NFPA Journal - November/December 2017 - 96

Fire Development
There was no information
reported.
Contributing Factors and Details
The warehouse contained bulk
storage. No additional information
was reported on contributing
factors. The damage was listed as
approximately $6.9 million to the
structure and $3.4 million to the
contents.
SPECIAL PROPERTIES
Washington
Month, Time of Alarm, Dollar Loss
July, 3 a.m., $20 million
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a six-story, 37,129-squarefoot (3,449-square-meter)
mixed-occupancy building
of unprotected wood-frame
construction that was under renovation. No one was present at the
time of the fire.
Fire Protection Systems
There was neither smoke detection nor automatic suppression
equipment present.
Fire Development
The fire broke out on the fourth
floor and the cause was not determined. No additional information
was reported.
Contributing Factors and Details
None reported.
California
Month, Time of Alarm, Dollar Loss
July, 2:44 a.m., $20 million
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a six-story, 80,000square-foot (7,432-square-meter)
apartment building of unprotected wood-frame construction
that was under construction. No
one was at the location at the time
of the fire.
Fire Protection Systems
There was no automatic detection
system or suppression system
present.
Fire Development
The cause and origin was listed as
undetermined.
Contributing Factors and Details
On arrival, firefighters found heavy
fire throughout the structure. A
defensive attack on the fire was
initiated.
Arizona
Month, Time of Alarm, Dollar Loss
April, 5:54 p.m., $17 million
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a three-story, 32,000square-foot (2,973-square-meter) apartment building under
construction. No one was on the
scene at the time of the fire.
Fire Protection Systems
There was neither smoke detection nor automatic suppression
equipment present.
Fire Development

Embers from a torch used earlier
in the day ignited a fire on the
rooftop of a one-story electrical
closet attached to the side of a
building under construction. Fire
spread to other buildings under
construction on the site.
Contributing Factors and Details
Nineteen buildings were under
construction on this 600,000square-foot (55,742-square-meter)
site. Seventeen buildings were
still in the framing stage and two
had had stucco applied to their
exteriors. All 19 structures were
destroyed or damaged in the fire.
Arizona
Month, Time of Alarm, Dollar Loss
August, 3:30 A.M., $10.1 million
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a large, nearly completed
hotel that was under construction.
No additional information was
reported.
Fire Protection Systems
There was no information
reported on smoke alarms or
automatic suppression system.
Fire Development
No information was reported.
Contributing Factors and Details
Evacuation of a nearby hotel was
reported.
Massachusetts
Month, Time of Alarm, Dollar Loss
December, 2:53 P.M., $10 million
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
The fire originated in a three-story,
1,484-square-foot (138-square-meter) apartment building of
unprotected wood-frame
construction that was under renovation, and spread to surrounding
structures. No information was
reported on operating status.
Fire Protection Systems
There was no information
reported on smoke alarms. There
was no automatic suppression
system present.
Fire Development
The cause and origin were undetermined and the fire is under
investigation.
Contributing Factors and Details
Due to windy conditions, the fire
rapidly spread throughout the
neighborhood and destroyed or
damaged 16 structures.
Arizona
Month, Time of Alarm, Dollar Loss
October, (time was not reported),
$10 million
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a two- and three-story,
45,658-square-foot (4,242-squaremeter) apartment building that
was under construction. No
information was reported on the
operating status.
Fire Protection Systems

96 | NFPA JOURNAL * N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7

In 2016, two fires with losses greater than $100
million occurred; both were WUI fires, and one of
them included losses that approached $1 billion.
That fire, the Chimney Tops 2 Fire in Tennessee,
occurred in November and caused $911 million
dollars in damage, the third-highest damage total
in NFPA records in the past 10 years and the
eighth-highest in all NFPA records of U.S. fires.
(Of those fires that were larger, six were wildfires
and one was the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World
Trade Center in New York.) The other 2016 fire
that topped $100 million in losses was the Clayton
Fire, a California wildfire that resulted in nearly
$175 million in damage.
The Chimney Tops 2 Fire was set on Chimney
Tops, a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, and was first reported about 5:30
p.m. by park firefighters who observed smoke
from the top of the hills. The fire originally
involved almost inaccessible terrain distinguished
by cliffs and thick vegetation, so water drops were
made by helicopters to assist in extinguishment.
The fire burned for several days before a weather
change in the early morning hours of November
28, including winds gusting to nearly 80 miles
per hour (128.7 kilometers per hour), that blew
the fire into residential and business areas of several communities outside the park. The National
Weather Service had issued highwind watches for the area on
November 27 when the fire was at
about 35 acres (14 hectares). The
fire burned for several more days
before it could be contained and
extinguished, during which time
evacuation orders were issued for
the communities in the path of the
fire. By the time the flames were
extinguished, the fire had charred
17,140 acres (6,936 hectares) and
destroyed 2,460 structures, including 2,100 homes and 60 businesses.
The fire was responsible for 14
deaths and more than 150 injuries. Two juveniles were arrested
and charged with arson, but the
charges were later dropped.
The Clayton Fire broke out
at about 5 p.m. on August 21 in
Lake County, in Northern California. The fire was determined to
be incendiary and a suspect was
arrested. The fire was fought for
several days until an increase in
the wind speed and direction prevented firefighters from keeping
up with the blaze, and the fire
moved into residential areas. At
this time, temperatures were in
the 90s degrees F (30s degrees

GUTTER CREDIT

Large-Loss Fires in the
United States in 2016 (continued)

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - November/December 2017