NFPA Journal - Summer 2021 - 82

Firewatch
Crews made an initial sweep of the
room with a thermal imaging camera
and began extinguishing the fire.
After knocking down the fire, crews
advanced further into the bedroom
and discovered a male occupant on the
floor. Crew members quickly pulled the
occupant downstairs and turned him
over to a medical team outside, where
he was pronounced dead.
Investigators determined that the fire
started when a lithium-ion battery used
in a vaping device went into a thermal
runaway and caused a catastrophic
failure, with the battery then igniting
ordinary combustibles at the foot of the
victim's bed.
The residence was a two-and-a-half
story wood frame structure with a
plywood roof deck and concrete slab
floor framing. It occupied a ground
floor area of 960 square feet (89 square
meters). The residence was protected
by a monitored fire alarm system.
Damage to the structure and contents was estimated at $20,000.

HAWAII
Smoking materials blamed for
fatal high-rise fire
Firefighters were called to a high-rise
apartment building at 11:30 p.m. when
a resident called 911 after hearing a
smoke detector activate in a neighboring unit.
The fire occurred on the 18th floor
of a 19-story building. Upon entering
the apartment, firefighters found that
a small fire had consumed immediate
fuels on the victim's bed, and fire suppression efforts were reported to be
minimal. Firefighters found the body of
a male occupant on the floor beside the
bed, already deceased.
Investigators determined that the fire
started when the victim either dropped
or improperly disposed of smoking
materials on bedding material. They
indicated that the victim had a mobility
impairment which impeded his ability
to escape. The victim was said to have
a history of smoking inside the unit
against housing policies.
The building was constructed with
concrete masonry unit block walls and
concrete roof and floor framing. It

occupied a ground floor area of 2,600
square feet (241 square meters).
The fire caused $94,000 in damage
to the building, valued at $187,000, and
$3,000 to contents of the apartment,
valued at $5,000.

WASHINGTON
House fire ignited by lithium-ion
battery explosion
Firefighters were dispatched to a house
fire following a 911 call from one of the
home's occupants at 3:30 p.m.
News reports indicated that flames
were coming from the basement and
had spread to an attached deck and
detached garage as firefighters reached
the scene. Fire eventually extended up
the rear of the house to the attic area.
Occupants were said to have safely
evacuated the structure.
Firefighters brought the fire under
control in approximately 30 minutes
and completed extinguishment in
approximately an hour, according to
the news sources.
According to investigators, a
basement occupant witnessed his
rechargeable lithium-ion battery
pack explode into flames shortly after
unplugging the charge from a power
strip. The fire then spread to the main
floor and detached garage. Remnants of
the rechargeable batteries were found
in the area of fire origin.
The house was a single-story wood
construction and occupied a ground
floor area of 1,200 square feet (111
square meters).
The fire caused $300,000 in damage
to the structure and $100,000 damage
to its contents. The fire also caused
$400 in damage to a neighboring
residence.

Hotel
CALIFORNIA
Faulty heater ignites hotel fire
Firefighters were dispatched to a hotel
after a passerby spotted a fire and
called 911 at 2:44 p.m.
Arriving crews found fire and smoke
coming from a wall heater in one of the

hotel's rooms, with heavy black smoke
banked down to the floor level inside
the room.
Crews entered the room to ensure
that no one was inside and found that
a sprinkler had activated and was containing the fire. A bystander informed
firefighters that he had used a dry
powder extinguisher to extinguish the
fire, but fire kept reappearing in the
wall area.
Crews overhauled the area and extinguished the fire, then set up a positive
pressure fan to ventilate the building.
Crews secured the sprinkler riser in
order to minimize water damage and
advised the hotel manager to have to
sprinkler system placed back in service
as soon as possible.
Investigators determined that the
heating and air conditioning unit
had experienced an unspecified electrical malfunction, resulting in a fire
that extended to drapery and then
to structural finish in the room. The
investigators indicated that the hotel's
wet-pipe sprinkler system operated
effectively once the fire had made its
way into the room.
The hotel was a two-story structure
constructed with a wood frame, concrete slab floor frame, and a wood roof
deck covered by asphalt.
The fire caused $15,000 in damage
to the structure, valued at $4 million,
and $2,000 in damage to the room contents, valued at $5,000.

Educational
MASSACHUSETTS
Electrical arcing blamed for fire in
elementary school
Firefighters were dispatched to an
elementary school at 9 a.m. following notification by a master box fire
alarm.
Arriving crews were directed to a
second-floor classroom, where a fire
had ignited in a closet area behind a
teacher's desk. Crews found light smoke
on the second floor but reported that
the fire had self-extinguished prior to
their arrival.

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NFPA Journal - Summer 2021

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