Old Buckingham Station Apartment Complex Fire - (Chesterfield, Virginia - May 19, 1995) » Lessons Learned

1. Large unsprinklered spaces with exposed combustible construction can allow a fire to develop and spread beyond the control of automatic sprinklers in adjacent spaces.

   NFPA Standard Nos. 13D and 13R allow unsprinklered areas with exposed combustible construction such as attics. Once a fire enters such a space, it can spread beyond the reach of the automatic sprinklers protecting the living areas. It was recognized during the development of these standards that some residential fires, once they penetrate into an unprotected space, would not be controlled by automatic sprinkler systems complying with the standards.

   In this incident, the fire started and grew to a significant size before the automatic sprinkler in the area of origin operated. The fire entered the unsprinklered combustible attic space and spread horizontally before dropping into the upper floor apartments. At this time, the fire size was beyond the control of the installed automatic sprinklers. It also spread on the exterior of the structure by means of the combustible balconies, walkways and lightweight combustible siding. This avenue of travel allowed the fire to quickly enter the lower floor apartments through the glass balcony doors and exterior windows.

2. The building construction used light weight combustible elements which allowed the fire to rapidly spread vertically and horizontally. The unprotected ventilation openings provided an avenue for the fire to readily penetrate into the unsprinklered combustible attic spaces.

   The fire quickly spread upwards on the exterior of the building, taking advantage of the lightweight plastic siding, an open wooden stairway and wooden balconies. The under-eave vents provided an easy path by which the fire and hot gases could enter the attic. Although the sidewall sprinkler head on the wall opposite the point of origin eventually operated and controlled the fire at that point, the fire had already spread beyond the range of this head. The combustible construction materials and their arrangement allowed the fire to spread faster than the automatic sprinkler heads could respond. (Thermal lag of the sprinkler heads causes an operational delay, consisting of the time between heat first reaching the head until when the fusible element opens.) Location of vents should be coordinated with openings in exterior walls and balconies to minimize the potential for fire spread. Attic eave vents should not be located near windows, doorways or vents which may allow fire extension to the attic.

   In addition to the automatic sprinklers, compartmentation is another means of controlling the speed and range of fire spread. To be effective, compartment construction materials should have sufficient resistance to fire penetration and openings must be protected, eliminated completely or located out of predictable fire travel paths.

3. Draft stopping, fire separations, and tenant separations need to be coordinated into a sound compartmentation system that will slow the rate of fire spread through unsprinklered combustible spaces.

   Post fire investigation suggested that the location of attic draft stop partitions was not as noted on the building’s plans. Apparently the installed draft stops in the attic trusses did not coincide with the separation walls between apartments. Because the draft stops may have been located over apartments, as opposed to lining up with apartment separation walls, the compartmentation from the floor to the underside of the roof deck was not continuous. After the fire was established in an apartment a travel path around the draft stop and into the attic was provided.

   Attic draft stops are intended to slow the rate of a fire’s progression by providing a few minutes of delay. It is intended to provide a point where the fire department can take a defensive stand. A draft stop does not possess the same fire resistance as a fire partition or a fire wall, nor does it penetrate a roof, even when the roof is of combustible construction. It will not be an effective fire stop without fire department assistance and support.

4. The Lodge Building had five separate fire department connections to provide fire department support to the automatic sprinkler system. Each wing had a separate connection and the fifth siamese was at the pit in front of the building.

   Multiple connections are difficult to deal with even when grouped together and clearly marked as to their function or area protected. In this instance, one siamese connection was highlighted by being prominently located at a pit in the front of the building and was used by one of the two first-in companies. There were no reports of any of the other four connections being used. This could have resulted from the fire’s location in the core area making access to the other connections dangerous. Alternately, the lack of their use could be the result of confusion on the number of connections needed to support the entire sprinkler system. Because of the extension of the fire into the unsprinklered attic space early in the incident, it is doubtful that the use of the four additional fire department connections would have had any material effect on the end result.

5. Not all sides of this x-shaped structure were easily accessible for fire department apparatus. Sector C contained the pool and recreation area which was surrounded by an iron fence and did not have direct vehicle access.

   The restricted access to the sides of the building made it difficult to directly attack the initial fire. It also reduced the effectiveness of the initial hose streams because they were unable to reach the entire fire area. Large caliber fire streams could not be rapidly placed onto all sides of the main fire body to wet uninvolved areas of the structure. Fire growth in Sector C constituted a problem that could not be completely resolved until more resources were available.

   Access to all sides of a building should be incorporated into the design and construction process. Proposed site drawings should indicate the location of fencing, landscaping, walkways, and security features which may slow fire department access. Features, such as emergency access gates, wide sidewalks, fire lanes and reinforced all weather road beds, should be provided from the normal roadways into key locations.

6. Calling for additional fire unites early in the incident is important to support first alarm units when faced with multiple tactical operations.

   Tactical plans involving fires in large residential occupancies continually balance resources between search and rescue and fire suppression. Both must be done simultaneously because concentrating on one can result in neither being accomplished successfully. To complete search and rescue, the fire spread must be slowed to allow companies the time to work. All residents immediately endangered by the fire must be quickly evacuated. Even residents remote from the actual fire can be overcome from the smoke and the large quantity of carbon monoxide generated during fire suppression.

   Additional fire companies were called prior to the arrival of the first due unit based on dispatch information and the fire officer's knowledge of this structure. After the arrival of the first in Battalion Chief, more fire units were dispatched to the incident. Additional units were dispatched to reinforce Sectors and proide relief crews for the Sectors.

   Because of the large area, irregular shaped buildings, and the large volume of fire some support functions were decentralized to the Sector level. Staging was not estabilshed because arriving units were immediately assigned to Sectors to perform tactical operations or provide relief crews. Rehab areas were established on the Sector level to provide services to fire companies in a more effective and efficient manner.

7. The extended detection time likely contributed to the difficulty in controlling the fire.

   Based upon the time of fire origin and its location on an outside walkway, it is believed that some delay occurred in detecting this fire. The nearest fire detection device to the fire’s point of origin was the sidewall style automatic sprinkler opposite the open stairway. By the time this head operated and the waterflow alarm registered the activation, it is likely that the fire was already threatening the attic, if it was not already into the attic. The first fire department units on the scene reported a substantial fire in progress around the building’s center core area.

8. This structure made use of light weight combustible surfaces and contained substantial unprotected combustible concealed spaces. These features provide for rapid fire spread and growth. Both officers and firefighters need to recognize and report on finding these items.

   This was the largest fire in a multi-family occupancy in the history of the Chesterfield Fire Department and it was successfully controlled without loss of life or significant injury to occupants or fire fighters. Yet the fire did substantial destruction and damage to the property. The speed of fire travel and the time needed to establish an effective suppression operation are elements that must be incorporated into the overall tactical plan. These two elements influence the placement of individual companies, location of master streams, and the time search operations will have available.

   Individual and multiple company drills can identify the amount of time and the effort required for specific fire ground operations. However, learning about and appreciating how fire spreads and how quickly it can expand is not easily done. This learning involves a combination of classroom theory, review of past fires, thorough post-incident critiques and actual experience. Each of these elements is different for firefighters, company officers, and incident commanders.