June 3, 2008
WV Fire Marshal: New Frame Dorms Safer Than Home; Sprinklers, Alarms, Containment Prevent Routine Causes … But Nothing Protects Against Major Catastrophic Occurrence
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Frame interior construction has prompted occasional queries about fire at the two new Marshall University dormitories now under construction. However, according to State Fire Marshall Rudy Raynes, who has observed their progress approximately every other week, “from a fire protection standpoint, the students that will be staying at the [new] Marshall dorms are safer at the Marshall dorms than they would be staying at home.”
Homes usually do not have sprinkler systems, may or may not have a fire alarm system, but about 70% of West Virginia residences have smoke detectors. “It is estimated,” Raynes said, “that only 60% of them work.”
University housing as required by law undergoes annual sprinkler and fire alarm inspections. In addition, Raynes complimented Marshall for “keeping fire protection systems up and in operation.”
That’s good news especially at a school that lost students in the off campus Emmons Junior fire. In fact, concrete and steel did not prevent nine casualiies. Depending upon how phrased, the Emmons Apartments met or exceeded the minimum grandfathered fire codes. Neither a sprinkler system or fire alarm system were required.
Marshall’s new dorms have utilized a “protected wood frame construction, which means all of the interior walls are made out of five-eighths fire code sheet rock. If a fire occurs in the building and everything works like it’s supposed to, it will stay in the room of origin,” Raynes said
Secondly, the building has “a NFPA 13 R sprinkler system in it. The living quarters and the hallway are sprinklered. The bathroom is not sprinklered, Raynes said, nor is the attic. “Each dorm room has two sprinkler heads in it. The corridor or hallway has sprinkler protection.”
Thirdly, each “building has a complete fire alarm system installed which is smoke detectors down the hallways and corridors of the building. There are smoke detectors in each sleeping room. The type of construction would contain the fire to the room of origin,” Raynes stated.
One of the containment materials is fire rated gypsum board. “It will hold the fire; it will take an hour for the fire to burn through the sheet rock or gypsum board,” he said. “Realistically, if a fire occurs in a dorm room, at 155 degrees temperature a sprinkler head will go off and start putting water on the fire. Once the sprinkler starts to throw water, the fire alarm system will go off [triggering] fire alarms throughout the entire building, and also alert the MU Department of Public Safety after which an alarm will be transmitted to [the] Huntington Fire Department.”
An internet article by Phil Brown, a Certified Fire Prevention Specialist (C.F.P.S.) agrees that the 13 R can be used in residential buildings, but not necessarily for portions that would be classified as mixed use. Brown writes that the “benefit of using a NFPA 13R systemis that it provides a reasonable level of fire protection at a lower cost than provided by a full automatic fire sprinkler system installed to a NFPA 13 standard.”
Brown explains that mixed use structures often have ambiguous issues.
The NFPA 13 standard does not allow for the omission of sprinklers from closets and pantries. In fact, under the more stringent code, the attic, floor / ceiling spaces and other combustible concealed spaces must have sprinklers. A water supply must be based upon a 30 minute duration for sprinkler system demand, Brown wrote.
( Editor’s Note: According to the NFPA, 39% of residential fires start in the kitchen, 11% bedroom, 13% confined cooking fire, 5% living room, family room, lounge or den. Less than 2% start in the attic or ceiling and ceiling floor space not protected by an NFPA sprinkler system. A percentage for bathroom origins is not provided. However, R occupancies have more compartmentalization than other occupancies because of the one hour requirement for corridors and separation between individual units (dwelling/sleeping. In the last 12 years , there have been no firefighter or civilian deaths in apartments with an NFPA 13R system. 97% of fires were contained to the fire-rated compartment of origin.)
(To review Phil Brown’s full technical piece on 13R and 13 sprinklers, visit: http://www.firesprinkler.org/techservices/articles/0305codearticle.html ) You may also review a generic 13R sprinkler checklist for building inspections at: http://www.co.washington.or.us/deptmts/lut/land_dev/bld_serv/forms/nfpa13rworkingplanscheclistform.pdf
The state fire marshall explained that “under the NFPA rules and regulations there is no sprinklers required in the attic space [of the dorm]. That does not mean they could not have put sprinklers in the attic space, but they went by NFPA rules. There are several draft stops in the attic to slow the fire.”
Yet all buildings constructed in the United States in the last 17 years only meet the minimum code due to balancing cost and safety.
To better understand requirements, Raynes explained that the codes themselves are made through a “consensus” of contractors and insurance companies. For instance, at the Peabody condo site near Boston, Building 18 burned to the ground. However, due to sprinklers and fire alarms, all the human occupants escaped unharmed.
Further, the Boston fire’s origin appears to have been a cigarette in mulch outside Building 18. The fire traveled up the sides, across the unsprinklered attic, and down the opposite side. (See Commentary/Analysis on Boston Peabody Fire )
EXTERIOR CONSTRUCTION AND FIRE PROTECTION
Expressing the disclaimer that he had not been at or seen the gutted Boston condo, Raynes speculated if the fire started outside the building and burned up and got into the attic space, “there would nothing that would prevent that from occurring on the Marshall building or a building anywhere in the United States. There is no protection on the outside of any building.”
Raynes described most current exterior construction components as using a coating over styrofoam insulation with another coating. “Most major buildings will burn from the outside. Any fire that starts externally is going to damage the building.”
But could a concrete and steel structure be safer than one with frame? Yes and no.
“Everything in this day and time is cost. It’s just like whether we choose to get in our automobile and go the mall or we choose to stay at home. It’s all about whether I have the dollars to spend. Every building [constructed] in the last 17 years, it’s all about money.”
As a general rule, the fire marshal explained, contractors simply meet the building or fire code. “You seldom get any extras,” he said. “Everything is built at the minimum level of life safety. We do not have very many tradeoffs because we’re only getting the minimum.”
Thus, structures up to four floors can have frame construction; those five floors and higher cannot. But are they safer assuming they meet today’s fire safety standards rather than a grandfathered standard?
Both likely conform only to the minimum fire code requirements. Any building over four stories must use block or steel. So would the high rise be safer?
“No, not really, because they both built to the minimum level of life safety,” Raynes said. “The height and size of a building requires a different type of construction.”
Both building and fire codes adhere to “consensus” standards as agreed to by committees that draft the rules. Their members do not only include a fire marshal but also contractors and insurance companies. The standards are compromises. “So, if you build a buiiding of certain size, if you exceed the four-story height then you have to increase your type of construction [methods/materials] to make it more stable and secure. If you do not want to increase your type of construction, we’ll allow you to sprinkle the entire building, which provides life saving protection to the occupants as well as for the building itself,” Raynes said.
The closer to those minimum life saving standards the greater the chances the occupants escape unscathed, but the structure itself could, perhaps, sustain major damage.
“We're trying to provide the occupants with enough time to escape and for the sprinkler system to hold the fire in check until the fire department can arrive.”
Huntington Fire Chief Greg Fuller and Raynes have both repeated --- no fire deaths have occurred in a sprinklered building.
Yet, as Raynes explained, sprinklers, alarms and containments do not guarantee that the building itself will not sustain damage. Idealy, the sprinklers both put out and contain the fire, allowing occupants to evacuate and firefighters to arrive.
“We are trying to provide the occupants of the building with enough time to escape and the sprinkler system in place holds the fire in check until the fire department arrives to extinguish the fire. In most cases, the sprinkler system will extinguish the fire or come close to extinguishing the fire, but you need somebody to come in and say yes it is out,” the state fire marshal explained.
Despite protection, no one can say the new dormitories or any other structure could withstand a major catastrophe, such as a bomb or a 9/11 terrorist undertaking.
As am example, the fire marshal speculated that if somebody planted a bomb in a building, then, “ all bets are off whether there’s fire protection or not. We do not know what type of damage the explosion would do to the building,” Raynes stressed. “You can only protect so much; otherwise all buildings would be concrete and steel.” And, obviously, no one can perfectly plan for a 9/11 type of event.
Thus, as an example, by reading article from New York papers, you realize the Freedom Tower which replaces the World Trade Center has been redesigned so that the first twenty or so stories are windowless and made of fortified concrete. The lower floors design almost resembles a bunker. That offsets the “target” factor of the skyscraping signature tower.
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WV Fire Marshal: New Frame Dorms Safer Than Home; Sprinklers, Alarms, Containment Prevent Routine Causes … But Nothing Protects Against Major Catastrophic Occurrence
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Frame interior construction has prompted occasional queries about fire at the two new Marshall University dormitories now under construction. However, according to State Fire Marshall Rudy Raynes, who has observed their progress approximately every other week, “from a fire protection standpoint, the students that will be staying at the [new] Marshall dorms are safer at the Marshall dorms than they would be staying at home.”
Homes usually do not have sprinkler systems, may or may not have a fire alarm system, but about 70% of West Virginia residences have smoke detectors. “It is estimated,” Raynes said, “that only 60% of them work.”
University housing as required by law undergoes annual sprinkler and fire alarm inspections. In addition, Raynes complimented Marshall for “keeping fire protection systems up and in operation.”
That’s good news especially at a school that lost students in the off campus Emmons Junior fire. In fact, concrete and steel did not prevent nine casualiies. Depending upon how phrased, the Emmons Apartments met or exceeded the minimum grandfathered fire codes. Neither a sprinkler system or fire alarm system were required.
Marshall’s new dorms have utilized a “protected wood frame construction, which means all of the interior walls are made out of five-eighths fire code sheet rock. If a fire occurs in the building and everything works like it’s supposed to, it will stay in the room of origin,” Raynes said
Secondly, the building has “a NFPA 13 R sprinkler system in it. The living quarters and the hallway are sprinklered. The bathroom is not sprinklered, Raynes said, nor is the attic. “Each dorm room has two sprinkler heads in it. The corridor or hallway has sprinkler protection.”
Thirdly, each “building has a complete fire alarm system installed which is smoke detectors down the hallways and corridors of the building. There are smoke detectors in each sleeping room. The type of construction would contain the fire to the room of origin,” Raynes stated.
One of the containment materials is fire rated gypsum board. “It will hold the fire; it will take an hour for the fire to burn through the sheet rock or gypsum board,” he said. “Realistically, if a fire occurs in a dorm room, at 155 degrees temperature a sprinkler head will go off and start putting water on the fire. Once the sprinkler starts to throw water, the fire alarm system will go off [triggering] fire alarms throughout the entire building, and also alert the MU Department of Public Safety after which an alarm will be transmitted to [the] Huntington Fire Department.”
An internet article by Phil Brown, a Certified Fire Prevention Specialist (C.F.P.S.) agrees that the 13 R can be used in residential buildings, but not necessarily for portions that would be classified as mixed use. Brown writes that the “benefit of using a NFPA 13R systemis that it provides a reasonable level of fire protection at a lower cost than provided by a full automatic fire sprinkler system installed to a NFPA 13 standard.”
Brown explains that mixed use structures often have ambiguous issues.
The NFPA 13 standard does not allow for the omission of sprinklers from closets and pantries. In fact, under the more stringent code, the attic, floor / ceiling spaces and other combustible concealed spaces must have sprinklers. A water supply must be based upon a 30 minute duration for sprinkler system demand, Brown wrote.
( Editor’s Note: According to the NFPA, 39% of residential fires start in the kitchen, 11% bedroom, 13% confined cooking fire, 5% living room, family room, lounge or den. Less than 2% start in the attic or ceiling and ceiling floor space not protected by an NFPA sprinkler system. A percentage for bathroom origins is not provided. However, R occupancies have more compartmentalization than other occupancies because of the one hour requirement for corridors and separation between individual units (dwelling/sleeping. In the last 12 years , there have been no firefighter or civilian deaths in apartments with an NFPA 13R system. 97% of fires were contained to the fire-rated compartment of origin.)
(To review Phil Brown’s full technical piece on 13R and 13 sprinklers, visit: http://www.firesprinkler.org/techservices/articles/0305codearticle.html ) You may also review a generic 13R sprinkler checklist for building inspections at: http://www.co.washington.or.us/deptmts/lut/land_dev/bld_serv/forms/nfpa13rworkingplanscheclistform.pdf
The state fire marshall explained that “under the NFPA rules and regulations there is no sprinklers required in the attic space [of the dorm]. That does not mean they could not have put sprinklers in the attic space, but they went by NFPA rules. There are several draft stops in the attic to slow the fire.”
Yet all buildings constructed in the United States in the last 17 years only meet the minimum code due to balancing cost and safety.
To better understand requirements, Raynes explained that the codes themselves are made through a “consensus” of contractors and insurance companies. For instance, at the Peabody condo site near Boston, Building 18 burned to the ground. However, due to sprinklers and fire alarms, all the human occupants escaped unharmed.
Further, the Boston fire’s origin appears to have been a cigarette in mulch outside Building 18. The fire traveled up the sides, across the unsprinklered attic, and down the opposite side. (See Commentary/Analysis on Boston Peabody Fire )
EXTERIOR CONSTRUCTION AND FIRE PROTECTION
Expressing the disclaimer that he had not been at or seen the gutted Boston condo, Raynes speculated if the fire started outside the building and burned up and got into the attic space, “there would nothing that would prevent that from occurring on the Marshall building or a building anywhere in the United States. There is no protection on the outside of any building.”
Raynes described most current exterior construction components as using a coating over styrofoam insulation with another coating. “Most major buildings will burn from the outside. Any fire that starts externally is going to damage the building.”
But could a concrete and steel structure be safer than one with frame? Yes and no.
“Everything in this day and time is cost. It’s just like whether we choose to get in our automobile and go the mall or we choose to stay at home. It’s all about whether I have the dollars to spend. Every building [constructed] in the last 17 years, it’s all about money.”
As a general rule, the fire marshal explained, contractors simply meet the building or fire code. “You seldom get any extras,” he said. “Everything is built at the minimum level of life safety. We do not have very many tradeoffs because we’re only getting the minimum.”
Thus, structures up to four floors can have frame construction; those five floors and higher cannot. But are they safer assuming they meet today’s fire safety standards rather than a grandfathered standard?
Both likely conform only to the minimum fire code requirements. Any building over four stories must use block or steel. So would the high rise be safer?
“No, not really, because they both built to the minimum level of life safety,” Raynes said. “The height and size of a building requires a different type of construction.”
Both building and fire codes adhere to “consensus” standards as agreed to by committees that draft the rules. Their members do not only include a fire marshal but also contractors and insurance companies. The standards are compromises. “So, if you build a buiiding of certain size, if you exceed the four-story height then you have to increase your type of construction [methods/materials] to make it more stable and secure. If you do not want to increase your type of construction, we’ll allow you to sprinkle the entire building, which provides life saving protection to the occupants as well as for the building itself,” Raynes said.
The closer to those minimum life saving standards the greater the chances the occupants escape unscathed, but the structure itself could, perhaps, sustain major damage.
“We're trying to provide the occupants with enough time to escape and for the sprinkler system to hold the fire in check until the fire department can arrive.”
Huntington Fire Chief Greg Fuller and Raynes have both repeated --- no fire deaths have occurred in a sprinklered building.
Yet, as Raynes explained, sprinklers, alarms and containments do not guarantee that the building itself will not sustain damage. Idealy, the sprinklers both put out and contain the fire, allowing occupants to evacuate and firefighters to arrive.
“We are trying to provide the occupants of the building with enough time to escape and the sprinkler system in place holds the fire in check until the fire department arrives to extinguish the fire. In most cases, the sprinkler system will extinguish the fire or come close to extinguishing the fire, but you need somebody to come in and say yes it is out,” the state fire marshal explained.
Despite protection, no one can say the new dormitories or any other structure could withstand a major catastrophe, such as a bomb or a 9/11 terrorist undertaking.
As am example, the fire marshal speculated that if somebody planted a bomb in a building, then, “ all bets are off whether there’s fire protection or not. We do not know what type of damage the explosion would do to the building,” Raynes stressed. “You can only protect so much; otherwise all buildings would be concrete and steel.” And, obviously, no one can perfectly plan for a 9/11 type of event.
Thus, as an example, by reading article from New York papers, you realize the Freedom Tower which replaces the World Trade Center has been redesigned so that the first twenty or so stories are windowless and made of fortified concrete. The lower floors design almost resembles a bunker. That offsets the “target” factor of the skyscraping signature tower.
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