NFPA Journal - Spring 2022 - 78

Firewatch
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Smoking materials ignite fatal fire in
high-rise apartment
Unattended smoking materials were
blamed for igniting a fire in a high-rise
apartment that claimed the life of a
male resident.
The fire department was dispatched
to the fire at 6 p.m. by calls to 911
following activation of the automatic
detection system in the victim's
apartment.
Television and press reports indicated
that firefighters could see smoke
coming from a 23-story building upon
arrival. Crews reported smoke in the
hallway after proceeding to the victim's
unit on the eleventh floor and were
met with thick black smoke in the
interior after opening the door to the
apartment.
Firefighting crews entered the unit
and immediately began to search for
possible occupants. According to news
reports of the incident, firefighters
found the victim and moved him outside,
where he received treatment for
his injuries until he was transported
to a local hospital. The man later died
from his injuries, which were reported
to include second- and third-degree
burns.
Firefighting crews were reportedly
able to extinguish the fire within minutes
of arrival.
Investigators determined that the fire
began in the living room of the apartment
when smoking materials ignited
an upholstered chair. The fire grew
upward and outward, spreading to an
adjacent sofa and other furnishings in
the unit.
The building was a 23-story structure
constructed with concrete walls and
floor framing, steel roof framing, and
an asphalt roof cover.
The fire caused an estimated
$400,000 (Canadian) to the building
and an additional $50,000 in damage
to building contents.
FLORIDA
Burning incense ignites fire in
apartment complex
Firefighters were dispatched to an apartment
complex after incense left burning
in a sixth-floor unit ignited a living
room curtain and activated an automatic
alarm. Neighbors who heard the
alarm also called 911 to report the fire.
The fire department responded
to the scene at 7 a.m. Arriving crews
reported that the fire was inside a
10-story apartment complex. Crews
entered the building and performed
high-rise tactics in the interior, making
a hose connection to a standpipe on the
fifth floor and advancing to the apartment
unit of fire origin.
A call was subsequently issued for
a second alarm. Additional personnel
established water supply via a fire
hydrant and water was pumped to the
sixth floor.
One firefighter suffered a heat-related
injury during the operation.
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78 | NFPA JOURNAL * SPRING 2022
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NFPA Journal - Spring 2022

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