Is Your Department Prepared to Handle Vacant Building Operations?
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TRAINING
Photo by Bob Athanas
Vacant structures are the bane to many municipalities (living centers). These include not only larger cities, but many smaller ones. The term vacant in this article pertains to structures that are not only void of people and furnishings, but that have been totally abandoned and are unusable structures under normal circumstances. These buildings have been stripped of many systems or contents that would have a resale or scrap value, including all piping, toilet and plumbing fixtures, kitchen cabinets, etc.
BACKGROUND
There are various estimates of how many vacant properties exist in Philadelphia, PA. The figure usually stated is about 23,000 to 25,000. Using a 1980 count of over 22,000, the number of long-term vacants in Philadelphia represents about 4.4% of the total number of residential structures in the city. Over 75% of these were listed as severely dilapidated.
Photo by James P. Smith
Unfortunately, the cost of demolition of the hazardous structures is steep and varies with the size and construction of each building. The cost to tear down and remove a three-story vacant brick dwelling is approximately $3,000 to $3,500. To cover the exposed adjoining wall would cost about an additional $1,200. Tragically, this cost is usually forced upon the municipality since the owner has long ago abandoned the property and is unable to be located.
In Philadelphia, the factors causing properties to become vacant parallel those found in many other municipalities:
- The decrease in population between the years 1970 and 1980 resulted in 225,000 fewer residents by 1980.
- During the same period, 140,000 jobs were lost. This swelled Philadelphia’s unemployment rolls by 250%, while the jobless rate in the nation rose only 50%.
- The homeowners who left the city had difficulty selling their dwellings due to the drastic rise in mortgage rates.
- Home improvement loan rates also increased drastically.
- The rising cost of home heating fuel also played an important role in the abandonment of many dwellings.
All these factors have led to a reduced demand for housing in Philadelphia. It is a vicious cycle, and unemployment seems to be a major component. Residents often depend on one large enterprise to provide jobs and a tax base. The shutdown of this business could be disastrous.
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Could your community survive if your largest employer went bankrupt or moved to another locale? The number of unemployed most likely couldn’t be handled by the remaining available jobs in the area. This economic-fired exodus reduces the population and the number of housing units required.
Depending on the tax structure of the community, the loss of one large business can reduce the tax base supporting the community. As people abandon their property, they will naturally stop paying property taxes. The result is longterm vacant properties.
When vandals attack these structures, an ugly situation develops where a property is stripped and thus becomes unusable. Many ask: How can the regulatory agencies allow these properties to be vandalized? One thing to consider is that due to this loss of tax income, many police and fire departments also will suffer manpower reductions and there may not be enough staff to protect or police these vacant occupancies.
One other important possibility that must not be overlooked is arson for profit. An unscrupulous owner realizing that he is unable to sell his property may attempt, what seems to him, an easy way out of an unprofitable situation.
FIGHTING FIRES IN VACANT STRUCTURES
Building construction
Knowledge of building construction is imperative in all emergency operations, but when you are fighting a fire in a vacant structure, it is critical. Especially important are the three forces that affect every type of building:
- Dead load,
- Live load,
- Impact load.
The dead load, or the materials used to build the structure, is often in a deteriorated condition. This means that leaking roofs have rotted wood supports, which allows rain water to also attack the floors below. Lack of paint on windows and cornices will also cause rotting. Water that enters between masonry walls and then freezes will cause the walls to separate.
Photo by James P. Smith
Rain water can also wash away mortar, and when an adjacent structure is torn down, or falls down, the exposed wall is improperly protected. This allows the elements to attack the salmon or backup brick that is used in the parapet or party wall. (Salmon or backup brick is a soft brick used in an interior wall and not meant to face the weather since it is not a glaze-fired surface.)
The parapet wall, which is a firestop between structures, can break down and thus allow a fire entering the cockloft or attic to spread to adjacent structures. This breakdown may also affect the load-carrying capacity of this wall, and might cause an early collapse.
Photos by James P. Smith
The live load, which is the furniture or furnishings, is usually minimal in vacant structures. The live load is often increased by the weight of the firefighters and their equipment. One engine company with an officer and two men places a load of about 600 pounds on a structure. A handline can easily produce a ton of water a minute, and a master stream can produce up to five tons a minute. It is not unusual to have four master streams in service pouring tons of water a minute into a weakened structure.
The impact load is another force that is often overlooked. Under normal firefighting conditions, a firefighter may swing an axe into a floor or roof to relieve it of water, or jump onto the roof, either from a ladder or an adjacent roof. Performing these actions on an already weakened structure, without first considering the consequences, can have a deadly and drastic effect.
One important point must be emphasized. Every building—inhabited and vacant—goes through various stages of natural deterioration. Proper maintenance will minimize most breakdowns, whereas little or no maintenance, even in an inhabited structure, will result in deterioration. Experience has shown that people tend to fix not only what they can afford to fix, but also mainly that which inconveniences them.
Collapse, therefore, is often closely related to the dilapidated condition of these buildings. Although often only local collapse is noticed, it must be remembered that once a building enters into this condition, deterioration is continual and is usually followed by additional collapse.
Response tactics
When responding to an emergency or fire in a vacant structure, you must take many factors into consideration. First, you must conduct a proper size up. As on any response, but especially on a vacant structure response, you must consider all six sides (four walls, roof, and floors). The stability of the front and side walls doesn’t guarantee that the roof, floors, or rear are stable.
The response by each company to their assigned position will ensure not only proper fireground coverage, but also that any defects in the building will not be overlooked. [Philadelphia has the following pre-determined assignments on every response: the first and third engines, first ladder, and first battalion chief (BC) respond to the front. The second and fourth engines, second ladder and second BC respond to the rear.] If a structural defect is noticed by any company, they should immediately bring it to the attention of the fireground commander.
A building with a sound looking facade may have a side or rear wall missing. A ladder company member ventilating the rear windows by going over the roof (up and over technique) from the front, with the missing rear wall, will have a weakening effect on the roof itself.
Previous fires in vacant structures leave their severely weakening marks on the buildings. A fireground strategy that should not be overlooked is an exterior knockdown with a master stream (blitz attack) and then, if safety permits, an interior attack to mop up any remaining remnants.
Responsible individuals have tried many ways to prevent entry by those who don’t belong in these structures, but, usually to no avail. Everything from plywood, to tin, to cinderblocks has been utilized. Unfortunately, the only effect has been to make it more difficult and costly for those who have to enter these structures, especially police and firefighters.
The recent use of cinder or cement blocks installed in all first floor and window openings looks good on paper. However, in many incidents it’s not difficult for determined vandals to enter through the second floor rear windows.
A serious, or potentially serious, fire must be handled by forcible entry at the first-floor level. An injury or death could occur to a firefighter who may enter a second floor window. If an accelerant is used, the firefighter may be trapped inside by a rapidly spreading fire.
Vacant buildings can’t be ignored as potential fire hazards. The reason is that too many times the poor, homeless, or indigent utilize them as dwellings. The sad part is that they usually pick the worst looking structure with a severe interior collapse potential. Their reasoning is that they won’t be hassled by anyone from the outside because no one will want to take the chance of entering a collapsing building.
Realizing that a firefighter’s duty is to protect life and property, we must consider that if no civilian life is involved, and especially if the property is abandoned, the prevention of firefighter injuries must receive prime consideration.
The chances that firefighters will sustain injuries increases when they are operating in these types of structures. Firefighters must be careful when pulling off sharp tin from doors and windows. They also must be observant of holes in the flooring. Weakened roofs, hanging cornices, and loose, falling bricks are other conditions that must be taken into consideration.
A rapidly developing fire in a vacant structure may be due to the fact that an accelerant was used. Termite damaged wood, or wood rotted due to continual exposure to the elements, will fail quite rapidly.
Ladder company personnel must follow the rule that states they are not to step onto a slate or Spanish tile roof since roof breakdown would be more evident, and loose tiles or slate more prevalent. (This rule is meant not only to keep firefighters from falling off of roofs by stepping on dislodged tiles, but to also prevent propelling the tile downward and severely injuring personnel below. These tiles are usually held in place by only one nail, which may be rusted away.)
SUMMARY
You must remember that any fireground problem you would normally encounter will be accentuated in a vacant structure. The facts and pointers in this article should enable the fireground commander to increase the probability of a safe and successful operation.
