Curtis Massey has done an outstanding job of defining the hazards of unique structures, “Telco hotels,” in his article in the May Firehouse®. These structures are literally death traps for firefighters. I have discarded my draft of a similar article, salvaging only the fact that a rental property in Chicago will have five tenants, each of whom will provide its own heating, ventilation and air conditional (HVAC) system, and the probability that emergency exits will be locked from the interior and that “the manager has the key.”
But where is it written that firefighters must assume the risk of blundering around in a totally smoke-obscured building which the owners do not think enough of to keep competent persons on duty around the clock? It is time for fire departments to take a public stand, as FDNY Chief of Department John O’Hagen did when the World Trade Center was being built by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (which sometimes acts as if is the embassy of a foreign state). A representative of the authority proudly described its fire precautions at an NFPA meeting, but O’Hagen stood up and said, “You people saved a million dollars by reneging on a promise to use fire-retardant lumber for false work and formwork. You have created a seven-block-long lumberyard. We cannot take responsibility for preventing damage to the unprotected steel. In this case, the fuel consists of wiring insulation and plastic that are easily destroyed and produce huge quantities of toxic fumes.”
I would be careful about worrying too much about property damage. Computer equipment begins to be obsolete the day it is installed. It is easily damaged by smoke and deformation of metal. After the fire, the whole mess will be replaced by newer “state-of-the-art” equipment. Since computer types have an inbred fear of water, it is possible that sprinkler systems will be turned off and reliance placed on CO2 extinguishers. Note well that CO2 does not extinguish electrical fires; its benefit is solely that it is a non-conductor of electricity.
New York City requires every high-rise building to have a trained fire warden who liaisons with the fire department and is familiar with all the knowledge the incident commander (IC) would need. Each organization involved in the building should be required to have a fire safety representative (FSR) who must be on scene before any interior operations are commenced. If this means that firefighters wait outside until the FSR arrives, so be it. Never forget: “We didn’t create this mess, you did, and we will do whatever we can to mitigate it without undue danger to our personnel.”
You cannot rely solely on pre-planning. The physical layout and all the items you wrote down may change from day to day. You cannot blindly trust the FSR to be able to match his or her knowledge with your problem. An instance: Submarines made a stop at Naval Operating Base Balboa. They attack a substantial fire by coming down the conning tower. I have a large amount of CO2 in large bottles. The problem was to get the CO2 to the fire. On a sub the senior chief petty officer (CPO) is the “Chief of the Boat,” reputed to know all. Four of these “CoBs” could not help me. The fifth said, “You want the salvage air lines.” These are valves which lead into each of the five compartments to introduce air into compartment to raise a disabled sub. We had valves fabricated and by calculation we could inert any three of the five compartments. Fortunately, we never had to put the system to the test.
All building owners and renters must be notified of fire department requirements and limitations by certified mails, return receipt which should be filed permanently. A no-entry procedure is not unique. Except for fire departments trained in “Charge of the Light Brigade” procedures, firefighters generally are kept off and out of situations where lightweight trusses are burning. If a truckload of computer components was burning on the highway, it might well be declared a hazmat incident. One of these buildings burning might easily classified as a hazmat incident and approached accordingly.
I would advise all fire department to clip and save Mr. Massey’s great article and this letter for the day when you read that your town has entered the Information Age with a bang. City officials salivating over the prospect of tax revenues and prestige may be very unhelpful.