FIRE AND THE THREE-DECKER
Originally developed during the mid-1800s, the three-decker apartment house actually did not become a common sight on the urban New England landscape until about the turn of the century. Three-deckers were, and remain today, an important element of the housing stock for America’s working class.
The three-decker is a box-like, squatty, three-story, wood-frame apartment building that usually houses one or two families per floor. Access to the upper floors is through open stairwells on the interior of the building. The roof may be peaked, flat, or hip.
The primary distinguishing characteristic of a three-decker, however, is the open porch that extends from each level on the back of the building. Open front porches also may be found on these structures.
These buildings are characterized by numerous windows; such openings often make up a large part of the exterior wall of the structure. The exterior wall surface itself was normally wood siding, but has changed to aluminum and vinyl over the past several years. Asphalt siding is sometimes found on these buildings.
Three-deckers were built as housing for the many factory employees that worked the mills. Land was at a premium, and three-deckers often were built only a few feet apart, with narrow alleys running between them. Congested streets are also the norm.
All of these conditions translate into a significant fire problem, and numerous fires and conflagrations in three-decker neighborhoods over the past 100 years have attested to that fact. The open rear porches create conditions for extremely rapid fire spread to all floors. The large surface area of the porches closely resembles the wood crib of a fire testing laboratory and generates tremendous amounts of fire. The numerous windows, combustible siding, and close spacing between buildings promote easy fire spread between structures. These fire protection concerns create problems for firefighters.
Fire attack at a well-involved threedecker often dictates rapid hoseline (or apparatus-mounted master stream) deployment to prevent fire spread to adjacent buildings (including from roof to roof), knockdown of the porch fire, and cutdown of fire brand generation. Rapid evacuation of exposures and establishment of brand patrols are also important considerations when fighting fires in these buildings.
