PUTNAM COUNTY, N.Y. -- The devastating home fire that killed four family members in Carmel on May 1 is still being investigated, but details being released show the way the home was built could be exposing millions more families to the same fatal fate.
The Carmel Fire Department said the flames that early morning were unbeatable. Firefighters say it took a mere ten minutes for the Sullivan family home to catch fire, collapse, ad kill four out of five of them sleeping inside. The Carmel fire chief was quick to blame lightweight construction. It's uses inexpensive and popular building materials made of small bits of wood held together by glue and metal plates to fasten it all.
Carmel Fire Chief Bob Lipton wearily recounted the details of the home's undoing to reporters the day of the fire saying the walls gave way as metal fasteners popped off from heat. Once the walls started to buckle, the roof crashed down. It took a mere ten minutes Lipton said, and it's an all too common occurrence for homes built to code using engineered wood products.
Dave Walsh, a fire instructor at Dutchess Community College and 40 year firefighting veteran summed it up. "The structure as an entity is much more prone to collapse and fire spread when these materials are used. And with quick collapse, death to occupants and firefighters occurs."
Walsh conducted burn tests recently with his team. They compared the burn times of traditional lumber building to newer standards using lightweight building materials, and showed how deadly that choice can be.
He recounted the results of how engineered wood products failed three times quicker in his testing, "The wood I-Beam failed in 2 minutes 30 seconds, where as stick built made out of 2 x 12 lumber, took 7 minutes 11 seconds to collapse."
Walsh elaborated by indicated that the game has changed when it comes to today's firefighting techniques. "In today's building materials, in some cases, they actually promote fire production. The fire travels very quickly. Some of the lightweight construction uses OSB, or particle board and that produces a lot of thick, toxic, very flammable gas, so in effect, the material is propogating it's own demise."
AdditionaL fire companies we spoke with say they won't even put men onto the roof to try to knock flames down, fearful these new construction methods can lead to collapse in just minutes, as happened at the Sullivan family home.
Carmel's Fire Chief said the metal plates that are used instead of nails to create bonds between pieces of OSB actually heated up and popped off, causing the walls and roof to collapse. According to the Medical Examiner, the family all died from smoke inhalation--which is the other major problem with this less expensive lightweight construction.
Walsh laid it out, "The gasses that are produced as the glue is consumed by the fire is toxic as well as flammable, so as the wood is burning it produces a toxic gas that burns even more. The resulting fires are 200% to 300% hotter. Plus the fire releases heat quicker. This is just a nasty toxic recipe for killing. It really is."
80% to 85% of fire deaths happen inside people's homes, and with lightweight construction potentially adding to those numbers, the industry and states and municipalities are now pushing for greater usage of single family home sprinkler systems. In new construction, it costs $2000 -- $3000 for an average size home. Fires are generally extinguished within minutes, using just a few dozen gallons of water. And lives are spared. So far only California, much of Maryland and a smattering of towns countrywide require them in in new construction. Greenburg, NY in Westchester County is also at the forefront of fire prevention by requiring them in all new homes built.
Copyright 2012 - WPIX-TV, New York
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
