Letters to the Editor
Truss plate industry rep, Brannigan debate the merits of ASTM E119 and wood trusses
In the June issue, Francis Brannigan reports in his article, “Are Wood Trusses Good For Your Health? ” that a wood roof truss assembly tested in England was protected with “gypsum twelve inches thick and insulation two inches thick.” We presume that he was quoting from an article found in the NFPA’s Fire Journal entitled, “How Well Do Wood Trusses Really Perform During a Fire?” and written by Erwin Schaffer, P.E., PhD.
As the engineering standards-writing organization for the metal plateconnected wood truss industry, the Truss Plate Institute serves as the repository for much of the research conducted for wood trusses. The test Mr. Brannigan is drawing inference from had a protective ceiling of ½-inch fiberreinforced gypsum and covered with 2-inch insulation on the unexposed side of the gypsum protective membrane. It is our understanding that Fire Journal has been notified of this unfortunate editorial oversight.
Under current model building code requirements, TPI and many of its member companies have developed an extensive array of industry and proprietary ASTM El 19 floor-ceiling, roof (pitched)-ceiling, oneand two-hour rated assemblies for metal plate-connected wood trusses. These assemblies use different combinations of ½-inch and ⅛-inch Type X or Fire Code C gypsum not exceeding two layers; they are approved through the model building codes. TPI supports the code-approved guidelines for installing fire and draft stopping for protected wood assemblies as provided for bv the National Forest Products Association. (Copies of the fire-rated assemblies and the guidelines can be obtained from TPI and the NFoPA at these addresses: Truss Plate Institute, 583 D’Onofrio Dr., #200, Madison, WI 53719; NFoPA, 1250 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20006.)
We do not agree totally with Mr. Brannigan’s concerns regarding the ASTM El 19 test protocol; we feel that it’s a useful mechanism for making relative comparisons of assembly performance in a standardized fire environment. Rather than criticize ASTM El 19 from afar, we encourage Mr. Brannigan to become involved in the ASTM consensus forum and work for its modification.
Mr. Brannigan’s proposal to add high-temperature sprinkler heads at strategic points within a truss plenum bears merit for certain occupancies. The rational integration of active suppression systems with passive fire-rated assemblies may necessitate modifications in the code-approved fire endurance rating, and hopefully will yield insurance incentives to the benefit of the end user.
There’s much work to be accomplished in the area of fire protection. The first priority is to assure that buildings are constructed in strict conformance to the existing model building code requirements.
Charles Goehring Managing Director Truss Plate Institute Madison, Wis.
Francis Brannigan responds:
I have no product to sell and no association members to please. I have but one interest, the safety of firefighters.
Wood truss floors are liable to catastrophic collapse, without any warning, early in a fire.
ASTM E119 tests one component of a building, built in an ideal manner, against an attack by fire from one direction only. In fact, fire attacks downward through the floor, laterally into the truss void and can originate in the mid. 1 repeat, the test examines none of these.
ASTM El 19 is a go-no-go test. The objective of the submitter is to barely pass the test with the least expensive assembly. Any other course would be economic suicide.
Based on this inadequate test, wooden buildings are sometimes called “protected combustibles.” The protective “system” is riddled with “pinholes,” any one of which can be as disastrous as a pinhole in Surgeon General Koop’s favorite protective dei’ice.
Putting more or better gypsum board on the ceiling is like the French putting more concrete into the Magi- not line. It held perfectly, but the Germans simply went around it. The fire goes around the gypsum board.
There’s no future in attempting to improve ASTM E119 in this area. The problem is a total problem of the building. I have long since offered a simple performance code, “A protected combustible multiple dwelling shall be so designed and built that the design basis fire will be confined to the area of origin for 30 minutes,” Building Construction for the Fire Service, 2nd ed., p.197. The design basis fire could be similar to the living room fire used in the Bureau of Standards fire tests.
Each trade association or “institute” has one purpose, to advance the narrow interests of its members. They are always happy to endorse any measure which doesn’t bother them, like better code enforcement, or “firestopping.”
The “consensus” standard system is offered as a solution. Substitute the bad word “political” for the good word “consensus.” The primary duty of each member of a consensus committee is to advance the interests of his/her employer. Not many represent the interests of firefighters or the occupants of dangerous structures.
Fires are fought in specific buildings. No matter how efficient the code enforcement generally, it may have been deficient in this particular building.
Mr. Schaffer dismissed the use of ivood treated to be flame retardant. If -wood truss floors were tested in all the ways in -which fire attacks the floor, it might well be found that the more expensive and more difficult-to-zvork treated wood would be the key element of a successful design.
By their very nature, trusses are inherently dangerous in a fire. Fire resistance is a function of mass. Wood of smaller cross-section ignites more casity-
Metal gusset plates are often used to connect several lengths of wood in a tension member. A tension member is like a rope. A single cut causes a rope to fail. A single gusset plate failure causes the truss to fail.
The truss void can accumulate explosive carbon monoxide gas.
Most dangerous of all is the practice of extending trusses out to form exit balconies. A single failure of the socalled “firestopping” can trap all the occupants of the building by extending the fire to the truss void of the exit, so early in the fire that escape is impossible. The Truss Plate Institute would do well to urge its members to refuse to fabricate trusses so designed. This might be a useful defense in the face of the inevitable massive lawsuit which would follow a disaster. Code compliance is no defense to professional incompetence, and the fact that this hazard has been flagged, as in this exchange of letters, vitiates the defense of ignorance.
1 recommend that all read the articles in the July Fire Engineering by Glenn Corbett and John Mittendorf. I also strongly recommend the spirited letter to the editor in the May/June Fire Journal by Lieutenant J.C. Varone of the Providence, Rhode Island Fire Department.
The end of a physically abused arsonist’s tragic story
Some time back I wrote a letter to the editor concerning child abuse as it relates to juvenile firesetting.
In that letter, I described the longterm physical abuse suffered by a young man who eventually started a fire that killed not only himself, but his brother as well.
I thought your readers might be interested to know that the case has now been adjudicated. The man responsible for the crime was apprehended, tried, found guilty, and sentenced. He’s to serve a minimum of 18½ years and as many as 42 years for a long list of offenses.
The abuse was so heinous that it got the attention of those from the judicial system that were involved. Although the story is a tragedy in ever)’ sense, I feel that justice was served.
William C. Richmond Fire Commissioner City of Philadelphia Fire Department
Government surplus equipment available for departments in need
As president of the board of directors of the East Marion Volunteer Fire Rescue Department, I’m faced with the same problem that other fire departments have: raising money for the much needed equipment to successfully and safely fight today’s fires.
All of the volunteer fire departments in Marion County, Florida are subsidized by the county. As such, there are certain bureaucratic frustrations that accompany our financial needs.
My question to you is this: Is there a federal organization that we can go to that would be willing to help us help ourselves? At present, we are in dire need of a Class A pumper and a brush truck, as we live in the middle of the National Forest.
Any information that you can supply will be greatly appreciated.
John Piffer President, Board of Directors East Marion (Fla.) Volunteer Fire Rescue Department
Editor’s Response: One of the projects being conducted by Congressman Curt Weldon’s Congressional Fire Set vices Caucus is to provide a “clearing house” for surplus government equipment that can serve the fire sendee. He has a particular interest in identifying communities like yours that may not be able to fund their own. His office can be reached by telephone at (202) 225-2011, or by writing to the caucus at 1233 Longworth Building, Washington D.C. 20515.
He doesn’t feel used by the National Fire Sprinkler Association
Your July editorial, ”What’s Dumb?”, regarding the National Fire Sprinkler Association holding its annual meeting in an unsprinklered hotel, points to the problem that any group has when it makes conference plans based on the hosting site’s promises to make improvements beforehand, whether in room furnishings, restaurant expansion, or sprinklering. This one just happens to be more ironic and embarrassing than others.
You said that you feel used and asked if your readers felt likewise. My answer is no.
There are two reasons why I will continue to support the sprinklering of our built environment. One, as you so rightly mention, is because sprinklers are the best way for us to fulfill our goal of protecting the public. Damage and smoke are limited when a fire is contained to an area of 10′ by 10′ by 6′ high.
The second reason is more personal. The chances that a firefighter will have a heart attack while operating at a fire in a sprinklered building or will be caught in a fire-caused collapse or flashover are far more remote than if the building is unprotected.
This is why every firefighter needs to be involved in the campaign to get sprinklers accepted and expected. 1 would much rather see firefighters wearing tee shirts depicting a sprinkler head with a caption like “Sprinklers — An Investment in Life” than the ones that show firefighters performing unsafely by hanging off the side of apparatus or attacking a blaze without airpacks.
Your editorial also implies that sprinkler companies will get rich from our efforts. However, as demand for sprinklers increases, more businesses can be expected to enter the market, and competition historically eliminates any excessive prices.
Roy G. Gelbhaus Dr ill mas ter City of Boulder, Colo. Fire Department
Editor’s Response:
Sorry you got the impression that you did. I agree with all your comments. The sprinkler industry can supply the logistics to make America not burn. I just think its priorities and loyalties were put on hold or became confused in this instance.
Letters, cont.
Trade magazines are vital to a good reading program
I was recently in a discussion with a member of the fire service who questioned the value of trade magazines such as Fire Engineering. I strongly suggested that any officer who is professional will have a regular reading program that includes several trade journals.
We in the Portland Fire Bureau have created a resource library. One part of this library is made up of trade journals. We have cross-indexed all articles using several key words. When a member of our bureau wants to research a topic, we’re able to give a listing of books on the subject as well as the latest thinking on the topic. Within an hour or two, we can provide copies of all articles written on a subject within the last eight years.
I also teach fire science courses at Portland Community College. One concept that I stress to my students is that they need a reading program if they’re to be true professionals, receiving the latest information on any given topic.
Articles in our trade journals tend to be five or more years ahead of new textbooks due to writing and publishing time lags. In addition, most texts are used for many years. This means that a student could be receiving information that’s 10 or more years old if trade materials aren’t used to supplement course materials.
Trade journals also will indicate new trends and concepts prior to their reaching your fire department. An officer with a reading program will be able to comment intelligently when a new concept is discussed.
The June issue of Fire Engineering had two articles which 1 intend to use as handouts to supplement an older text I’ll be using this fall: “Are Wood Trusses Good for Your Health?” by Frank Brannigan (who also wrote the text that I’ll be using for the course) and “Defensive Outside Firefighting Tactics” by Vincent Dunn. Both of these articles may some day help save the life of one of my students or the firefighters whom they may command in the future.
Fire Engineering and the other trade journals play a critical role in the modern, professional fire service, and they’re an absolute must for a fire officer’s reading program.
David A. Norris Division Chief
Planning and Development Division Portland (Ore.) Bureau of Fire
Setting the record straight
In my article on fire communications published in your July issue “Fire Communications: Are You Really Listening,” the following statement, referring to a fatal fire, was printed: “In retrospect, there’s no question that the data presented to the dispatchers should have led them to make a more judicious decision.”
In fact, the way that statement was written was: “There is no question, in retrospect, that the data being presented to the dispatchers could have led them to make a different decision about what to do with it.”
As you can see, there is a considerable difference in meaning here! Too many times during my dispatching career, I saw dispatchers’ decisions and actions second-guessed by superiors, politicians, and newspaper reporters, when those doing the Monday morning quarterbacking were not in a position to make a valid judgment. I was not present in the communications center on the morning that the calls for the fire in question were received. I do not know the state of the personal resources or training of the folks who were on duty.
One of the points of my article was that benign neglect of the nontechnical aspects of the dispatching function (supervision, personal resources, training, and experience) can lead to a serious breakdown in communications. This kind of second-guessing that your editing may have made it appear that I was doing runs directly counter to what I have been advocating as the most productive and efficient way of managing the “people” component of any emergency communications system.
Frank Holt Wolfeboro, N.Fl.
Preparing firefighters for excuses…
As a fire marshal of a newly created fire prevention bureau, I can’t begin to tell you how much Kenneth Ray Young’s article “Excuses, Excuses” [June issue] hit home! I intend to incorporate the ideas presented in this article into my training program so I can better prepare our firefighters when they begin conducting fire inspections.
Thank you for providing an article that deals with something we all must contend with in fire prevention…excuses.
Kathleen Sinclair Fire Marslial City of Brisbane (Calif.) Fire Department
…and insurance inspectors, too
Having worked for 30 years in the insurance fire prevention field, I really had to smile when I read Kenneth Ray Young’s article, “Excuses, Excuses.” How many times I have heard excuses such as these! However, in the insurance field we never have the authority to inspect, but have to rely on the permission of the insured. The first thing we usually hear is, “How much is this going to cost me on my premium?”
Captain Young’s article should be “must” reading for all new inspectors, as he certainly does give the right answers on how to handle the excuses that are thrown at us.
A. Bruce Mills Loss Control Manager Mutual Fire Insurance Association of Nezv England Inc.
We enjoy hearing from our readers. In addition to sending comments, you’re welcome to send questions that come up as you read articles here; we’ll be happy to forward them to our authors. Whether you have questions or comments, write to Fire Engineering, 250 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10001.
