BY FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN,SFPE (FELLOW)
EDITOR’S NOTE: For further reference, consult Building Construction for the Fire Service (BCFS3), Third Edition. Page numbers, where applicable, are included after the caption.
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This potentially disastrous polyurethane “cave” was in a popular student hangout in College Station, Texas. I was told students would break off pieces and burn them. I understand that the polyurethane has been removed.
Of the 165 present at a fire in a similar disco in France in 1970, 144 young people died. Fifty died in a Dublin disco where polyurethane furniture burned furiously.
Do you look at the places in which your kids hang out? I did. In one case, an offspring was managing a band in a storefront disco with no back exit. An exit was provided when I demanded it. A common violation is to open only one of double-leaf main entrance doors. It would take opening two latches at the top and bottom of the closed door.
Exits do not belong to the owner. They belong to those he invites to his premises. If he wants to close up the exits, the occupancy must be reduced. The building and fire codes do not figure in staff or people crowded in the doorway waiting for seats.
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Generally, stars on the wall indicate a wall in distress tied to the floor structure for stability or an old masonry wall modified for some earthquake resistance. However, many old heavy-timber masonry bearing wall buildings were deliberately tied floor to wall for stability when built. This inside view shows one method of tying the floors and walls together. Note the bolts passing through two floor joists. (BCFS3, 162)
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Brick walls do not patch well, generally because of differences in mortar and bricks. This point represents a vertical plane of weakness. The wall is not homogeneous. One part will not assist in resisting a lateral thrust against the other. (BCFS3, 164)
FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN, SFPE (Fellow), recipient of Fire Engineering’s first Lifetime Achievement Award, has devoted more than half of his 57-year career to the safety of firefighters in building fires. He is well known for his lectures and videotapes and as the author of Building Construction for the Fire Service, Third Edition, published by the National Fire Protection Association. Brannigan is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering.
