Editor’s Opinion | By David Rhodes
One of the most hazardous situations that firefighters can find themselves in is a fire with reported entrapment at a derelict structure. Years of abandonment combined with leaking roofs, previous fires, urban miners, and a little vandalism thrown in make for a modern-day death trap. Our members have battled this problem for well over a century. In fact, the very first issue of this publication on November 17, 1877, has an article titled, “Insecure Buildings.”
- Vacant Structures: The Sleeping Dragons
- Abandoned Commercial Building Fires
- It’s Just a Vacant
- Abandoned Building Policy: Five Years Later
A lot has been published about “vacant buildings or structures,” but it seems that year after year the problem gets worse instead of better. Several cities have programs to identify, document, and even placard these buildings. The building then sits on a list for demolition while there are so many attempts to contact the owner; the legal process of condemning the property has taken place; and, the big one, the funds are available to proceed with demolition. At that point, requests for proposals are issued, bids are taken, and contracts are awarded. If you’re lucky enough for all the stars to line up, you might see a demolition crew on site within three to four years!
I’d like to offer up an alternative to the bureaucracy—a little trick that I used a few times as a lowly battalion chief and should have used more often. When a structure is on fire and the fire department is on the scene, that property comes under the sole control of the fire department. You have the authority to allow or deny access based on your best assessment of the declared hazard zone. You, as the fire official, can tape off a collapse zone, block or close a street, and order an evacuation of an area as long as there is a hazard present that could cause harm to those in the area.
Once we have brought a fire under control, no one knows the structural condition of the building better than our crews—who have just battled the beast, searched, ventilated, and started overhauling. We know whether the building is salvageable and repairable or if it is damaged to the point that it will have to be torn down. If the building is beyond repair, don’t risk your members in lengthy overhaul; and, whatever you do, don’t turn the property back over to anyone! Call your public works, request a couple of excavators, and tear the damn thing down into a smoldering pile of debris. You have the right to make that call on the scene while you have possession of the property and fire scene. You have a responsibility to leave the situation safe for the community and safe for your members.
Does this take a little work? Of course it does. It will require you to keep a unit on the scene to maintain the chain of custody and wet down the debris pile for a few hours, but it will be well worth it because the hazard will be gone. No wait list, no chance of kids getting hurt playing in the burned-out shell, no safe haven for drug use, no hideout, and no chance of a homeless person accidentally letting a “keep-warm” fire get out of control and trapping himself for your crew to risk a lot to save a life. No haven for wild animals to dwell and no free dumping ground for construction materials, tires, and stolen vehicles. There is also no chance that a firefighter is injured or killed overhauling a now-uninhabitable structure. Do we really need to save it and conduct a full investigation so we can charge and prosecute a homeless person who was trying to stay warm? There will be situations in which an investigation needs to take place, but don’t release the building until you are finished and have rendered it in a nice, safe pile!
If you want to get really creative, budget, purchase, and train a few firefighters to operate your own excavator. Paint it red and put your department emblem all over it so the citizens see you out cleaning up the neighborhood. It can be classified as a heavy duty rescue tool. In many cases, the smoldering debris may warrant an operator trained in using supplied air or other respiratory protection. No need to staff it full time, but this is a perfect opportunity to cross staff the equipment and have it available for both technical rescue incidents and overhaul.
Another benefit to this strategy is reducing the exposure of crews to the byproducts of combustion that we now know include a host of carcinogens. Instead of having numerous members wearing full structural firefighting gear while doing construction demolition work, you can properly outfit one member who can let the machine do the work from a safer distance.
Those of you who are old enough can remember President Ronald Reagan’s famous speech in front of the Berlin Wall. The speechwriters had edited and taken out a particular statement that Reagan added back in, to the surprise and astonishment of his staff. The line was, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” It was such a bold and effective statement and the worldwide publicity and sentiment resulted in enough political pressure that, in fact, the wall was torn down. I borrow the intent here and tell you publicly that you have the authority and power to make these decisions. So, Mr. Incident Commander, tear down that structure!
