FIRE INCIDENTS FROM NFPA FILES Compiled and written by Richard Campbell, NFPA Research Group Residential OHIO Residents evacuate as fire destroys 16-unit apartment building Firefighters battling a fire at a large apartment complex were forced to fight a defensive operation and rotate through shifts as the fire escalated and outdoor temperatures climbed to 90 degrees. Crews were dispatched to the scene at 4:30 p.m. First-arriving firefighters reported heavy fire in a multi-unit apartment building and immediately issued a call for two additional engines. Following a size-up around the structure by incident command, crews made entry at one side of the building with an attack line while a second team of firefighters responded at the rear, where a set of wooden stairs was fully involved with fire that extended into the structure. Crews at the rear began hitting the fire on the stairs with a deck gun. As the fire continued to intensify, incident command called a third alarm, then ordered interior crews out of the building amid worsening fire and smoke conditions. All pieces of apparatus were repositioned to areas outside a designated collapse zone. Buses were brought to the scene and made available to crews as they rotated through rehab. Newspapers reported that temperatures climbed to well over 90 degrees and broke a 61-year record. More than 80 fire department personnel were called to the fire and some remained at the scene late into the night. All residents were able to evacuate the building. News reports indicated that the local chapter of the Red Cross was working with 21 people displaced from the building's 16 apartment units. Investigators determined that the fire originated on the outside stairwell, but were unable to identify the cause of ignition. The complex was a four-story structure occupying a ground-floor area of N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL | 91http://nfpa.org/journal