NFPA Journal - November/December 2019 - 56

What we can learn, where
we get our data, and
acknowledgements
Adhering to the fire protection principles reflected in NFPA codes and
standards is essential if we are to
reduce the occurrence of large-loss
fires and explosions in the US. Proper
construction, use of equipment, and
procedures in chemical processes,
storage, and housekeeping will make
fires less likely to occur and help limit
fire spread should a fire occur. Proper
design, maintenance, and operation of
fire protection systems and features can
keep a fire that does occur from becoming a large-loss fire.
NFPA identifies potential large-loss
incidents by reviewing national and
local news media, as well as fire service
publications. A clipping service reads
all US daily newspapers and notifies
NFPA's Applied Research Division of
major large-loss fires. NFPA's annual
survey of the US fire experience is
an additional data source, although
not the primary one. Web searches

have proven useful in several cases
where fire department and government reports have been released and
published.
Once a fire has been identified,
NFPA requests information about it
from the fire department or jurisdictional agency. We also contact federal
agencies that have participated in
investigations, as well as state fire
marshals' offices and military sources.
The diversity and redundancy of these
data sources enables NFPA to collect
the most complete data available on
large-loss fires. This report includes
only fire incidents for which NFPA has
official dollar-loss estimates; other fires
with large losses may have occurred,
but are not included here because no
official information has been reported
to NFPA.
Due to a lack of a confirmed dollar
loss, several 2018 fires that may have
resulted in property losses greater than
$10 million were not included in this
report. These fires include a coke plant
in Pennsylvania; a grain elevator and

refinery in Wisconsin; a natural gas
incident involving over-pressurization
and explosions in Massachusetts; a
warehouse in Washington; a metal
products plant in Michigan; a cotton
storage facility in Oklahoma; and a
power generation plant in New Mexico
NFPA would like to thank the US fire
service for its contributions of data,
without which this report would not be
possible. In some cases, the fire department, forestry officials, or government
officials were unable to contribute
complete details to NFPA because legal
action is pending or ongoing, the incident was of a sensitive nature, or the
size of the situation was overwhelming
and reports had not yet been released.
The authors also wish to thank Nancy
Schwartz and the staff of the NFPA
Applied Research group for providing
support for this study.
STEPHEN G. BADGER is a fire data assistant
in NFPA's Research Group and is a retired firefighter from the Quincy, Massachusetts, Fire
Department. MATTHEW FOLEY is a research
associate in NFPA's Applied Research Group.

Large-Loss Fires in the United States in 2018 (continued)
May, 12:10 a.m., $12,000,000
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a cargo ship 655 feet
(199.8 meters) long and 91 feet
(27.8 meters) wide of steel construction. The ship was in port to
offload cargo. The type of cargo
was not reported.
Fire Protection Systems
There was a detection system
present. Its type was not reported
but the system operated. There
was a carbon dioxide suppression system on board that was
manually operated and extinguished the fire. The loss was
high due to the cargo consisting
of wind turbine components that
were damaged
Fire Development
During hot work, embers fell
between pieces of cargo and
ignited them.
Contributing Factors and
Other Detail
There was a fire watch on scene
during cutting operations. About
25 minutes after the hot work
was discontinued, smoke could
be smelled and the detection
system activated. As crew
members made their way to the
scene, the CO2 system was manually activated and the fire was
extinguished.

INDUSTRAL, UTILITY,
DEFENSE
Missouri
Month, Time of Alarm,
Dollar Loss
May, 2:21 a.m., $20,000,000
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a structure on a hog
farm that was one story in
height, covering 140,965 square
feet (13,098 square meters).
The construction type was not
reported. No one was in the
building at the time.
Fire Protection Systems
There was a detection system
connected to a location away
from the farm. The system operated and notified the off-site
location, which responded to
investigate. There was no information reported on automatic
suppression equipment.
Fire Development
The cause and origin were listed
as undetermined due to the
complete destruction of the
building.
Contributing Factors and
Other Detail
When the person who was
notified by the alarm system
arrived, one building had already
burnt to the ground. By the time
firefighters arrived, a second

56 | NFPA JOURNAL * N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9

building with an area of 105,560
square feet (9,807 square
meters) had also burned to the
ground. The fire killed 16,000
animals. The fire department's
response took longer than
normal due to foggy weather
conditions.
STORES AND OFFICES
California
Month, Time of Alarm,
Dollar Loss
January, 12:21 a.m., $10,000,000
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a single-story,
50,000-square-foot
(4,645-square-meter) automobile
dealership of protected ordinary
construction. It was unclear if
the building was occupied at the
time the fire broke out.
Fire Protection Systems
Detection and suppression systems were not present.
Fire Development
The cause was listed as undetermined, but the fire broke out
near a vehicle in the repair and
service area.
Contributing Factors and
Other Details
This was a luxury car dealership.
The fire damaged several vehicles and structural components.

California
Month, Time of Alarm,
Dollar Loss
July, 4:20 p.m., $15,000,000
Property Characteristics and
Operating Status
This was a one-story cannabis
greenhouse of plastic and metal
construction. The floor size was
not reported.
Fire Protection Systems
There were no detection or automatic suppression systems.
Fire Development
The fire began when an abandoned cigarette ignited plastic
outside the greenhouse. The
type of plastic item ignited was
not reported. No additional information was reported.
Contributing Factors and
Other Detail
The first firefighters arrived in
five minutes and found several
greenhouses already involved
in fire. Windy conditions spread
the fire to a row of 14 exposures,
most of which were greenhouses of the same size and
construction type. Other exposures included cultivating tools
and equipment, a conveyer belt
and hopper, and a motorcycle.
The losses were estimated at
$12 million to the structures and
$3 million to the contents.

NFPA Journal - November/December 2019

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