THE FLOOR ABOVE, PART 3
BY TOM BRENNAN
Parts 1 and 2 were published in the July and August issues.
Private dwellings claim more civilian fire deaths per year than any other occupancy. But, it appears we are losing more and more firefighters in search operations on the floor above the fire in multiple dwellings than ever before. It seems like that anyway.
A multiple dwelling by definition is a dwelling occupied by more than two families living independently from one another. (I hope that is as formal as I ever get here.) But, three-family is much the same as two-family, and we will discuss larger-area structures of four, five, six, or seven stories. Some of these structures have wooden, straight-run stairs in the public hall that run from the front of the hall to the rear of the floor landing above. Some have half-landing stairs of wood, but more often the stairs are metal framing and stone treads. Others are straight-run metal and stone. Each type has its problems and inherent safety additions.
FIRE ACCESS AND BUILDING DESIGN
Getting to the floor above the fire in multiple dwellings is a many-faceted bag of tricks for the assigned firefighter. The tricks increase as the size of the public hall increases and in relation to the type of construction and the number of apartments the hall serves on each floor. In smaller multiple dwellings, those with one family on each floor, each successive landing is served by a longer-than-normal open, single, straight-run type of staircase, located in large, open hall areas and generally runs from the front of the hall enclosure to the rear of the enclosure on the next landing. This configuration causes a problem for us.
Usually, two public entry doors for each apartment are located in the hall (the same for the two dwellings per floor that are split from side to side; each has front and rear exposures–the railroad apartment). The door used for entrance usually is the one at the rear of the hall, above which are the top three steps of the stairs arriving at the floor above. The reason for this is obvious to the tenant: This door gives close access to the kitchen at the rear of the apartment. The front door usually is blocked by furniture, adding to the wall space of a bedroom or sitting room. For our purposes, that door is nailed and blocked but forcible.
The problem for us and the floor-above operations is that the top three steps of the open stairway to the hall landing above the fire pass directly over the entrance to the fire apartment below. This is the one that is left open, is openable, or is the target for forcible entry for the extinguishment team. In any event, the interior stairs are extremely exposed or shortly will be.
VENTILATING THE SKYLIGHT
This structure has one feature that can aid firefighters to quickly and safely enter the fire floor and thence the floor above the fire–the skylight almost always found at the roof level in the center of the public hall space. This is the single greatest asset for making the interior tenable. It must be “gotten” from the roof as soon as possible after arrival–and not after water starts. It is too late then, and delaying opening it will make sure the line never gets to where it should. This opening channels the heat, smoke, and flames out of the structure in columnar fashion and greatly prevents mushrooming along with its horizontal spread. Once opened, it makes all floors more habitable. Anyone ever trapped or prevented from ascending the staircase knows how wonderful an improvement is made once the glass in this construction is “removed.” Here, too, there exists another problem.
The firefighters assigned to the roof (er, ah, er team) decide or are ordered (almost never in a great department) to “take out” the skylight. To effectively accomplish that goal, they must be prepared to accomplish two tasks to gain one goal–take out all the skylight glass and then search for and remove the dust cover.
The dust cover is a membrane installed at the finished-ceiling level to prevent dust from falling into the stair hallway. In the old days when the skylight was the only illumination to the stairs during daylight, this was decorative glass. It was replaced by regular glass, then by screen, and finally by sheetmetal–all of which accomplish the same purpose as far as we are concerned. It prevents proper ventilation and keeps the interior conditions of the public hall from improving. This membrane must be felt for with a tool and removed to successfully accomplish ventilation, or it would be as if the roof team never went to the roof at all. Lately, this basic (ensuring that the dust cover is removed) is ignored more and more and perhaps is responsible for the increase in burn injuries sustained by interior firefighters today.
Safety increases as the number of apartments on each floor increases. The hallways are larger, spreading the heat out more and giving the floor-above team members areas within which to shield themselves from the vertically extending gases (not a luxury in smaller dwellings above). Once you arrive on the actual floor above the fire in these occupancies, which door do you force? “The one above the fire apartment,” you say loudly. “Yes, but many times, this one should be forced second,” I say softly. If conditions are risky on that floor, the apartment door below may not be opened, or it is uncertain whether the team below will be able to ensure control without luck and extra help, force the door to an apartment adjacent to the first apartment first. Or, if it exists, gain entry (the occupant may be home) to the apartment opposite the fire location in those buildings in which apartments are split front to rear. This gives an area of refuge should the fire “get away” from the troops below. If this condition (structure) is available and condition control is coupled with immediate roof ventilation in these brick-and-joist multiple dwellings, you have a manageable condition–dangerous but manageable.
Next time, high-rise structures.
TOM BRENNAN has more than 33 years of fire service experience. His career spans more than 20 years with the City of New York (NY) Fire Department as well as four years as chief of the Waterbury (CT) Fire Department. He was editor of Fire Engineering for eight years and currently is a technical editor. He is co-editor of The Fire Chief`s Handbook, Fifth Edition (Fire Engineering Books, 1995).
