THE ARNOT MALL FIRE
In January 1990, a fire broke out at the Arnot Mall, located on Route 17, between the cities of Elmira and Corning, in south-central New York. The mall consists of five large anchor stores and more than 100 small businesses. The majority of the structure is one-story. Flic center court area, containing a food court and a cinema complex, is two stories. Ill is section also has a large “atrium” area extending from ground level to the roof, with skylights over much of the space. The mall is fully sprinklered.
The fire started at approximately 3:30 p.m. on a Saturday, originating in a storeroom at the rear of a shoe store in the center of the mall. Its cause was a defective hair dryer used to dr)dyed shoes. The fire involved the entire storeroom, which was filled with shoes in cardboard boxes. The sprinkler piping in the storeroom was never connected to the system. This allowed the fire to burn unimpeded until it reached the main retail area of the store. Sprinklers held the fire in this area. Fire extended into the large concealed space above the shoe store. Sprinklers had been installed in the void above some of the stores in the mall but not above the shoe store.
Members of the Town & Country Fire Department observed heavy smoke issuing from the shoe store and collecting at the open center court area. Members stretched 1 ⅝and 2‘/2-inch handlines to the shoe store entrance and another 2‘/2-inch line to a service corridor that ran behind the store. The door to the rear of the involved occupancy was heavily secured.
Meanwhile, members began a primary search of the second floor of the center court, which rapidly was filling with smoke. Crews also went to the roof to ventilate but encountered difficulty. The roof area over the store became spongy, and roof crews were withdrawn to a safe position. The roof above the store collapsed, eliminating the service corridor as an avenue of attack. However, crews operating handlines into the front of the store rapidly extinguished the fire. The smoke condition at the second level was relieved to a degree by cutting several panes of Plexiglas™; some windows nearest the fire already had melted from radiant heat. Fire extended to a second-floor restaurant in the center court area, but firefighters quickly stopped it.
Evacuation presented a number of problems. There was a large Saturday crowd in the mall. Many people had the false impression that the fire was ^ not very serious and were reluctant to leave. Some stores even remained open after fire operations were underway. Local, county, and state police officers worked to convince shoppers and store employees to leave the mall. Many unattended teenagers who had no transportation were in the mall, creating a headache for law enforcement personnel who worked to get worried parents and children back together. A pet store was evacuated with the help of the local ASPCA. Employees of exposed stores, once they locked up and evacuated, were unavailable to fire personnel, creating forcible entry problems for units that needed to get into these exposures. Traffic 1 problems were severe, as many mall patrons tried to leave the parking lots as fire and emergency units converged on the area.
A smoke condition, ranging from light to heavy, was present in the entire mall. After the IC declared the fire under control, mall security and maintenance people reversed the HVAC fans to remove much of the smoke.
Initially, the Horseheads Village Fire Department responded with the Town & Country Fire Department on the first alarm. The first chief officer on the scene requested mutual aid almost immediately. Eventually, 11 fire departments responded.
Had the sprinkler system been operating in all areas of the shoe store, this fire would have caused some water damage to the storeroom and minor fire and smoke damage. Through the efforts of the fire crews, the fire was held to the original store and the area above it.
SOME LESSONS LEARNED
- Large-volume handlines are very important in structures such as this. Anticipate the need for rapidly increasing fire flow, possibly with large-caliber devices. At one point in this fire, thought was given to bringing a master stream in to cut off the fire.
- Ventilation of mall roofs is very difficult due to their construction.
- If fire has extended to the concealed area above tenant spaces, roof failure may be imminent.
- Considerable forcible entry may be needed even if the mall is open for business.
- Evacuation of thousands of people is never easy. Stubborn shoppers only make it harder. Don’t forget that, once removed, the crowd has to be taken care of.
- Traffic and crowd problems illustrate the need for cooperation with police.
- Preplanning will increase your knowledge of the mall and its hazards, thereby increasing safety and efficiency in a fire operation and also providing the opportunity for the fire department to work with mall management, police, and other agencies in dealing with the many problems associated with such operations.
- Inspection of sprinkler systems must include hydrostatic testing of piping as well as visual inspection of all piping to ensure connection to the system.
Thanks to Garry Wheeler of the Town & Country Tire Department for his assistance.
