NFPA Journal - Spring 2021 - 10

Dispatches
Experts say the incidents shared a characteristic common to most fires that occur in buildings
under construction, renovation, or demolition:
they may have been preventable.
" I don't want to say those kinds of fires make
me angry, but it concerns me that in many cases
sprinklers aren't being utilized when they could
have saved the structure or at least helped min-

C O D E S A N D S TA N D A R D S

THE BEAT
GOES ON

FIRES CONTINUE TO PLAGUE BUILDINGS
UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR RENOVATION,
BUT EFFORTS ARE UNDERWAY TO BEEF UP
NFPA 241 TO FIGHT THE PROBLEM
By Scott Sutherland
ires involving buildings under construction or renovation occurred
steadily throughout 2020, and the
opening weeks of the new year were
no different.
The fires that ushered in 2021 occurred worldwide and impacted a range of occupancies. Two
examples: On January 18, an intentionally set fire
destroyed a 206-unit apartment complex under
construction in Clark County, Nevada, near Las
Vegas. No deaths or injuries were reported in
the blaze, but the Clark County Fire Department
described the complex as a total loss, with damage
estimates as high as $30 million. On January 21,
a fire broke out in southern India at a building
under construction designed to house coronavirus vaccine production for the Serum Institute of
India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer.
At least five people, all believed to be construction
workers, were killed in the blaze.

GLOBAL PROBLEM
In January, at least
five people were
killed in a fire at
a building under
construction in
India. The facility
was designed to
house the production of coronavirus
vaccine.
GETTY IMAGES

" Sprinklers aren't a
panacea for everything
that might go wrong at
a construction site.
But they're a big factor. "
imize the damage, " said Bruce Campbell, chair
of the technical committee for NFPA 241, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration,
and Demolition Operations. " Sprinklers aren't a
panacea for everything that might go wrong at
a construction site, and it certainly depends on
what stage the building [construction or renovation] is at. But they're a big factor. "
According to NFPA's annual " Fires in Structures
Under Construction or Renovation " report, local
fire departments in the United States responded
to an estimated average of 3,840 fires in structures
under construction and 2,580 fires in structures
under major renovation each year between 2013
and 2017. The fires in structures under construction caused an average of four civilian deaths, 49
civilian injuries, and $304 million in direct property damage annually.
In recent years, fires involving buildings under
construction or renovation have resulted in
some of the largest, most devastating, and most
publicized blazes worldwide. In December 2014,
a massive, intentionally set fire destroyed most
of a large apartment complex under construction in Los Angeles, shutting down traffic on a
neighboring freeway, damaging numerous nearby
structures, and resulting in losses estimated at
$100 million. In April 2019, a fire at the Notre
Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was undergoing
renovations, resulted in significant damage that
some experts estimate could cost upwards of $2
billion to repair. The cause of the fire was inconclusive; investigators could say only that the blaze

10 | NFPA JOURNAL * S P R I N G 2 0 2 1

Dispatches_Spring 2021 SJS APPROVED AS FINAL.indd 10

1/29/21 6:28 PM

NFPA Journal - Spring 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Spring 2021