BY TERAN MOORE
With more firefighters falling victim to “bread and butter” fires (single-family, type V construction), residential homes must be safer for the families who live in them and for firefighters. The contents of today’s homes burn hotter and faster, and the structures are built with lighter-weight materials (i.e., prefab trusses and gusset plates). The most obvious solution is residential fire sprinklers, which firefighters strongly favor. Sprinklers undoubtedly save lives. However, there has been an ongoing battle with the homebuilding industry regarding their use.
What if homebuilders concentrated on prevention as opposed to suppression? What if homes were built to prevent fires? What if the home’s structure was the fire protection system? The gap between the homebuilders and the fire service has begun to close and move in the right direction.
Fire retardants have become a viable option for the homebuilding industry. Third-party tested Class A-rated fire retardants are accepted nationwide in many areas that have the most stringent fire codes.
The first step in the protective process is to treat the entire wood-frame structure with a Class A-rated fire retardant, including the underside of roof decking, the attic area, the bottom side of floor trusses, stairs, all interior walls, and so on. The wood product is a single application penetrant that dries clear and bonds to the wood’s cellular structure, making it a wood preservative as well. It also takes out the fuel aspect of the fire triangle or tetrahedron. It is odorless, is nontoxic, is noncarcinogenic, contains no volatile organic compounds, and can be applied by an airless sprayer. The treatment lasts indefinitely (unless it is damaged) and requires no maintenance. It is also resistant to mold, mildew, and termites. This treatment gives all treated lumber a Class A rating when applied properly. The second step uses “intumescent” (to swell and protect) paint on the gypsum board instead of the builder’s usual base coat of paint.
You have now given your interior walls a Class A rating as well. These combined treatments make the entire structure its own fire protection system; the building could actually stop the spread of fire. The interior structure, attic, between all walls, and all seen and unseen places are protected. Once your home is treated, it is now fire resistant, and there is no required maintenance. The cost for this protection is around one to two percent of the home’s cost. This is another viable option for residential fire protection.
No one product treats everything. Different substrates require different formulations. Fire retardants are separated into two main categories: penetrants and coatings. Penetrants penetrate into the substrate and bond to the cellular structure, giving a deeper and better protection. Coatings, on the other hand, protect only the subtrate’s surface. If the coating wears off or deteriorates, which eventually will happen, so does the protection. Therefore, penetrants are preferable to coatings.
Make sure fire retardant companies have test data to back up their claims. Some companies may claim that their products are single-coat Class A while their test reports show the products have a two-coat Class B rating. When asking for test data, make sure their tests are done by a nationally recognized third-party testing agency such as Underwriters Laboratories, Underwriters Laboratories of Canada, Southwest Research, Commercial Testing, SGS U.S. Testing, and Intertek. Ask for material safety data sheets and product data sheets. Ensure that the product is nontoxic, nonhazardous, and noncarcinogenic and contains no polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) or bromides.
There are also two-part fire retardants that require mixing. Ensure that the product is not hazardous in separate parts or when combined as one. A few products are nontoxic when separated but become hazardous when combined or mixed to make the fire retardant.
Is the treatment documented? My company, PyroLogics, Inc., offers a certificate of flame resistance for inspection and code officials, signed by the builder and the installer, attached to a product data sheet and material safety data sheet.
Know the product’s coverage rate. To test and have a consistent rating, a coverage rate must be followed (e.g., 125 sq.ft./gallon). If there is no coverage rate, how do you know how much to put on to achieve the desired rating? One way to accomplish this is by calculating the coverage based off blueprints. For example, if our builders supply us with a set of blueprints, we will calculate and give them a final amount of product needed at a given coverage rate.
Today, homeowners, homebuilders, and the fire service are becoming more aware of the availability of residential fire protection. As firefighters, we know this is where the protection is needed. If we can keep the integrity of the structure intact, prevent the fire from starting in the first place, and prevent collapse, then why wouldn’t we?
TERAN MOORE is a 10-plus-year fire service veteran and is a firefighter with the Lewisville (TX) Fire Department. He has several Texas certifications, including fire officer II, fire service instructor II, intermediate firefighter, and pumper driver/operator. He owns PyroLogics, Inc., which supplies the residential and commercial building industries with code-specific fire retardants and fire stops.
