BY DAVID RHODES
The Great Western Inn is a 73-room, 44-year-old building constructed of concrete block load-bearing walls with reinforced poured concrete floors and roof. The hotel is located in Bremen, Georgia, 10 miles east of the Georgia-Alabama state line and 48 miles west of Atlanta along Interstate 20.
On June 27, 2006, at approximately 0850 hours, a maintenance worker entered the hotel’s laundry room. A hotel guest and employees had reported smelling gas in the vicinity of the laundry room the night before and earlier that morning. Minutes later, an explosion rocked the building, collapsing the southwest corner that included the laundry room and three storage rooms and severely damaging four hotel rooms. The explosion created a collapse area of approximately 3,500 square feet and ignited hotel linens and towels stored in a first-floor storage room, creating a significant fire.
At 0853 hours, the Bremen (GA) Fire Department received the alarm and responded with two engines and one chief. On arrival and size-up, Chief R. Clark Farr immediately called mutual aid requesting both Carroll County and Haralson County units. (Bremen is located in both counties). Carroll County responded one engine, one truck, one rescue, and one chief. Haralson County responded one engine, one truck, one rescue, and one chief. Both counties operate combination paid/volunteer departments. The Bremen chief also recalled eight off-duty personnel and activated Bremen’s 12-member Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) and requested the Carroll County Emergency Management Agency director to respond.
After receiving information from hotel employees and a guest, it was determined that four individuals were unaccounted for, Chief Farr (the incident commander) requested the Atlanta Fire Department’s Structural Collapse Rescue Team. On receiving this request, the Atlanta (GA) Fire Department requested the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) to deploy three additional units from the Metro-Atlanta Georgia Search and Rescue Task Force (Metro GSAR) and search dogs from the Georgia Body Recovery Team (GBRT K-9).
The Metro GSAR consists of six departments, each equipped with identical heavy rescue tractor-drawn apparatus (photo 1) that includes three urban search and rescue (USAR) caches. Metro GSAR dispatched three of the six units including Clayton County, Fulton County, and the City of Atlanta team, which included the GSAR apparatus Engine 8, the Atlanta Fire Rescue Collapse Unit (carrying a full complement of lumber), and the Battalion 2 chief (also Atlanta’s USAR task force leader). Each of the groups responded with nine members for a total of 27 collapse rescue technicians, one task force leader, and one chief’s aide. In addition, GSAR Executive Committee members Chief Dennis Rubin (Atlanta Fire Department), Chief David Daniels (Fulton County), and Metro GSAR Executive Committee chairman Chief Alex Cohilas (Clayton County) responded as the IST for the Metro GSAR Team. The Atlanta Police Department assisted in the response using an Atlanta Police Air 1 helicopter unit to fly in the Atlanta Fire USAR task force leader and to set up a video downlink at the command post to receive live video from the helicopter. This allowed for a 15-minute response time for the task force leader and the ability to complete an initial size-up to determine if adequate resources were responding. The response time for the apparatus to arrive from Atlanta was one hour and 10 minutes.
 1. Photos by Bill May |
STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE AND FIRE
Although the official cause is still under investigation, all preliminary indications appear to lead to a disconnected propane gas line. The hotel had recently converted the laundry dryers from natural gas to propane. A “gas odor” was noticed the previous day and again earlier on the morning of the explosion. A 500-gallon liquefied propane (LP) tank sat just outside the laundry room and was overturned during the explosion. A firefighter inspecting the LP tank found the valve in the open position and closed it to prevent any additional leakage.
The first-floor damage was a combination of a pancake and lean-to collapse. The pancake collapse area at the west end ranged from four to 18 inches high and consisted of the laundry room and a linen and towel storage room (photo 2). At the building’s south end, the lean-to area consisted of a portion of the laundry room, the breezeway, and two first-floor hotel rooms (photo 3).
 2. Photos by Bill May |
 3. Photos by Bill May |
The second floor was completely a lean-to collapse, consisting of a maintenance workshop, a hotel furniture storage area, a mechanical room containing boilers and water heaters, the second-floor breezeway, and two second-floor hotel rooms. All exterior load-bearing walls on the south, west, and north were taken out during the explosion. The one interior load-bearing wall on the first floor (separating the laundry room from the storage area) was destroyed, and the interior breezeway walls on the east side were severely compromised. The second-floor interior load-bearing wall separating the workshop from the storage area remained in place and was the only structural component preventing the second floor from a pancake collapse (photo 4).
 4. Photo coutesy of Metro-Atlanta GSAR. |
The fire, located on the first floor, was under control on arrival of Metro GSAR units; however, smoldering debris created light smoke (subject to shifting winds) and a carbon monoxide hazard in the northwest corner of the collapse area. During the search operations, ventilation fans were used, and each team constantly conducted its own air monitoring (photo 5).
 5. Photos by Bill May |
SEARCH & RESCUE OPERATIONS
The Metro GSAR Task Force integrated into the existing incident command structure under the operations chief and was designated as the search and rescue division. The search and rescue division was initially comprised of two nine-person search/shoring teams, one five-person rescue team, one four-person cut team, and one K-9 search team leader, seven handlers, and 10 search dogs. The command team informed the search and rescue division that all undamaged rooms had been searched, cleared, and marked and that one hotel employee and three hotel guests were missing.
The GBRT K-9 unit was able to work two separate dogs in and around the building prior to beginning search team operations. Because of hot surface conditions and smoke from the original explosion, the K-9 unit was unable to search the northwest section of the collapse. Both dogs alerted on the same area, which was an opening on the first floor on the southwest corner of the collapse. The search teams were briefed on the structural condition and the status of the K-9 search. The dog alerts and the information from a witness who had seen the hotel maintenance man enter the laundry room were consistent, and it was decided to start the search in that area using a search camera with a flexible attachment to explore debris. The K-9 unit also worked the debris field around the collapse area that spanned 40 feet around the area. A total of nine dogs alerted to the debris pile (photo 6). The K-9 unit also cleared the wooded area around the parking lot for individuals who could have been ejected away from the structure during the explosion.
 6. Photos by Bill May |
The search and rescue division requested two teams of 30 local firefighters and two skid steer loaders, a boom lift (photo 7), and a rubber tire loader to search the exterior debris pile and remove debris for the technical rescue teams. These crews worked 30- to 45-minute shifts in completing this task (photo 8). An additional Metro GSAR unit was requested, which brought a fourth Metro GSAR unit from DeKalb County with an additional nine collapse rescue technicians and one team leader.
 7. Photos by Bill May |
 8. Photos by Bill May |
The search and shoring teams initially worked for a 30-minute period and then rotated out with a relief crew. This proved to be difficult, resulting in some overlap and inefficiency. During this time, search teams used search cameras to explore the void spaces in the laundry room area while the shoring teams were stabilizing the west load-bearing wall that was the only structural component preventing a major secondary collapse. This concrete block wall was severely compromised and partially destroyed on the first floor and leaning on the second floor (photo 9). Members constructed 4 × 4 laced post shores to capture the second-floor load (photo 10) and repeated the process on the second floor directly above the first-floor shores to capture the roof load. Temporary pneumatic shores were set to allow for primary searches of the lean-to areas. A structural engineer assessed damage from the safety of a temporary sloped floor shore (photo 11). These temporary shores were replaced by 4 × 4 perpendicular shores to capture the second-floor load. In smaller areas, 4 × 4 cribbing was used (photo 12).
 9. Photos courtesy of Metro-Atlanta GSAR |
 10. Photos courtesy of Metro-Atlanta GSAR |
 11. Photos courtesy of Metro-Atlanta GSAR |
 12. Photos courtesy of Metro-Atlanta GSAR |
After the first two hours of operation, the rotation was changed and teams were assigned geographical areas of the building and rotated their personnel out as needed. This resulted in a much more efficient search and eliminated the communication problems in transferring information between teams. Each team continued working in its area through the remainder of the operation.
The building was divided into four areas: B-1 (DeKalb County), C-1 (Fulton County), C-2 (Atlanta), and D-1 (Clayton County). Each team was assigned five local firefighters to assist with debris removal. The intent was to allow the rescue technicians to focus on shoring and technical search while on-scene firefighters would complete the essential and arduous task of removing debris and shuttling lumber (photo 13). At this point, all of the exterior debris had been searched and cleared from the area. At approximately 1800 hours, the incident commander requested fresh debris-removal crews to replace the local firefighter crews that had been on scene since 0900 hours. The Georgia Mutual Aid Group responded 30 additional firefighters from eight departments.
 13. Photos courtesy of Metro-Atlanta GSAR |
At approximately 2130 hours, the team leader of search team C-1 advised the search and rescue division that a deceased, severely burned victim had been located 14 feet inside an 18-inch, debris-filled void on the first floor of the storage room (circle, photo 14). The victim was accessed by entering the west side of the building and was located not in the laundry room but in the storage room, 20 feet from where the K-9 units had alerted. Because of the wind direction and openings in the debris on the first floor, it is believed that the natural ventilation of the area carried the human scent to the opening on the south side. The victim location was marked, and the search team C-1 continued the search of the area. The room in which the victim was found was also the area with the heaviest amount of fire. During the search, one team had to exit the building when carbon monoxide levels suddenly spiked to 200 ppm. Ventilation fans were redirected, and the levels returned to normal within a couple minutes.
 14. Photos courtesy of Metro-Atlanta GSAR |
By 2300 hours, 95 percent of the collapse area had been searched; the last area was a first-floor hotel room on the northeast corner of the collapse. This room was not in use and had been boarded up. It contained a large amount of debris, mostly concrete block. Teams were reassigned to this area to shore and search it as the other team worked to recover the body of the victim. At 2345 hours, the search and rescue division was notified that one of the missing hotel guests had been located and was safe; two guests were still unaccounted for.
As the operational period approached 12 hours, relief crews were brought in to replace the original Metro GSAR units. The relief crews were assigned to finish the shoring and search of the remaining hotel rooms and to replace the many pneumatic spot shores still in place in the building with permanent shores so the pneumatic shores could be returned to service. The building search was declared clear of any victims at 0200 hours July 1. Search and rescue operations officially terminated at 0400 hours.
The other two unaccounted-for hotel guests heard their names in a media report and contacted the Bremen authorities during the early morning hours July 1. The preliminary autopsy report on the victim listed the cause of death as “smoke inhalation.”
LESSONS LEARNED
- Logistics. Additional resources are needed on our team activations to assist with logistics, including equipment tracking and maintenance.
- Shoring officer. A single, dedicated shoring officer is needed to inspect and approve shores built to ensure consistency and correct construction and to periodically inspect the shores for movement.
- Lumber. Lumber needs for the team should be addressed for incidents occurring outside business hours. At this incident, lumber was ordered and arrived on-scene within an hour.
- Structural engineer. A structural engineer is essential in assisting teams with building assessment and monitoring. At this incident, the city of Bremen provided a structural engineer from a private company.
- Extra supplies. Additional consumable items (including respirators, safety glasses, and work gloves) must be carried on the Metro GSAR units for additional personnel who are not team members but who may be brought in to assist the teams. Initially, in this incident, local firefighters assisting the technical rescue teams with debris removal did not have respirators, safety glasses, or work gloves; however, this personal protective equipment was requested; the order was filled within two hours. Debris removal using just firefighting gloves is difficult.
- Communications. The Metro GSAR team does not have a communication system and had to rely on radios on loan from a state communications vehicle. The radios were not reliable; teams experienced problems with about half of the units issued. Communication was accomplished face-to-face and through runners. An independent communication system is needed so the teams can communicate on scene.
DAVID RHODES is a 20-year fire service veteran and a battalion chief for the Atlanta (GA) Fire Department. He also serves as the department’s task force leader for urban search and rescue. He is the chief elder for the Georgia Smoke Diver Program and an adjunct instructor for the Georgia Fire Academy. He was voted president emeritus by the Atlanta Professional Fire Fighters, Local 134. Rhodes serves as a member of the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) Executive Advisory Board, is a Hands-On Training coordinator for FDIC, and is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering. He has several published articles and the video Marketing the Mission (PennWell).
