- Author
-
Routley, J. G.
- Title
- Wood Truss Roof Collapse Claims Two Firefighters, December 26, 1992. USFA Fire Investigation Technical Report Series.
- Coporate
- TriData Corp., Arlington, VA
- Sponsor
- Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC
- Report
-
Report 069
1993
26 p.
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), 16825 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727. Telephone: 301-447-1000. Website: http://www.usfa.fema.gov
- Contract
- EMW-90-C-3338
- Keywords
-
fire investigations
|
roofs
|
building collapse
|
wood
|
fire fighters
|
death
|
burns (injuries)
|
protective clothing
|
prefire planning
- Identifiers
- Personal Alert Safety System (PASS); incident management
- Abstract
- The lightweight wood truss roof of a church in Memphis, Tennessee collapsed on December 26, 1992, just seven minutes after the first units arrived atthe scene of a mid-afternoon arson fire. Two Memphis firefighters later died from burns that resulted from being trapped under the burning structure. The significant factors in this incident include the short time that a lightweight wood truss roof structure can be expected to maintain its structural integrity when involved in a fire and the lack of warning indicators of pending collapse. Firefighters must identify buildings with lightweight wood truss roof systems and know the proper tactics and strategy to employ when a fire involves this type of construction. Additional topics to be considered include the use of incident management systems, particularly with regard to operational safety and crew accountability, and the protection afforded by protective clothing systems.