NFPA Journal - September/October 2013 - (Page 21)

The two-story, skilled nursing facility covered an area of 11,300 square feet (1,050 square meters) per floor. An older section had masonry brick and block walls with a wood-frame roof and interior partitions. A newer wood-frame addition was drywalled. The property was protected by a wet-pipe sprinkler system and a fire alarm system. The victim and one other visitor in a second-floor resident’s room in the older section of the building were making methamphetamine using a one-cup process. The victim was sitting in a folding lawn chair while he heated the glass jar containing the petroleum distillate when the vapors from the container ignited, breaking the jar and creating a fireball, which caused his death. The other two occupants of the room evacuated. The alarm company called the fire department to report a fire alarm activation at 8:36 p.m. When fire crews arrived three minutes later, several people told them that there was a fire on the second floor. The fire officer ordered additional equipment to the scene, including several ambulances, before entering the nursing home. Staff members were helping patients leave the area as firefighters entered. After systematically searching the second floor, fire crews discovered that two sprinklers had activated and prevented the fire from spreading beyond the room of origin. Investigators found evidence consistent with the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, including several over-the-counter items available at any drug or hardware store, and determined that the point of origin was the glass container being heated by the victim. Tests of the remaining contents revealed the jar contained camp stove fuel and lighter fluid. In addition to the victim, three nursing home residents, including the one in the room of origin, suffered from smoke inhalation. The second visitor was also believed to have been injured, but he left the scene. Two staffers were also treated at the hospital. The building, which had an assessed value of $734,000, sustained roughly $50,000 in damage. Residential Man dies in house fire MINNESOTA—A 64-year-old man died of acute carbon monoxide poi- soning in an early morning fire that began in the living room of his singlefamily home. The two-an-a-half story, balloonstyle, wood-frame house covered an area of approximately 1,700 square feet (158 square meters). A fire department report noted that the house had FOUR THE PERFECT TWOSOME TO COMPLEMENT YOUR WAREHOUSE SPRINKLER SYSTEM A PROVEN SOLUTION MAINTAINS 3” FLUE SPACE INSTALLED & TRUSTED WORLDWIDE COMBINES A SMOOTH STORAGE SURFACE WITH RACK SHELF POROSITY A SIMPLE, COST EFFECTIVE WAY TO KEEP STORED MATERIAL OUT OF REQUIRED RACK TRANSVERSE FLUE SPACES PUNCHDECK.COM FLUEKEEPER.COM D C A S inc. toll-free: +1-866-400-8107 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 NFPA JOURNAL 21

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2013

NFPA Journal - September/October 2013
Contents
First Word
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Heads Up
Research
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Cover Story: Furniture Flamability
Special Report
NFPA Reports
NFPA Reports
Fire Analysis + Research
Section Spotlight
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - September/October 2013