NFPA Journal - September/October 2012 - (Page 72)

2011 CATASTROPHIC MULTIPLE-DEATH FIRES to extinguish the fire before calling the fire department. It was not reported if he was one of the victims. Contributing Factors and Victim Locations All five victims were found on the second story, one in the hallway near the stairway, two in one bedroom, and two in two other bedrooms. Mississippi Date, Time of Alarm, Number of Deaths August, 12:48 a.m., 5 (3 under age 6) Number of Stories, Occupancy Type, Construction Type This was a two-story, eight-unit apartment building of unprotected wood-frame construction that covered 3,807 square feet (354 square meters). Smoke Alarm and Other Protection Devices There were no smoke alarms in the apartment of origin, although other apartments had them. There was no automatic suppression equipment, but each apartment did have a manual CO2 extinguisher. It was not reported that any were used. Fire Origin and Path This fire broke out in the kitchen of a second-floor apartment. No additional information was reported on the cause or the spread of the fire. Contributing Factors and Victim Locations All the victims were found in the second-floor apartment. An adult was found in the hallway, partially in a bedroom, and two children were located in a bedroom, one in the closet. The locations of the other two victims, both children, were not reported. Connecticut Date, Time of Alarm, Number of Deaths December, 4:52 a.m., 5 Number of Stories, Occupancy Type, Construction Type This was a three-story, single-family home of unprotected wood-frame construction with a ground floor area of 2,600 square feet (242 square meters). It was in the process of being renovated. Smoke Alarm and Other Protection Devices Investigators could not determine whether smoke alarms were present. There was no automatic suppression equipment. Fire Origin and Path The fire began when hot embers were discarded on paper products, which they ignited. The area where the ashes were placed was not reported. Contributing Factors and Victim Locations No information was released due to ongoing litigation. NON-HOME STRUCTURE FIRES Minnesota Date, Time of Alarm, Number of Deaths July, 1:44 a.m., 6 (1 under age 6) Number of Stories, Occupancy Type, Construction Type, Operating Status This three-story bed and breakfast, which covered 2,400 square feet (223 square meters), was of unprotected wood-frame construction. The number of occupants was not reported. Detection Systems and Suppression Systems Smoke alarms of an undetermined type operated, alerting the occupants. There was no explanation of the victims’ failure to escape. There was no automatic suppression equipment. Fire Origin and Path The fire was started by an unattended candle on the first floor. No other information on the fire development was reported. Contributing Factors and Victim Locations The victims were found in various locations. One, who had come down from the third floor, was found on the first occurred in three single-family homes, a duplex, and two apartment buildings, one of which had nine units and the other eight. In three of these fires, the buildings had no smoke alarms. In two, smoke alarms were present, although one did not operate because its battery was missing, and investigators did not know if the system operated in the other. No information on smoke alarms was reported for the sixth fire. Catastrophic Non-Home Structure Fires Six of the 23 catastrophic multiple-death fires of 2011 occurred in nonhome structures and resulted in 20 fatalities, five of whom were under age six. Three of these fires were started by explosions, two in storage properties—a fireworks storage bunker and a grain elevator—and one in a steel and iron powder manufacturing plant. There were also fires in a day care center, a residential board-and-care facility, and a bed and breakfast. In 2010, eight non-home structure catastrophic multipledeath fires resulted in 63 deaths. Three of the six fires in non-home properties last year broke out between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., and killed 14 people, including a child under six. Two of the six fires killed six people each. The first was started in a three-story bed and breakfast of unprotected wood-frame construction by a candle left unattended in a room on the first floor. One victim was found on the first floor, and the other five were found at various locations on the second floor. One of the victims was three years old. The bed and breakfast had smoke alarms, which operated and alerted the occupants. The fire department report did not say why the victims were unable to escape. The second fire began when grain dust exploded in a 12-story grain elevator of protected noncombustible construction. The cause of the explosion was not determined. Three of the victims were found at different locations outside the building, and the other three were found inside the grain elevator, which did not have smoke alarms. Another two incidents killed five people each. The first occurred in an underground, World War II-era munitions bunker being used to store fireworks. At the time of the fire, the cause and origin of which could not be determined, six employees were disposing of seized fireworks. One person who was outside the bunker survived. The second fire, the cause of which was also undetermined, began in a bedroom of a one-story residential board-and-care facility of unprotected wood-frame construction. Four of the victims were found in bedrooms, and the fifth victim’s location was not reported. Four children under the age of six died in a fire at a one-story day care center of unprotected wood-frame construction. The fire began when the day care operator left a frying pan in which cooking oil was heating unattended when she left the facility. The oil caught fire, and flames spread throughout the kitchen. The center had smoke alarms, but one failed to operate because its battery was missing. Investigators could not determine if the other operated. The day care operator was arrested on charges of leaving seven children unattended. Catastrophic Non-Structure Fires In 2011, five non-structure incidents killed 18 people. This is three more non-structure fires than occurred in 2010 and seven more deaths. 72 NFPA JOURNAL SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2012

NFPA Journal - September/October 2012
Contents
First Word
Mail Call
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Lessons of Comayagua
After Waldo Canyon
Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires in 2011
Fire Loss in the United States in 2011
Section Spotlight
Research + Analysis
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - September/October 2012