CHARLES BAILEY
Firehouse.Com Contributor
Early one February afternoon one engine and one truck were dispatched for alarm bells at a four-story hotel. While the first units were approaching the scene the assignment was upgraded to a box-alarm for reported smoke in the building.
Units arrived to find nothing evident from the street. The first engine and the first truck proceeded to investigate. When the first chief arrived he established command (he was moments behind the initial engine and ahead of the initial truck.) Sectors/Divisions were established right away, while the balance of the assignment took their assigned positions and staged.
Moments after the interior officer disappeared into the building he called back reporting, "heavy smoke in the basement."
Units were then placed into action with the second engine moving to the area just above the fire and the rescue squad assuming the RIC. Truck crews had already laddered the roof; they do this as a matter of course.
As time went on the odor, initially described as "class A", dissipated without intervention. However, the odor continued to linger. Interior reported that the smoke was coming from the vents in the basement. This led command to believe that the problem was an air handler.
Soon though, all the air handlers were checked, and the ones over the area of the smoking vents were shut down. Still the odor lingered and lingered heavily.
Roof Sector reported that smoke was still coming out of an exhaust fan on the roof that was labeled: Elevator Mechanical Room. However, a check of all elevator rooms came up negative. Finally, command asked that all the dryers in the laundry area be checked to rule out a flash lint fire. The third due engine reported that they had checked the laundry room on their first sweep of the building and that it was clear.
Still the odor remained as heavy as ever.
Command then, in consultation with Operations Sector, decided to pull everyone out of the building, reassign crews, and then return to search again with each crew checking a different place than they had before.
All unit and command officers were called to the command post and updated on the new plan. Shortly after the plan went into effect with explicit instructions to pop ceiling tiles, open all closed doors check under every rock, the source was found.
In the basement laundry area there were three or four commercial grade dryers. The vent system for the dryer lint must have failed a long time ago because there was lint in the ceiling inches thick.
A spark from one of the dryers initiated a flash fire in the ceiling void that ran the entire length and breadth of the basement. Ceiling tiles, vent pipes, and ductwork were all charred.
Lessons Learned:
- Do not let your guard down because a building has automatic sprinklers.
This fire started above the sprinklers and was able to spread quickly and undetected.
- Treat every call as a working fire until proven otherwise.
The first due engine failed to take their standpipe hose pack with them. Had the fire not been out they would have been in a world of trouble.
- When there is smoke and no visible fire, you must get into the voids quickly.
It is better to break a few ceiling tiles to find nothing that to lose a whole building because you were afraid of breaking a three dollar tile.
- Know the building in your area.
The driver of the first due engine proved a valuable source of information because he was familiar with the building.
- Stop Forgetting to Update preplans.
The preplans for this building were old and did not reflect the current state of roof coverage and some other important changes to the structure.
- Try to stay focused.
It was an hour into the incident before the source of the smoke was located. If this fire had been burning for that long someone could have gotten hurt. Some crews had dropped their gear and were starting to congregate and chat. The call is not over until the fire is declared out, extension has been checked and you are cleared by command.
Lint dust found above ceiling tiles
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Burnt ceiling tiles
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