Rowhouse and Townhouse Fires: Characteristics and Considerations

James P. Smith
Created:

Fire was showing from the middle of the block of identical three-story rowhouses. The block contained over 60 dwellings with contiguous porch front roofs the length of the block. Engine 45 saw heavy fire blowing out of the first-floor front windows and attacking the underside of the wooden porch...


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JAMES P. SMITH, a Firehouse® contributing editor, recently retired as a deputy chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department. He is an adjunct instructor at the National Fire Academy and the author of the book Strategic and Tactical Considerations on the Fireground, second edition, published by Brady/Prentice Hall, and the accompanying Strategic and Tactical Considerations on the Fireground Study Guide, second edition, published by Trafford Press. He may be contacted at JPSmithPFD@aol.com.

SIZE-UP FACTORS FOR ROWHOUSE AND TOWNHOUSE FIRES

Water

  • Small narrow streets can restrict entry by pumpers and additional lengths of hose will have to be hand-stretched, causing a delay.
  • In the larger properties, additional hoseline may need to be added to pre-connected hoselines to reach the fire location.

Area

  • These attached structures can stretch the length of a city block and include over 60 separate contiguous dwellings.
  • They may be 13 to 20 feet wide and reach depths of 30 to over 100 feet.

Life hazard

  • Limited rear access may cause a delay for firefighters making rescues.
  • Portable ladders will normally be required in the rear.
  • Stairs are often steep, and hallways can be long and narrow.
  • Overhead electrical services can impede operations. Firefighter safety and the potential for downed wires due to fire exposure can be a concern.
  • Rear driveways will allow access for apparatus.
  • Thermal imaging cameras can assist in the primary and secondary searches.

Location, extent

  • It is not uncommon to have restricted access to the rear of the property.
  • Fences can restrict rear access.
  • Newer construction may include rear driveways and garages under the home.
  • Thermal imaging cameras can assist in checking walls, ceilings and floors for hidden fire.

Apparatus and personnel

  • Narrow streets will limit the access of apparatus.
  • Hoselines may need to be stretched from the intersecting streets. Hoselines of 2½-inch or three-inch diameter with gated wyes may be needed to the front door, and then 1½- or 1¾-inch hoseline can be attached to the gated wyes.
  • Light and air shafts can be dangerous to firefighters operating on roofs.
  • Hoselines may be needed on each level inside the structure.

Construction/collapse

  • Construction is typically ordinary or frame.
  • In ordinary-constructed rowhouses and townhouses, the front and rear walls are usually nonbearing.
  • Light and air shafts can commonly be found.
  • Continuous void spaces may be found from the lowest to the highest level.
  • Transoms may exist that allow the spread of smoke and fire.
  • Floor and roof beams of adjoining properties may be set in the same wall socket in a masonry wall and therefore abut. A fire involving one beam can extend into the next property via conduction.

Exposures

  • Continuous front porches of frame construction enable a fire to involve multiple properties by burning on the underside of the attached porch roofs.
  • Attached properties of frame construction and ordinary constructed buildings with rooms of wood frame in the rear will be severely exposed.
  • Closely built rowhouses or townhouses on the next street will be exposed to the rear of burning properties.
  • Common attics or cocklofts may be present.
  • Fire can extend to the adjacent building via light and air shafts.

Weather

  • Normal weather considerations apply.

Auxiliary appliances

  • Smoke detectors may exist in private dwellings. Hardwired heat and smoke detectors often exist in multiple-occupancy dwellings.

Special matters

  • Nothing unusual to be concerned with.

Height

  • Rowhouses and townhouses are typically two to four stories in height.

Occupancy

  • Residential single-family and multi-family dwelling units are typical.
  • It is common to have stores on the first floor and living quarters on the floors above.

Time

  • As with any residential property, midnight to 8 A.M. is when the greatest loss of life occurs.

USFA REPORT EXAMINES MULTIPLE-FATALITY FIRES IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued a special report examining the causes and characteristics of residential multiple-fatality fires. The report, Multiple-Fatality Fires in Residential Buildings, was developed by the National Fire Data Center, part of FEMA's U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). The report is based on 2004 to 2006 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).

An estimated average of 250 fires resulting in two or more civilian fire deaths occurs each year in residential buildings. These fires are also responsible for 825 civilian deaths, 200 injuries, and $33 million in property loss.

According to the report, 81% of multiple-fatality fires in residential buildings occur in one- and two-family dwellings with an additional 16% occurring in multi-family dwellings such as apartments, condominiums, townhouses and rowhouses. Thirty percent of multiple-fatality fires in residential buildings are caused by electrical malfunctions (15%) and unintentional or careless actions (15%). Fires caused intentionally (12%) or by smoking (11%) also rank among the leading causes of multiple-fatality fires.

A copy of the report can be downloaded at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/reports/index.shtm.