NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 74

2015 CATASTROPHIC MULTIPLE-DEATH FIRES There were no alarms in Building 2. There was no automatic suppression equipment present in either building. Fire Origin and Path The fire of undetermined cause broke out on an enclosed porch on the ground floor between the attached buildings. The fire spread from the porch through a window into the dining room of Building 2 and spread rapidly through both buildings. Contributing Factors and Victim Locations An elderly man was found in a first-floor bedroom of Building 1, and a woman and three of her children were found in a bedroom on the second floor of Building 2. The victims were aged 68, 36, 10, 3, and 1. NON-RESIDENTIAL CALIFORNIA Date, Time of Alarm, Number of Deaths December 13, 6:44 a.m., 5 deaths Number of Stories, Occupancy Type, Construction Type, Operating Status This was a one-story, 1,200-square-foot (112-squaremeter) vacant single-family dwelling of unprotected wood-frame construction. There were six squatters in the building at the time the fire broke out. Detection Systems and Suppression Systems There was no automatic detection or suppression equipment. Fire Origin and Path The fire broke out on the first floor at the point of egress, a window in the back living room. The cause was undetermined. Contributing Factors and Victim Locations This vacant dwelling was boarded up with plywood, which had been pulled partially away from a window in the back of the building. Entrance and exit was through this window. The fire broke out inside the building at this window and spread through the room, blocking the victims' escape. The five victims died or were injured in two bedrooms. A sixth person and three firefighters were injured. The victims were aged 56, 37, 36, 34, and 28. CALIFORNIA Date, Time of Alarm, Number of Deaths April 25, 5:30 a.m., 3 deaths Number of Stories, Occupancy Type, Construction Type, Operating Status This was a one-story tire shop. The ground floor area and construction type were not reported. There were three people in the business at the time of the fire. Detection Systems and Suppression Systems No information was reported on detection or suppression equipment. Fire Origin and Path No information was reported on the cause or origin. Contributing Factors and Victim Locations One firefighter was injured fighting this fire. The ages of the victims, all adults, were not listed. WASHINGTON Date, Time of Alarm, Number of Deaths August 19, 2:30 p.m., 3 deaths, all firefighters Setting Wildland/urban interface fire. 74 NFPA JOURNAL SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 under the tree ignited a plastic sheet or tree skirt, which in turn ignited the tree. The fire developed rapidly as indicated by the fact the six victims were unable to escape even with a functioning alarm system. Two fires killed five people each. The first broke out at just after 4 a.m. in a one-story, 1,200-square-foot (112-square-meter) single-family home of unprotected wood-frame construction. No information was reported on detection or suppression equipment. The cause was reported as undetermined and fire broke out in multiple locations. The other five-fatality fire occurred in a three-story home of unprotected, ordinary construction. This structure was attached to a two-unit apartment building. The fire of undetermined cause broke out on an enclosed porch and spread through an open window into the attached building and throughout both buildings. One man died in the building of origin and a mother and three of her children died in the second building. Catastrophic non-home structure fires Two of the nine catastrophic multiple-death fires that occurred in 2015 were in non-home structures and resulted in eight deaths. The number of fires in non-home structures was three fewer than the year before, with 12 fewer deaths. Both fires broke out between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. The first fire killed five squatters in a boarded-up vacant single-family home. The fire, of undetermined cause, started in the living room by a window where squatters had pulled part of the plywood off to allow entrance and egress. The second fire broke out at 5:30 a.m. in a onestory tire shop with three people inside the business. The cause and origin of the fire were not reported. Catastrophic non-structure fires In 2015, three non-structure fires killed 11 people, including three firefighters. This is three fewer fires in this category, and 15 fewer deaths, than in 2014. The first fire occurred when a small jet crashed into a four-unit apartment building. The jet fuel immediately caught fire, trapping occupants in the aircraft. Four passengers were killed by fire or products of combustion; five additional passengers died of multiple blunt force trauma. No one in the apartment building was injured or killed. The other two fires were wildland/urban interface fires. The first fire burned 76,067 acres (30,783 hectares) and killed four people: three in their homes, and one outside next to a car. In the second wildland fire incident, three firefighters died when a wind shift caused the fire to overspread their position. They attempted to escape, but in zero visibility their apparatus went off the road and down a 40-foot (12-meter) embankment. One firefighter survived the crash. Suppression Equipment and Smoke Detection There was no suppression equipment in any of the structure fires last year. This is unfortunate, because sprinklers are a proven lifesaving technology across many different kinds of properties, including homes. The risk of dying in a reported fire in a home decreases by about 80 percent when sprinklers are present, and sprinklers reduce the average property loss in home fires by 71 percent per fire. More information about home fire sprinklers is available online at NFPA's Fire Sprinkler Initiative website, firesprinklerinitiative.org/. http://www.firesprinklerinitiative.org/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2016