BY FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN, SFPE (FELLOW)
Editor’s note: For further reference, consult Building Construction for the Fire Service, Third Edition (BCFS3). Page numbers, where applicable, are included after the caption.
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The owner of this mill wanted to be protected from the elements when going to his office; therefore, the arch was removed and a wooden lintel was substituted. This was pointed out to me by Hagers-town, Maryland, firefighters. Time spent discussing the different types of wall collapses (which I consider immaterial) would be better spent teaching firefighters to survey “brick” walls for wooden lintels and leveling beams. The many collapse reports I have seen have not listed such walls as a factor in a fatal collapse, but logically it must have happened. (BCFS3, 158,168)
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A column was in the way. The solution: convert the beam to a truss (an inverted king post truss). This greatly increases the potential for collapse. (BCFS3, 522)
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Sprinkler systems have a number of failsafe devices. This is an outside screw and yoke (OS&Y) valve. The valve stem cannot be seen, so we know the valve is not open. An open valve is shown on page 490 of BCFS3.
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This clear-span wooden gusset plate truss is very common and represents a severe hazard to firefighters. Under fire conditions, the loss of a single gusset plate can cause a total collapse. Such collapses have killed firefighters. The trusses may be hidden by a ceiling. Pulling the ceiling to “get at the fire” may be the last thing you ever do. There is no safe time under or on burning trusses. The time to collapse is very short. Use the firefighter’s radar (thermal imaging) to determine if fire is overhead. If there is, get out. There is no obligation to kill firefighters to save a disposable building. Paste this notice in your helmet: “You can have raging fire over your head and not know it.”
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This store is sprinklered. See the arch in the background? The next store, which is not sprinklered, was an addition. A fire in the unsprinklered area could overwhelm the sprinklers. Such an opening should have a fire door, but plan to defend it with hoselines. (BCFS3, 594-595)
FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN, SFPE (Fellow), recipient of Fire Engineering’s first Lifetime Achievement Award, has devoted more than half of his 57-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.
