High-Rise buildings under Construction
Fires in High-Rise buildings under construction continue to present numerous and unique challenges to today’s fire service. Responding firefighters must be prepared to deal with a number of concerns that will extend well beyond what firefighters are normally use to in a completed or occupied building. From the presence of large amounts of combustibles, limited accessibility, lack of a water supply, poor housekeeping, and unlimited exposure from the wind; their vulnerability to rapid fire spread and structural collapse combined with the potential of injury to firefighting forces will rival operations in vacant/abandoned structures.
Life Hazard/Firefighters: Where do we begin? The life hazard concerns that affect the firefighters are numerous. History, personal experience, and building characteristics should remind us of the many difficulties. To put it more clearly, nothing will be easy. Nothing! Consider the following:
- Limited accessibility to the site- from construction vehicles, construction trailers and shanties, dumpsters, storage of materials and fenced in areas and unfinished streets; expect apparatus placement and aerial scrub areas to be limited.
- Trip, fall and exposed hazards in and around the site – expect to navigate around open/excavated streets, large piles of debris, exposed or poorly constructed utility connections, to uneven terrain.
- Limited/delayed accessibility to the upper floors- You will generally have a few choices; climbing wooden ladders from floor to floor, completed stairs, or accessing and using construction elevators. The later will prove beneficial.
Construction elevators –
- these will prove to be a critical and viable option for accessing the upper floors, but they don’t come without concerns of their own.
- Wooden ladders and platforms between floors – flimsy, poorly supported and they can burn. Flimsy/shoddy coverings over shafts/staircases, etc. – this is a major concern. Not only as a fall hazard, but also a means of rapid-fire extension to the upper and lower floors.
- Open shafts, staircases and floors – All you will find is a flimsy constructed railing of dried-out 2-inch by 4inch lumber, orange safety net, to nothing at all. They all can easily fail as well as allow a firefighter to crawl under and into an opening.
- Combustible materials – not only will they be plentiful, they are often large in size and number. Building material is often raised from the street by sky cranes and placed on to the floors above. When this type of “picking” is done, the crane can only place the material so many feet in and onto the floor resulting in a large portion of the material hanging over the side of the building.
- Wooden formwork – supports great loads and is entirely combustible. On an average, wooden formwork will support loads in excess of 175 pounds per square foot.
- Exposed structural members and supports – from unprotected steel to dried out, oil soaked formwork; early failure has to be anticipated.
- Flammable/combustible gases and liquids – you must expect oxy-acetylene and propane cylinder use on the floors. If exposed to fire, they can significantly complicate matters from fire advancement to explosion, to structural collapse.
- Poor housekeeping – As well inspected as these buildings can and should be, poor housekeeping and storage of debris can happen minutes after you leave the site.
- Floor disorientation – Not knowing where you are in the building is a common problem. Construction workers will often spray paint the floor number just outside the elevator hoist way, as well as on the wall near every staircase landing to assist with floor identification. It will be there, look for it.
- Disorientation on the floor – Once the building is topped off, the exterior walls or curtain walls and windows will be installed. Once this occurs, smoke and heat will be contained within the building. Conditions on the floor combined with compartmentized areas and the storage of construction materials will turn the floor into a maze. When this occurs, members must utilize search rope operations, thermal imaging, and air management in order to safely operate on and exit from the floor.
- Rapid-fire growth – from everything we mentioned above, fires in buildings under construction will not remain small. Any attempt at fighting a fire in a building under construction must only be attempted when the fire is small in size.
- Fire dropping on top off and below members – Due to the numerous openings in the floor spaces, fire will drop below the fire floor on top of members as they attempt to advance up, as well as onto floors below via the exterior, or through any opening in the floor space.
- Delay/limited water supplies– If a standpipe system is present, anticipate problems with open valves, no valves, and rusted/painted over valves, riser threads not matching fire department hoses to risers not keeping pace with construction. Add the fact that the system will remain dry for most of the duration of the construction; and the delay in getting water on the fire floor becomes very evident.
- Delayed notification – Unless this fire occurs during the day, fires in these type buildings can go unnoticed for quite some time.
- Wind driven fires – this is major concern. Fires in wooden formwork spread quickly enough all by themselves. Add a moderate wind condition, and a 40,000 square foot floor space will become fully involved in minutes.
- Structural collapse – from everything mentioned, portions of this building will fail; be prepared.
- Time of the day – attempting to enter a high-rise building under construction at night is very different than entering into the same building during the day light hours. This is the type structure that reminds all members to have a good flashlight.
It is without doubt, that any decisions we make on the fireground must be focused around the safety of our members. It is critical that we do everything in our power to “get everyone home”. Now at this point some may be saying, “why would you ever consider committing firefighters into a building that is under construction”? This is a valid question that must be answered especially with the known hazards that a building of this type presents. This is obviously were your ability to conduct a risk assessment must come into to play. When you arrive at a high-rise building under construction and assess the conditions, if the risk far outweighs the gain than the answer should be obvious. Remember, whatever was on fire and extinguished by you and your members will probably have to be dismantled and reconstructed again. But what happens in the less obvious situations when the fire is small, or “seems” controllable upon arrival? This is where the word “anticipation” and a true understanding of its definition weighs heavily.
The next concern is; do you have enough staffing that can you mount and sustain an offensive operation? For most departments the answer is probably no. For those that think they can, what is the next concern? Consider all of what has been discussed:
- Floor accessibility and lead time to start the attack
- Water Supply to the standpipe system and the GPM delivery to the fire floor.
- The current size of the fire and its anticipated growth.
- Staffing to monitor fire drop down.
- Structural integrity of the formwork or unprotected steel.
- The wind and its affect on fire conditions.
If the Incident Commander weighs all and authorizes an offensive operation, he/she must also begin to prepare for a defensive operation. This may seem a little unusual but based on all that has been discussed, you cannot “wait to see how the first hose line does” before you to order apparatus and equipment into defensive positions. This thought and its actions must begin immediately. Prepare for the following:
- Area/exposure and street evacuations
- Transmission and management of additional alarms.
- If the involved floor is within reach of your elevated streams, have companies prepare for aerial and tower ladder operations from flanking positions. With that in mind add the following:
- Assign an engine company to each aerial apparatus to maximize the water supply.
- In order to gain height to your streams, narrow the tip sizes.
- Seek additional water supplies – In one such incident along Jersey City’s waterfront, a Marine Company was assigned to the incident and prepared to deliver water to awaiting engine companies.
- Protect existing water supplies – Give early consideration to protecting/covering supply hoselines to the buildings fire department connection. Falling debri could sever hoselines.
- Give consideration to using nearby high-rise structures – If there are adjacent high-rise buildings where companies can operate opposite the fire building, you may be able to utilize the exposure buildings standpipe system and operate portable deluge sets to slow the fires growth.
- Constantly seek progress and reconnaissance reports; there is a difference! – Obviously progress reports indicate how the assigned forces are doing, their needs and the current fire conditions. The problem with the later is that the units assigned to the interior of the building are unable early on to provide an adequate report of fire conditions. As they make their way up, their view is often limited to a glow showing through the floor openings. The view may be no better from the command post. With the command post set up a few city blocks away from the fire building, the ability to observe the fire floor will also be difficult. Unless the fire originated on the command post side of the fire, conditions can be masked by the mere size of the building and its surrounding exposures. Many times high-rises are built in clusters with the Command Post view limited to one or possibly two sides requiring frequent reconnaissance reports from the unviewed sides. At case in point was when I responded to a reported fire on the upper floor of a high-rise building under construction, we made a deliberate effort to view all four sides of the building before reporting into the command post to receive a briefing and assume command. After assuming command and listening to reports from companies as they made their way up, the only thing we could see from the command post was the original glow we observed upon our arrival. It was not until we observed the fire’s reflection in windows of the high-rise building across and behind the original building did we realize how rapidly conditions were deteriorating. Our view was blocked by buildings of greater height, and a wind condition that was forcing the fire to vent towards the rear of the structure and away from the command post side. If we had assigned a member early to “constantly view” and report conditions not observed from the command side, this report would have definitely influenced our decision-making.
- Give additional consideration to seeking reconnaissance reports from fire officers assigned to the upper floors of nearby high-rises, or an aerial view from an aviation unit (helicopter), if one is available to you.
- Preparing for defensive operations early will allow you to order exterior master streams into operation once units are removed from the building or at the very least to a lower floor and accounted for. If you wait, you will be attempting to catch up to what will be a memorable fire.
The most important decision we make on the fire ground is the protection our firefighters. Fighting a fire in a high-rise building under construction may be viewed by some in the fire service as a defensive operation regardless of the fires size. For those who attempt an offensive operation, the operation must be a continuous review, evaluation and if necessary, rapid revision of the attack plan. The bottom line is, “everybody goes home”.
For more information on “High-Rise Buildings Under Construction” see the February 2010 issue of Fire Engineering magazine or contact Chief Terpak at mterpak@firegroundsizeup.com and ask for the Jersey City SOP on this procedure.
Stay Safe!
