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The Building Code Blog

Fire Protection During Construction in Wood Buildings - What do you Think?

3/12/2021

12 Comments

 
In the last year or so, there have been several fire incidents during the construction of wood-framed residential buildings. Recently, in January 2021, a fire at the Ely at Fort Apache apartment complex in Las Vegas completely destroyed the building, racking up an estimated $25-30 million in damages. Or last year, a Jacksonville, Florida grew so large that it shut down a portion of nearby Interstate 295 and forced the local fire department to deploy 45 apparatus, including 14 engines and seven ladder trucks. In both of these cases, as well as other similar fires, there were two clear similarities:
  • The building construction included wood structural members (Type III, IV or V construction)
  • The building sprinkler systems were not yet active
In large, wood-framed apartment buildings, the window of time between enclosure of the structure and the building sprinkler system being functional is a clear vulnerability. The presence of a huge fuel load without an active fire sprinkler systems is a dangerous situation, where a single ignition source can lead to horrific fire losses. 
Picture
The smoldering remnants of the Ely at Fort Apache apartment project (Image courtesy of Clark County Fire Department).
According to a recent NFPA report, between 2013 and 2017, "fires in structures under construction caused an average of four civilian deaths, 49 civilian injuries, and $304 million in direct property damage annually." In the same report, it is noted that three out of every four construction fires occur in residential buildings. During the 5 year timeframe in the report, 42% of the direct property damage was caused by fires starting from electrical distribution and lighting equipment.

Fires in wood buildings are certainly not a new development, but over the last several building code cycles, various code changes have been enacted that allow for larger and more complex wood buildings. For example, in the 2015 IBC, the "podium" concept, where a wood-framed buildings can be constructed on top of a Type IA podium, allowing for an overall larger building, was expanded to allow multiple levels of Type IA construction beneath the podium. More recently, in the 2021 IBC, Type IV construction has been significantly expanded to now include three different sub-categories (Types IV-A, IV-B and IV-C), allowing for substantially taller and larger heavy timber buildings.

Without a doubt, there are numerous benefits to wood-framed construction. Reduced carbon emissions, faster construction and reduced building costs - all are positive reasons for designers to choose wood buildings. But the very nature of wood being a combustible material brings inherent risks, particularly during construction where fire protection systems are not yet in place.
Picture
A fire in Jacksonville, FL completed destroyed a 384-unit apartment building under construction (Image courtesy of Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department).

How to Respond?

While recent code changes have allowed for larger and more complex wood buildings, requirements for safeguards during construction have evolved as well. For example, in the 2021 IBC, Chapter 33 has been updated with a few notable changes:
  • Updated requirements for water flow to construction sites of buildings of Type III, IV and V construction. Depending on the size of the building and the fire separation distance, the flow requirements start at 500 gpm and continue up to the full required fire flow for the building when constructed (IBC 3313).
  • Updated requirements for fire watch during construction, specifically authorizing the fire code official to require a fire watch for buildings exceed 40 feet in height when the area per story exceeds 50,000 square feet (IBC 3315.1).

NFPA 241, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations, does provide requirements that are often more stringent than IBC Chapter 33. But many jurisdictions do not adopt or enforce compliance with this standard.

Apart from the model codes, many local jurisdictions have enacted their own requirements. In addition to requirements for protection during construction, I am also seeing local requirements for pursuing phased occupancy, where building owners want to occupy a portion of a building while other areas are still under construction. For example, Fairfax County, VA publishes a standard operating procedure document for phased occupancy that institutes a variety of building and site requirements that have to be met before phased occupancy can be considered.

But even with national and local codes addressing the issue, the magnitude of these fire losses does force you to ask: Is enough being done?

What are you Seeing?

What trends are you seeing in your area? Does your local building or fire department have any specific requirements for fire protection during construction or phased occupancy, particularly for wood buildings?  While I don't think there is a one size fits all solution to such a problem, I'm very interested in hearing a variety of perspectives from across the country. Please share in the comment section below!
12 Comments
Joseph R Cervantes link
3/12/2021 12:51:05 pm

As a proponent of fire protection, I am also highly involved in the discussion surrounding this topic.

In the past year, what I have identified is a 2 fold issue. One, education surrounding NFPA 241 and its adoption/enforcement by the local fire official. The second is lagging code cycles with minimal potential for fire protection professionals to get involved in oversight and for emerging technologies to make themselves known to the industry.

That is all about to change.

I sat in the FCAC Working Group for the reorganization of CH 33 of the I codes. It was a great opportunity to review the data and come up with some regulatory language that will help create some conformance to minimum standards surrounding all construction, new, retrofit or demolition, as well as documented and approved safety plans prior to permit issuance.

Anyone ever completed a water flow calc. on a 5 story structure with zero water supply from sprinklers? That's what happens on each of these fires. Since most of these fires happen at night, although some like Alexandria, Virginia in the day, spread very, very quickly. While we may not be able to stop accidental fires, reading the NFPA 241 Committee Report tells you to do the following:

Limit cooking locations. Provide means of localized detection in critical areas of high combustible load and electrical load centers and provide ample notification, including after hours to alert first respondets. To take it a step forward, take water to the furthest extent of construction and supervise the waterflow. We're not talking NFPA 13R approved type systems. Temporary for construction.

New technology brought to the United States by Space Age Electronics is being used today to do all of these things and more. While we can't stop the fires, we can let those surrounding the area know much, much quicker its happening. And in a non-protected structure, seconds matter between offensive attacking posture and defensive protection because you run out of water due to a 10 minute delay in notification.

This Wireless system is quickly growing favor with general contractors and can be moved from high fire hazard project and location to the next project. And when the battery dies, change it out and use it again.

This is how we start.

Reply
Chris Campbell
3/12/2021 01:56:23 pm

Joseph,

Thanks for the reply! I do agree, requiring full compliance with NFPA 241 would be a strong first step. I think limiting cooking (as well as any other non-essential operations that involve heat (e.g. smoking on the job site) is also a great idea during the construction phase.

Chris

Reply
Joseph R Cervantes link
3/12/2021 03:58:16 pm

Chris, the committee report breaks down the areas that the fires start in. If localized protection is provided there, we can accomplish a lot and make these near misses. Thanks again for the conversation starter.

Reply
Michael Ventola link
3/12/2021 02:41:10 pm

Excellent Blog Chris, thanks for posting on LinkedIn and writing it here. Fires on New Construction, Renovations and Alterations happen every day of every week. Most are small and are extinguished quickly. The point being, its not just wood frame construction which is highly vulnerable due to the new composite materials that have been approved. (Pre Engineered Lumber)

Just yesterday there was a fire at the Tesla Battery plant in CA. This was a construction area under renovation and expansion. As life safety professionals we can all chip in to collaborate on more effective ways to protect lives and assets from fire threat.

Feel free to find me at LinkedIn, my specialty area is smoke control and contribute as a principal on NFPA 92 and 204. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-j-ventola-cfps-6b562b8/

Reply
Chris Campbell
3/14/2021 12:32:14 pm

Michael,

Thanks so much for the reply. Agreed, there are many small fires on constructions sites that you never hear about because they are handled quickly and cause minimal damage. What do you can be done to reduce the likelihood that these small fires turn into the large, devastating events that you hear about on the news?

Reply
adam grandorff link
3/12/2021 03:13:29 pm

Hi Chris! We here at M Fire Suppression have the answer you have all been looking for! Please take a look at our website at www.mfiresuppression.com and feel free to reach out to me with further questions. Our Class A, UL Greenguard Gold Certified fire inhibitor is applied as the framers are going vertical in order to ensure maximum protection. We are currently working with the nations top Developers and have protected hundreds of projects from coast to coast. Adam 702-277-6040

Reply
Chris Campbell
3/14/2021 12:33:04 pm

Hi Adam,

Thanks for the reply, I will definitely check out the information on the product!

Reply
Chris Towski
3/12/2021 05:37:02 pm

https://www.firehouse.com/community-risk/article/12349715/fire-prevention-safety-for-buildings-under-construction-firefighter-training-education

Reply
Chris Campbell
3/14/2021 12:36:28 pm

Hi Chris,

Great points in the article, thanks for sharing!

Reply
Rich Soltis
4/7/2021 10:37:45 pm

The strongest Codes and Standards are worthless unless they are throughly adopted and enforced. Yes it takes time to make sure that construction sites do not store or use fuel burning appliances and do not do cooking inside the structure, but when we as Code Officials do our job nothing happens.
Not that these fires are not disasterous, but compared to the number of these types of structures it is a small percentage. They are at the fore front because of ease of information distribution and when these fires happen they are large and all consuming.
Yes, of course we need to tighten up on cunstruction sites with combustible construction.
Prior to these Codes and Standards the Municipality I retired from had an ordinance, that was adopted in the mid 1980s because of a fire at a construction site, that required temporary roadways and operational hydrants prior to combustibles being stored on site.

Reply
Braden Bills link
12/16/2021 10:49:37 am

I'm getting a building made, and I want to make sure that it lasts a long time. It makes sense that getting the right fire sprinkler for this would be a good idea! I'll be sure to work with someone to ensure that I do that right.

Reply
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The views, opinions, and information found on this site represent solely the author and do not represent the opinions of any other party, including the author's employer and the International Code Council, nor does the presented material assume responsibility for its use.  Local codes and amendments may vary from the code requirements described herein. Fire protection and life safety systems constitute a critical component of public health, safety and welfare and you should consult with a licensed professional for proper design and code compliance.
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