- Author
- Bryan, J. L. | DiNenno, P. J.
- Title
- Examination and Analysis of the Dynamics of the Human Behavior in the Fire Incident at the Lafayette Square Nursing Center on October 24, 1978.
- Coporate
- Maryland Univ., College Park
- Sponsor
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NBS GCR 80-226, February 28, 1979, 30 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Contract
- GRANT-79014
- Keywords
- fire departments | fire extinguishers | fire investigations | nursing homes | smoke | void spaces
- Abstract
- A staff member observed smoke issuing from the vacant patient room 313 on wing C at approximately 1130 hours on October 24, 1978. The staff member immediately activated the local alarm system and notified the security staff by phone. The security staff initiated the facility fire emergency procedures with the verbal public address system announcement and notified the fire department. The twenty-two patients on wing C had been moved to allow insect extermination operations that morning so wing 3-C was vacant. None of the 262 patients in the facility were evacuated. The fire was of electric origin and propagated to the interior void space in the partition wall between patient rooms 311 and 313. The fire was extinguished by staff personnel utilizing six 2 1/2 gallon soda and acid extinguishers and two 10 pound carbon dioxide extinguishers. The Baltimore City Fire Department arrived, verified extinguishment and checked for extension of the fire within the wall. The five-story protected ordinary construction and fire resistive construction building was seventy-five years old. The area of fire origin was in the protected ordinary construction section fully protected with automatic sprinklers. The 264 capacity facility had a registered occupancy of 262 patients at the time of the fire incident.