.

The bottom line is this: Every person on-scene needs to be made aware of the presence of the shutters and every effort needs to be made to remove all the shutters. If that is not possible, the incident commander needs to revise the strategy and tactics accordingly. Such revised strategies and tactics may include the following:

• vertical ventilation,

• no entry past the first room,

• more frequent personnel accountability reports,

• removing only some shutters (because of the difficulty),

• using piercing nozzles,

• calling for additional resources,

• assigning additional RIT/RIC teams,

• increased use of thermal imaging cameras, and

• taking a defensive stand only.

With the increased hurricane activity we have seen in recent years, particularly large damaging storms, many of the new building codes and regulations implemented in coastal states will affect the fire service. Some of these influences, such as stronger buildings, will be good; some, such as buildings that are “sealed up” during a storm, will not be good. Either way, we will have to resolve these issues and problems effectively to protect the residents, their property, and our firefighters. I suggest that you acquire a structure, board it up, and use the various tools you have available. Only then will you have the “experience” to deal with the problem. The fireground is not the place to learn a new tactic.

• • •

Coming to a town near you in 2005: Hurricanes Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Dennis, Emily, Franklin, and Gert. Which one will challenge your department? Will you be ready? ■

Author’s note: Some of the information in this article is based on a training paper by Miami-Dade (FL) Fire Rescue Captain Ray Bell.

■ LEIGH T. HOLLINS began his fire service career in New Jersey in 1976 before relocating to Florida in 1977, where he advanced through the ranks to battalion chief at Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue in Manatee County, Florida. He is a Florida certified firefighter, an EMT, a fire inspector, a fire officer, and a fire instructor. He has a college degree in fire science and is the author of numerous fire-related articles and a regular contributor to Fire Engineering’s monthly Roundtable column. Hollins conducts training throughout the United States and is the lead extrication instructor for FDIC & FDIC West’s Hands-On Training program. He is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering and of the FDIC executive advisory committee. He is the host and producer of the video School Bus Extrication (Fire Engineering, 2001).