The Threats of Lightweight Construction and Modern Furnishings to Firefighters

2 Lightweight Construction: A Visual Depiction > Mouse over this video and click the play button 3 Lightweight Construction: A Visual Depiction Firefighter/Paramedic Jo Brinkley- Chaudoir lost her fire department partner, Arnie Wolff Home built in 1999 of lightweight construction model Jo and Arnie entered home, floor quickly collapsed, engulfed in flames Chief Brower supervised a firefighter crew endangered in a lightweight construction home Intense flashover; crew was trapped upstairs, hose line was burned in half Chief Browers crew escaped the burning home, but not without severe injuries 4 LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION BY THE NUMBERS More than 60% of roof structures in the U.S. are constructed with lightweight wood truss construction techniques Used in approximately - of all new (built after the mid-1990s) 1 and 2 bedroom homes Average escape time in dimensional construction: 15 minutes Average escape time in lightweight construction: 2 minutes Source: UL, FireEngineering.com Defining Lightweight Construction Lightweight construction began to appear 25 years ago Widely used by residential builders to cut costs Burns quicker, fails faster, collapses without warning Cost source: Probuilder.com 5 Threats to the Firefighting Community Lightweight construction increases hazard to firefighters Smaller time window to save lightweight construction homes Out of 61 on-duty firefighter deaths in 2011, 22 firefighters died at structure fires Source: UL, NFPA report Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, 2011 6 Threats to the Firefighting Community Observations from the Underwriters Laboratories video (Thermal Imaging Camera) of a fire test in a lightweight construction assembly Activity Lightweight Construction Legacy Construction Subfloor Reaches 200 5 min. 30 sec. 12 min. Surface Temperature: 5 Min. 85 73 Visible Smoke 2 min. 30 sec. 13 min. Visible Flames 5 min. 50 sec. 17 min. 50 sec. Collapse Time 6 min. 18 min. 30 sec. 7 Lightweight Construction: Firefighter Fatality Case Studies February 2011 (California): Career Firefighter/Paramedic Dies From Injuries Following an Unexpected Ceiling Collapse April 2008 (Ohio): Career Captain and Part-Time Firefighter Die in a Residential Floor Collapse August 2007 (Texas): Volunteer, Mutual Aid Captain and Firefighter Die in a Remodeled Residential Structure Fire May 2007 (Georgia): Career Firefighter Dies and Captain is Injured During a Civilian Rescue Attempt at a Residential Structure Fire April 2007 (Virginia): Career Firefighter Dies in Wind-Driven Residential Structure Fire The full case studies are available at: www.firesprinklerinitiative.org/firefightersafety 8 Defining Modern Furnishings Uses synthetic materials, such as polyurethane; increased damage in home fires, burn more quickly than legacy furnishings Non-survivable conditions occur sooner, causes accelerated flashover and severely reduced escape time Underwriters Laboratories video: Side-by-side comparison of two living room fires (left side: legacy room; right side: modern room) 9 Modern Furnishings: A Visual Polyurethane significantly reduces the time it takes for a room to burst into flames Legacy Furnishing Fire (leather furniture) 4 minutes, 25 seconds 1 minute, 50 seconds Modern Furnishing Fire (synthetic furniture) 4 minutes 1 minute, 50 seconds 10 Lightweight Construction and Modern Furnishings Underscored in NFPA Journal > Its Not Lightweight Construction. Its what happens when lightweight construction meets fire. > Todays furniturecontributes to fires burning bigger and faster than ever before. > Green building elements can present fire and life safety challenges. 11 Furniture Flammability by the Numbers Fires involving upholstered furniture have annually accounted for The largest share of fire deaths of any first item ignited in U.S. homes 8,900 home structure fires 610 deaths (nearly a quarter of all home fire deaths), 1,120 injuries, and $566 million in property damage when upholstered furniture was the principal item contributing to fire spread Source: NFPAs Upholstered Furniture Flammability report 12 Home Fire Sprinklers: Creating a Safer Environment for Firefighters Home fire sprinklers lessen the dangers posed by lightweight construction Increases structural stability/collapse time of lightweight construction homes Respond quickly to reduce heat, flames, and smoke from a fire Reduce chance of death by fire by 80% Reduce property loss by 70% Source: NFPAs Fire Sprinkler Initiative 13 Threats to Home Fire Sprinkler Requirements Opposition from homebuilders Legislative prohibitions against sprinkler requirements Lack of consumer awareness Lack of knowledge by important stakeholders 14 Action to Advance Home Fire Sprinklers Become an advocate Support fire sprinkler requirements in the IRC For more information, please visit: www.firesprinklerinitiative.org www.nfpa.org 15 Sources Slide 4: -Bullet #1: Wood Truss Council of America/Fire Engineering Magazine: http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-161/issue-5/departments/training-notebook/structural- collapse-under-fire-conditions.html -Bullet #2: Underwriters Laboratories - http://content.learnshare.com/courses/73/187716/player.html -Bullet #3 & 4: Underwriters Laboratories - http://content.learnshare.com/courses/73/187716/player.html -Widely used by residential builders to cut costs: http://www.probuilder.com/wood-vs-engineered-lumber Slide 5: -NFPA report Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, 2011: http://www.nfpa.org/newsandpublications/nfpa- journal/2012/july-august-2012/features/2011-firefighter-fatalities-in-the-united-states -Lightweight construction increases hazard to firefighters: UL reports referenced in Slide 4 Slide 11: -NFPAs Upholstered Furniture Flammability report. For excerpts of the report visit nfpa.org/furniture_analysis. Slide 12: -http://www.firesprinklerinitiative.org/resources/fact-sheets/about-home-fire-sprinklers.aspx OTHER SOURCES: The Dangers of Lightweight Construction as Related to the Highland Heights Fire Department by Jeremy Smelcer, University of Cincinnati Firerescue1.com: Dangers of Lightweight Construction MyFOX9.com: Investigators: Sounding the Alarm Firesprinklerinitiative.org NFPA Journal (cover story on lightweight construction)