SCANNING THE DECADES FOR TIMELY TOPICS
This segment concludes our Retrospective. Featured are two of the significant events of the 1980s as well as a “revisit” to previous decades.
“CHIEF TELLS OF FIGHTING MGM FIRE”
Chief Roy Parrish of Clark County, Nevada, described as “unreal” and like a “science fiction movie” the MGM Grand Hotel fire that occurred in Las Vegas on November 21, 1980. The fire claimed 84 lives: “18 died on the first floor, six others died in elevators, and one woman fell to her death while sliding down a rope U.” Six hundred seventy-nine victims were evaluated in hospitals and the city`s convention center; 382 were hospitalized. The hotel was 26 stories high and had 2,076 guest rooms and a 140-yard-long casino.
Following are some of Parrish`s observations concerning the disaster.
“The initial phone call on the fire was received by the Clark County Fire Department at 7:17 a.m. U. A second alarm was struck and also mutual aid was supplied by the Las Vegas, Boulder City, North Las Vegas, Nellis Air Force Base and Henderson Fire Departments.
“Dripping plastic, intense heat and flames kept fire fighters from entering the casino, now fully involved in fire, until flames sweeping the extensive canopy over the exterior entrance had been beaten back. Master stream appliances were used effectively U.
“By 8:30 a.m. the fire was under control U although `total evacuation of the building was not accomplished until about 12 noon .U` evacuation of the hotel rooms was complicated by the movement of some guests to floors that had previously been searched and cleared.”
Automatic sprinklers were only in certain parts of the hotel. “Three sprinkler heads at the entrance to the showroom area kept out flames in the casino and sprinklers also protected the arcade from an invasion of fire from the casino U.”
“In all areas where `sprinkler systems were installed the fire was stopped in its tracks` U. The fire started in the Deli and quickly spread to the casino, which was not protected by sprinklers.”
“U Mike Olsen of the National Fire Administration said that `a single location fire can have all the elements of a disaster,` but most plans don`t consider a single location disaster. He reported that `the deaths and injuries continue to be from products of combustion.` At the MGM Grand Hotel there were deaths more than 20 floors above the fire in the casino .U” (Mar. 1981)
Hugh Maguire in “Medical Aspects of Tragedy at MGM Fire in Las Vegas” (EMS Operations Column) noted the following.
It was a tragedy “which alerted the entire nation to the potential hazards of a high-rise fire and the possibly inadequate protection afforded the guests.”
Fire erupted in the main floor coffee shop and casino area.
“Most investigators agree the fire had been smoldering for over two hours before it was discovered.” (Mar. 1981)
New Mobile Radio by RCA
The RCA Carfone, a new two-way mobile radio designed to operate in the 152-174 megacycle band, promises to double the available communication lanes and open new facilities to police and fire departments and makes it possible to operate in channels between stations now on the air without “spillover” into the adjacent channels, reported RCA Engineering Products, Camden, N.J., which also explained the following.
The new radio transmitter-receiver was completely contained in a single metal-shielded unit only slightly larger than a shoe box. It could be “mounted in practically any position on a horizontal or vertical surface.” A single compact unit, containing the controls and loudspeaker, could be attached under the dashboard.
A newly developed circuit for automatic modulation control locks the voice input level at a constant amplitude. Regardless of whether the vehicle operator shouts into the hand microphone or speaks softly into it at some distance, the dispatcher at the receiving point hears the messages at a steady level, according to the company. (June 1949)
“Atlantic City Fire-Police Use Unique `Walkie-Talkie` Radio” U
“Fireman James Heaney demonstrates the two-way personal setup [improvised by Lawrence A. Smith, police and fire radio technician]. The receiver in the leather case on the belt contains a 4-tube receiver with power supply. The helmet contains a 4-tube crystal controlled transmitter with its power supply, microphone and antenna. Both transmitter and receiver are entirely self-contained. With this method of operation, it is not necessary for wires to be connected be-tween the equipment on the body and that in the helmet ….
“The Federal Communications Commission on May 17, 1945, announced its final frequency allocations to the Municipal Fire Service, also Police and other services in the spectrum between 25 and 30,000 megacycles. “On that date, it may be said, the Commission opened the door to two-way radio telephone conversation between citizens, farmers, professional and tradespeople and most important of all, between fire units engaged in the business of saving life and property. (Lawrence A. Smith, Apr. 1946)
“Although the Federal Communications Commission has already assigned a band of frequencies for walkie-transmission just as it has established the channels for other forms of radio communications for the fire and police services, it is not to be expected that this most modern improvement will be ready for universal application overnight. If the fire service could use the same type of radio walkie-talkie and handy-talkie experiment that was so successfully used in the war, there would be little delay. But unfortunately, they cannot. The emergency services require a type of radio communications equipment that must be adapted to their express needs and limitations.
“Manufacturers of radio equipment, aware of this fact, are working in the laboratory, and afield, to develop this special equipment. So, too, are the communications technicians of the fire and police services.” (Editor`s Note, Apr. 1946)
Combination Chemical Engines
U. Around 1904, the original chemical engine was “rapidly becoming a thing of the past”; combination chemical engines and hook and ladder and water tower trucks or water tower and hose wagons were gaining in popularity and were “to be found not only in villages and small town fire departments, but in first-class organisations.” Among the benefits cited for them were that they “serve a twofold purpose and take up less room in a fire station, and can be taken to the scene of action with only one team of horses, saving considerable time and money.”
It was predicted that “when electrical machinery can be more thoroughly relied upon to break down just when most needed, the electrically propelled combination chemical wagon or hook truck will be a familiar sight.” (The Chemical Engine of Today: Its Evolution, May 7, 1904)
LA FRANCE FIRE APPARATUS
This portable La France 6,500-lb. electric searchlight apparatus–60 inches in height and 28 inches in diameter–consisted of a frame, running gear, and a La France boiler. “The great value of this engine consists in its being of such an immense assistance to the firemen, when working either at night or in some dark cellar. It is equally useful when everything round about is enveloped in thick black smoke, as the light generated is powerful enough to penetrate such smoke and thereby show the firemen where to work and what pitfalls to avoid.”
It features were the following components: a five-inch by five-inch light and a compact engine mounted on the frames in the front; a shaft governor set to run at 650 revolutions a minute; an entirely enclosed five-kilowatt marine type, multipolar generator (directly connected with the engine), supplying 65 amperes of current at a pressure of 80 volts; a driver`s seat, located between the generator and the frame`s crane neck; an 18-inch projector on each side of the driver`s seat, which “swings through a complete circle when the driver`s seat is folded forward”; two current-regulating wire rheostats between the lamps and under the driver`s seat; a Weston ampere meter permanently mounted on the lamp frame; a fireproof field rheostat and Weston volt meter on the dynamo; an extra projector base at the back of the boiler on each side of the frame; a reel with 100 feet of twin conductor mining machine cable on the spindle of each base; an injector (should the pump fail); an eight-gallon feed-water supply tank; and a hose reel, with 200 feet of garden hose to connect the tank to the hydrant or source of water supply when it was necessary to give the machine a long run. (May 3, 1902)
“The Prevention of Loss by Fire
First Notice”
“In a pamphlet of ninety-five pages just published by Dr. Edward Atkinson, president of the Boston Manufacturers` Mutual Fire Insurance company, he gives a fifty years` record of factory mutual insurance, based on thirty-five years of personal experience, with suggestions for the protection of cities from conflagrations. It is interesting … and is the only instance known to the author of an under-taking to couple the prevention of loss by fire as the prime motive of the organization with the payment of indemnity in money for such losses as cannot be avoided at an incident U.”
The pamphlet made are the following points:
Some way must be found to protect against the trivial causes of fires to protect against excessive fire loss of the country …. Large losses in city warehouses and great shops that have been investigated even when the buildings are of incombustible material [indicate that] “no right attention has been given to separating one floor from another. It often seems as if the plans had been made so as to assure the complete destruction of the contents. Little or no attention is given by the occupants to the trivial causes from which great fires originate.”
Inspection of large establishments outside the risks of his own company before the present methods of inspection by the Boston Fire Underwriters` Union were adopted. “We were sure to find basements or dark cellars incumbered with dangerous rubbish, attics and roofs of bad construction filled with combustible material, bad lanterns, swinging gas jets, worthless hose hung up to satisfy the insurance man, etc.–in fact, all the minor faults which it has taken so many years to remedy in the mutual system. Such evils can be remedied only by owners and occupants.”
“The system was established by the late Zachariah Allen, of Providence, R.I. in 1835, when he and his associates organized the Providence Manufacturers` Mutual Fire Insurance company, which was followed in 1848 by the Rhode Island Mutual Fire Insurance company, and in 1850 by the Boston Manufacturers` Mutual Fire Insurance company, of which Dr. Atkinson was elected a director in 1865, and president in 1878. The first policies issued were dated Sept. 14, 1850 …..
“It has always been the practice of the mutual companies, and often with excellent results the practice of the stock insurance companies, to instruct owners and occupants upon their duties to their own property, and to keep them up to the mark by constant supervision and by refusing to grant contracts of indemnity to those who neglect their own duty.
“A large part of that duty undoubtedly is to provide apparatus for preventing loss, with men drilled to use it in case of emergency–and this all the more in factories which are at any great distance from a regular fire department.
“Another and by no means unimportant part of that duty of owners of factories in cities is to keep urging upon the municipal authorities and the citizens in general the absolute necessity of providing efficient fire protection, with abundant water supply at a proper pressure; and, lastly, for all factory-owners to see that proper care and order are exercised in the conduct of the work within, and on their premises and surroundings.” (June 30, 1900)
Fire-Resistant Construction
The following recommendations were contained in an article that appeared in Fire and Water Engineering (Jan. 6, 1906) on the subject of fire-resistant construction, which has been an area of ongoing concern from the earliest days of the fire service to the present time. The writer (who was not identified) noted: “There is nothing to prevent even a reputed absolutely fireproof building from taking fire on every story at the same time, by fire contributing to it through its windows from a neighboring building. On the first attack of flame from without, such structures may take fire at their unprotected windows on several floors at the same instant.”
The author also recommended the following:
Materials. They should be “iron, steel, good hard brick cement or stone–the last not to be marble, granite, or any stone liable to fly or pulverise under the influence of fire.” No wooden beams or lintels.
Floors. Steel beams should be spaced five feet on center for stores, warehouses, and factories; eight feet for other buildings. No load to be supported “shall cause a deflection of more than one-thirtieth inch per foot of span.” Concrete or other fireproof material should be used between the beams. Wood floors and trim are to be “backed up solidly with non-combustible filling” in buildings not more than eight stories or one hundred feet in height. Above this height, the floors must have a noncombustible floor finish and trim must be metal. If wood trim is used, it must be covered with metal.
Stairs and staircase landings. They should be of brick, stone, concrete, iron, steel, or a combination of these materials.
Windows (outside). Frames and sash must be of metal.
Hall and permanent room partitions. Must be of fireproof construction. The stair-halls shall be enclosed in fireproof partitions. Fireproof filling must be employed between floors; all metal must be insulated against heat.
Division or party walls. “Even in private houses, especially in those of large size, in which long and wide suites of rooms are found, such openings should be provided with suitable fire-doors and automatic self-closing devices to be approved not only by the commissioner of buildings, but, also, by the insurance inspectors.”
Exterior, division, or party walls higher than 15 feet high and not finished with cornices, gutter, or crown moldings should have parapet walls at least eight inches thick and carried two feet above the roof. In warehouses, factories, stores, and all business and manufacturing buildings, the parapet walls should be at least 12 inches thick and three feet above the roof. All of these “walls should be coped with stone, concrete, cast iron or properly, but not preferably, terra cotta.”
Area. It should be from 13,300 to 30,000 square feet, depending on the type of occupancy and whether the building is sprinklered.
Joisted construction. The rule of the National Board of Fire Underwriters should be strictly enforced: (1) All nonfireproof buildings higher than 55 feet are forbidden; (2) Store or warehouse, or factory areas should not exceed 5,100 square feet, if they front on one street only, 6,000 if they front on two streets, and 7,500, if on three; and (3) If sprinklered, the figures could be increased 50 percent. Greater latitudes, “of course,” were allowed for buildings of mill construction.
Roofs. Each roof should be as nearly fireproof as possible. Skylight frames and sashes should be of metal and glazed with thick wire-glass or some other type of fire-resistant glass. Fireproof roofs should have the “accustomed bulkhead in scuttle and, in addition, one skylight or more, whose superficial areas shall equal not less than one-fiftieth of the superficial area of the roof, with glass at least one inch thick, or wire-glass at least a quarter of an inch thick.”
Elevator, stair, dumbwaiter shafts, or stage roofs in theatres. Frames and sashes should be metal. Glass should be thick and fire-resistant or protected “above and below by screens of at least No. 12 galvanized wire screens”; meshes are not to exceed one inch. Internal elevator shafts should be enclosed on each floor. Nonfireproof enclosures may be “solid partitions or ornamental metal work or wire mesh not exceeding one and one-half-inch, trapped at each floor with doors tin-clad on underside and held open by fusible links. Enclosures should extend three feet above the roof, with a metal frame skylight over the shaft.” Partitions made of fire-resistant materials carried three feet above the roof should be separated from elevator shafts by stairways built around them. Stairways should be covered with a metal frame skylight, made from very thick or wire-glass.
Standpipes. All buildings exceeding 55 feet in height should have four- or six-inch standpipes, according to the building`s height, “able to withstand a pressure of 300 pounds, provided with hose and nozzle at each floor, and with siamese connections at each floor at the street level.” If the water from the street mains is not sufficient, water should be supplied from a 500-gallon pump or an elevator pressure-tank that has a capacity of at least 5,000 gallons.
Automatic sprinklers. Buildings used for mercantile or manufacturing purposes should have automatic sprinklers at the ceilings of all floors below the ground floor, spaced in accordance with National Board requirements and supplied by a four-inch pipe to a siamese at the street level.
When Is a Fire Chief Entitled to Damages for Injury?
A battalion chief in a municipal fire department, in command of a fire station, together with his chauffeur, left the station during the afternoon in response to an alarm of fire. Although the siren was being sounded, the driver of a motor truck attempted to drive across a street intersection in front of the city chief. The chief`s car collided with the truck and the chief was injured. He sued the owner of the truck for damages for the injuries sustained.
“The owner of the motor-truck attempted to avoid liability on the contention that the fire chief was violating a municipal speed law ordinance when the accident occurred.
“….The lower court held the driver of the truck guilty of negligence which approximately contributed to the accident and failed to find that the fire chief or his driver had been guilty of contributory negligence which would in law bar recovery against the owner of the motor truck. The higher court upheld this verdict.” (Feb 5, 1930)
“Aluminum Gaining in Use in Construction of Fire Equipment”
“In much of the newer [firefighting] equipment, aluminum has found an important place. The metal is not only light in weight but strong and durable. Equipment made of it is easy to handle, while the fact that moisture has comparatively no effect on aluminum is a decided advantage in terms of dependability and economy …. Perhaps the most important use for aluminum in the fire-fighting industry, to date, is its application for ladders … at the present time, there are several firms actively engaged in the production of light alloy ladders …. A New Jersey manufacturer is now marketing a nozzle made of aluminum; it weighs but 10 pounds–just half the weight of its predecessor U.” (Mar. 1936)
Avoiding Driving Accidents
Charles A. Harnett, commissioner of motor vehicles, State of New York, put forth the following views concerning driv-ing safety for firefighters:
He is “unalterably opposed to any official order which requires the driver of a fire truck to either stop or perceptibly slow down apparatus because of red traffic lights, while the apparatus is responding to an alarm.”
“The mere fact that the State of New York gives the right of way to certain vehicles does not relieve the operator of his responsibility for observing proper safeguards at all times.”
…. “The primary purpose of a fire engine is to get to a fire as promptly as possible. It is a matter of life and death. These vehicles, like ambulances, emergency trucks, and police radio cars are on errands of mercy when responding to a call and there is no sane reason why the drivers should be compelled to observe ordinary traffic rules.”
Apparatus should be driven back in accordance with ordinary traffic rules. “It has been held that performance of duty means response to the call and does not include the return to the fire or police station. That is true even of ambulances ….” (“How May Accidents Be Avoided?” Francis E. Kenny, Oct. 1935)
The Volunteer Chief
“A Volunteer Chief today has to handle the same class of fires as does the city man. He has under his control, the lives of his firemen as well as the safety of others and millions of dollars worth of property. In most cases, he has the control and handling of expensive equipment, therefore it is imperative that the Volunteer Chief gain all the knowledge he possibly can to do his job efficiently and intelligently. To that end there are many ways he can study his job in addition to the knowledge he gains by experience. There are many schools to assist him, text books, journals, firemen`s training courses, and the assistance of the many big-hearted Chiefs of city departments, as well as several intentional organizations ….” [Allen H. Clark, chief of the Lakefield (Ont.) Fire Department, June 1939] n
NFA Completes First Year
The National Fire Academy completed its first year of operation January 21, 1981. More than 3,100 students attended courses. The late B. J. Thompson, NFA superintendent, and his staff instituted the residential programs. “Happy Birthday, NFA.” (From the Publisher`s Desk, Feb. 1981)
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Combination chemical and hose wagon, Seagrave construction.
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La France fire apparatus.
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Coney Island Fire
The famous Coney Island (NY) amusement center was threatened by this fire, which originated in Steeplechase Park. Several firemen were hurt. The fire destroyed about 300 feet of the boardwalk, part of the building, and some of the rides. (Oct. 1939)
