NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 28

NFPA.ORG/
CONSTRUCTION_
FIRES

Watch a webinar
from the American
Wood Council,
which includes two
presenters from
NFPA, on fire
protection during
construction.
Visit the American
Wood Council's
website for construction fire safety,
which includes
dozens of resources
including videos,
fire safety manuals,
and more.
Read NFPA's April
2017 report, "Fires
in Structures Under
Construction,
Undergoing Major
Renovation, or Being
Demolished."
Read the March/
April 2017 NFPA
Journal article
"Burned Again,"
reporting on fires
in properties being
built by AvalonBay
in New Jersey.
Read the May/June
2017 NFPA Journal
feature, "Hot Work,
Safe Work," on the
lessons learned
from the U.S. Chemical Safety and
Hazard Investigation
Board's review of
hot work incidents.

or demolished. That's nearly two dozen such fires
every day. The blazes also resulted in an annual
average of 13 civilian deaths, more than 100
civilian injuries, and over $300 million in direct
property damage. The report contains no information on the building materials involved in these
fires, but presumably it was a diverse mix of materials typically used in building construction.
Fraser is optimistic that new training programs
from NFPA on NFPA 241 will begin to drive those
figures down. In September, NFPA plans to launch
a three-hour online training program on NFPA 241,
and in November, a three-hour on-site training
will be given to the Tennessee Fire Marshals and
Inspectors Association. "We will be doing more
training for building owners, but we will also be
training fire departments to go out and train building owners, because fire departments simply don't
have the resources to monitor construction sites on
a continuous basis," Fraser said. While adoption,
enforcement, and implementation of NFPA 241
remains an AHJ responsibility, NFPA 241 places
the ultimate responsibility for the day in, day out
fire safety of the construction site on the building
owner.
A key challenge to implementing NFPA 241 is
finding and designating a fire prevention program
manager with the right skills and expertise to do
the job effectively. Not only does that person need
to have extensive knowledge of NFPA 241, they
also need to be familiar with the additional codes
and standards it references-there are 19-and
with specific construction operations that can be
small parts of an overall project but can account
for the biggest fire risk. Roofing is a good example,
Fraser said. "It's hot work. It's dangerous work. It's

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messy work," he said. "Under those conditions, it's
relatively easy for an individual to forget a safety
procedure. They may be roofing for two days, but
one mistake and the building's gone."
Hot work safety is an important part of NFPA
241, which references NFPA 51B, Fire Prevention
During Welding, Cutting, and Other Hot Work.
But according to the NFPA report, other factors,
such as cooking and heating equipment used by
work crews, cause more fires in buildings under
construction or being renovated or demolished. In
fact, in the five-year span it examined, 27 percent
of fires in buildings under construction, on average, were caused by cooking equipment; hot work
involving a torch, burner, or soldering iron only
accounted for six percent of the fires. For buildings undergoing renovation, heating equipment
was the leading cause of fires, at 15 percent, and
for buildings being demolished, intentionally set
fires were by far the leading cause, at 42 percent.
Hot work receives a lot of attention in part
because of a 2014 fire in Boston that was sparked
by welding, killing two firefighters. In response to
the tragedy, NFPA launched its Hot Work Safety
Training program, and as of September 1, all
workers performing hot work in Boston have to be
trained and certified. Fraser said he hopes for the
upcoming NFPA 241 trainings to "take off" in the
same way NFPA's hot work training has.
Notices of intent to make a motion, or NITMAMs, for the 2018 edition of NFPA 241 will be
posted October 12. To follow the development
of the next edition of the standard, go to nfpa.
org/241.
ANGELO VERZONI is staff writer for NFPA Journal.

CHRIS SHIPLEY: THE MORNING CALL

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Fire damaged a large warehouse
under construction in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in August.
Fires involving large apartment complexes under construction
have dominated headlines, but construction fires are a
problem for buildings across a range of occupancies.

http://www.NFPA.ORG/construction_fires http://www.NFPA.ORG/construction_fires http://www.NFPA.ORG/construction_fires

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2017