Preplanning Building Hazards
by FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN
Editor`s note: For further reference, consult Building Construction for the Fire Service (BCFS3), Third Edition. Page numbers are included after each caption (when applicable) for your convenience.
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(Top) Free spirits chafe at “bureaucratic building codes.” This photo, taken in a well-known Virginia tourist attraction/glassware store that is often very crowded, illustrates the “free spirit” approach. Reinforcing rods were extended out from the concrete-block column; wrapped around the girder; and, as you can see, “cinched” with nails that were bent over. Officials I consulted were helpless: “no building code in that county.” A letter to the governor brought about a number of changes.
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(Middle) Note the cantilevered platform, a common feature of buildings under construction. A crane lifts material to the platform, from which the material is taken in onto the floor. The cantilever is like a see-saw. The counterbalance to the platform and its load is a group of 4 2 4 wood columns under compression, extending from the floor of the platform to the underside of the floor above. A fire on the platform would destroy the columns, thus permitting the platform to fall in a possibly very erratic path. Don`t take positions in the collapse zone. Have the police clear the collapse zone, and make the attack from another location. (BCFS3, p. 56)
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(Bottom) Do you see the trap here? It is cleverly concealed in this Rochester, New York, building. The black line at the top of the photo is the bottom of a rolling steel fire door. The trigger is a fusible link barely visible in the ceiling. There is a similar trip on the other side. A flash of fire overhead, and the firefighters are trapped!
Never operate through an automatic fire door without blocking it with something (which you will remove if you back out) to prevent the door`s closing behind you. (BCFS3, p. 195)
FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN, SFPE, recipient of Fire Engineering`s first Lifetime Achievement Award, has devoted more than half of his 56-year career to the safety of firefighters in building fires. He is well known for his lectures and videotapes and as the author of Building Construction for the Fire Service, Third Edition, published by the National Fire Protection Association. Brannigan is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering. He may be reached at (301) 855-1982.
