Without offering a panacea or one-size-fits-all solution, the fire service must always look toward enabling, informing and empowering firefighters, company officers and chief officers with information to think critically and act decisively.
When it comes to planning for high-rise under construction (H-RUC) fires, we must avoid any confusion with strategy and tactics associated with high-rises. Not to be lost in the shuffle, the phrase “under construction” is problematic for the fire service, and pragmatic strategies need to be evaluated, planned and practiced.
According to a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) study that tracked a five-year period (2010-2015), the United States fire service responded to more than 3,760 fires in buildings that were under construction, which amounted to more than $172 million in annual property damage and loss. Aside from the financial loss, five civilian deaths, 51 civilian injuries and more than 70 firefighter injuries were recorded annually.1
High-rise under construction deserves its own departmental guidelines or standard operating procedures. If you apply the mindset or framework traditionally associated with high-rises, prepare to be humbled. These building sites offer all the hazards with a fraction of the safety features associated with high-rises. In fact, H-RUC does not fall under the guidance of NFPA 1710, 13E or 14. High-rise under construction can contain amplified dangers associated with fireground operations. In order to tackle this, let's address the perils, strategy and tactics, and what can be done to prevent and mitigate a high-rise under construction fire.
What is a high-rise under construction? According to the NFPA, any structure (NFIRS incident type codes 110-123) with seven stories or more above ground is considered a high-rise. Determining the “under-construction” moniker is a bit more ill-defined. For this discussion, let us define under-construction as the phase from the time of breaking ground to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. This period of time is often two to five years. Now, imagine a Type 1 building with none of the protection!
Pre-planning and 'Left of Bang'
The most impactful period to effect positive outcomes occurs “Left of Bang," a phrase borrowed from the title of a book by Patrick Van Horne and Jason A. Riley. The book describes the gut feeling you experience before there is an emergency or the feeling that something isn’t quite right about a situation.
Left of Bang is the analysis of everything that happens before an event. This corresponds with the Community Risk Reduction (CRR) principle of causal chain analysis. The application of either process is imperative. Investing in prevention and mitigation efforts before we have an emergency is our due diligence as fire service professionals. How far back do we need to go?
We should draw focused attention to what is within our control. This begins with having a solid understanding of building construction. How are these high-rises constructed? What processes, materials and design goes into their architecture and construction? How they are put together is critically important for understanding how they come apart. Are we dealing with steel skeleton design, cast-in-place or mass timber construction? Yes, you read that last construction type correctly. The International Code Council (ICC) approved a set of proposals to allow heavy timber construction as part of the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) for buildings up to 18 stories.
What type of occupancy will this be? Are we dealing with open floor plans, like office spaces, or college dorms with compartmentalized units existing on each floor? Understanding this provides critical clues in what type of construction you are dealing with. Skeleton design creates large open floor plans conducive to office space. Cast-in-place construction is just that; the walls, columns and floors are formed and poured concrete, which is all done floor-by-floor in place. This construction is often associated with condominiums and residential housing. The new mass timber construction seems to offer both prescriptive design requirements and borrows from both skeleton and cast-in-place features. In any case, many of the floors may not have fire blocking or fire-resistant surfaces completed until late in the construction project, and either or both could contribute to significant fire spread.
Here’s a great nugget of wisdom when dealing with H-RUC: assume nothing. As an officer or chief, get your crews out to these building sites and invest in the pre-plan (left of bang). Make an appointment with the construction site supervisor or responsible party and do more than walk the property. From the time you approach the vicinity, you should be thinking access and egress, apparatus placement and collapse zones.
Also, consider what traffic and obstacles look like during business versus after-hours. What is the proximity to other buildings, exposures or hazards? Think of the phrase “what if” when planning tactics and strategy. Think like a coach, build a scorecard and start running plays. Think synthesis of solutions, driven by potential problems. What resources will you need that you don’t have? Do you rely on mutual-aid or auto-aid partners? Make sure they come with you during your pre-plan.
Investing in a pre-emergent environment pays untold dividends. While conducting your pre-planning operations, I would highly recommend inviting a code enforcement or fire prevention officer to join you. You would be amazed at what they see that you, the fire officer, might miss. These are not just code violations, but fire ground safety opportunities.
Most likely, this will be the first time this structure has been pre-planned, so becoming familiar with the layout, construction type and hazards prior to an event will pay untold dividends. Being familiar with NFPA 241, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration and Demolition Operations, will make you and your crews keenly aware of what measures the builders are responsible for in the prevention and mitigation of fires.
Dispatch
From the time of dispatch, access and egress to the H-RUC present themselves as being problematic. These occupancies often generate or occupy a new address, if not a street. Approaching the scene, the fire officer should begin to note the condition of the roads and side streets associated with the building. These roadways, while covered by fire code, may be muddy, unfinished and/or inaccessible.
Depending on the time of the day, there may be a heavy volume of vehicles and construction-related obstacles. The day shift working at the construction site will clog and congest access with contractor vehicles, labor, material delivery trucks and day-to-day traffic. Add in roll-off dumpsters, porta-potties and large machinery, and you get an obvious sense that construction sites are busy.
Parked vehicles or equipment may inadvertently obscure or obstruct hydrants or standpipe connections. After hours, we are dealing with a lack of street lighting or building lighting associated with the H-RUC. It will be dark and floors will lack illumination. Furthermore, contractors often have positioned equipment, materials and debris in such a way as to barricade or secure access to the site; this is done to prevent vagrancy, theft and vandalism.
The H-RUC itself presents incredible challenges and dangers. These significant threats include potential lack of sufficient water, storage of bulk building materials and an open construction matrix or lattice that is highly susceptible to wind driving fire through the structure.
Once you are on or close to the scene, a new list of concerns needs to be addressed. Overhead wires and cabling, fencing, scaffolding, and material debris should be considered in your pre-plan.
On-scene
This is where pre-planning and operational readiness will be revealed. As the aphorism states, “As the first line goes, so goes the fire,” which may literally be the case. The first immediate concern should be for the fire officer to note the time; fires that occur after dark have the potential to grow exponentially before being discovered. The second immediate concern should be the level of fire involvement; are we in offensive or defensive mode? If this is a working H-RUC fire, the first officer on-scene should strike, at the least, a second alarm. Staging should be Level 2 and a staging area and a staging officer should be established. Staging should be well away from the incident, so as not to impede access and egress.
The first arriving units, typically the first two engine companies, should have a well-orchestrated plan. From apparatus placement to assignment of additional units, these first-due crews set the battle rhythm. Units should be placed on the windward side, in flanking positions rather than broadside or parallel to the building. Paying close attention to collapse zones, these apparatus placements are critical. The H-RUC is highly likely to have debris showering down from the fire floors, as well as the potential for significant ember cast. Being on perpendicular lines to the sides of the building reduces debris and ember showers, and it also places the apparatus on or near the corners—likely the strongest structural feature of the building.
In consideration of ladder placement, they should be in close proximity to another engine company to provide a pump for every ladder. The H-RUC has a very high potential for becoming a defensive operation. Initial ladder placement for potential defensive operations is crucial. Initial truck assignment and operations should be a decision for the incident commander, but the company officer should be considering the best placement for aerial master stream operations as well. Fire officers should be cognizant of where they are directing their firefighters in the placement of the water supply lines as debris and other falling materials could damage or obstruct hose lines.
Establishing command and scene size-up
It is highly unlikely an arriving incident commander is going to have an updated building plan complete with FDC locations and other important up-to-date information; after all, it's still under construction. This alone significantly adds to the fog-of-war uncertainty. The command post should be far enough from the scene to prevent impending other engine and ladder companies’ approach or egress. Using the lobby of an adjacent building as a command post can be helpful.
Every attempt to make contact and direct a responsible party, foreman or site supervisor to the command post should be undertaken. These individuals will have critical information that can facilitate operations. Specifically, determining what kind of water supply access you have. Water at H-RUC is surprisingly challenging, and this is due to multiple issues. First, these buildings are often not yet connected to municipal or public water systems until close to final inspections. Locating the mains and control valves associated with the site’s water supply is helpful. Second, the FDCs may be hidden, obstructed or not installed. If that’s not bad enough, the standpipe system may have not yet been installed to the level of the fire floor. According to both OSHA part 126, Fire Protection, as well as NFPA 241, the word “practicable” is used in determining when sprinkler protection or water supplies are provided to the building.
Furthermore, sprinklers or horizontal fire suppression systems will likely be inoperable. This is driven by reducing insurance claim costs. According to the Insurance Services Office (ISO), water damage accounts for more than 12.75% of all loss claims. These claims result in large payouts and delay in construction completion. Accordingly, sprinkler and other fire suppression systems are not brought online until the final phase of the project.
It's important to get more concise information from the site-manager or responsible party upon arrival. This includes the location of construction crews working on the scene. Are they accounted for? Are there any known potential hazards? Do they know where or how the fire started? How long before the initial 911 call?
Additional useful information includes questions about utilities, which can be problematic to secure. Construction sites will often have multiple energized utility drops. These might be utilized by cranes and elevators or hoist systems. Each of these may require lock-out tag-out procedures. Access to elevators or “cars” and crane and hoist systems might be useful for fireground operations.
The site manager is your subject matter expert (SME) and should be a welcomed addition to the command post.
Offensive attack
If the incident commander has determined this incident to be an offensive fire attack, let’s set it up. The attack crews should be assembled behind the apparatus on the scene. We must understand that the opportunities presented by traditional high-rise operations do not apply here. Chances are, setting up a lobby, elevator, stairwell or other bases of operations in the structure are not advantageous. In most H-RUC, we will not have an annunciator panel, operational elevator or many other functioning utilities associated with the building.
Early division assignments should be given to arriving officers. We'll want to have a 360-degree view of the building, its surroundings, exposures and hazards. H-RUC has an increased susceptibility to wind-driven fire. Attack crews should be assembled on the windward side and assigned to the division officer. Fire officers assigned to the attack teams should have a good strategic understanding of the plan prior to entering the building and implementing their tactics.
As crews make their way upward in the H-RUC, they should be in communication with the division officer or incident commander. They should be communicating progress and reconnaissance reports, making special note of what floor they are on. One hazard of a H-RUC is that floors may not have stairwells clearly identified, so keeping account of what floor your crew is on is paramount.
While we are discussing the perils, let's add a few more. Unfinished floors or stairwells can become trap doors, presenting significant fall hazards. The open or compartment-style floor plans can become very disorienting with one floor appearing identical to the next. There is also a very high probability of bulk storage of construction materials stored in multiple locations on different floors.
Waste and refuse from construction can complicate floor plans as well as deter making progress to the fire area. As smoke and reduced visibility increase disorientation, knowing where the edges are on an unfinished floor is critical. Walking off the edge of an unfinished floor is a real possibility. Curtain walls may or may not be present, as well as draped canvas drop-cloths to compartmentalize areas under construction.
One of the greatest risks we need to address is the high susceptibility of collapse. Floor jacks, shoring and scaffolding support floors as they are under construction. This vertical lattice of the impermanent and permanent structure represents a significant concern for firefighting operations. If floors under construction are impinged by fire, there is a high likelihood of collapse.
Primary collapse frequently leads to secondary collapse of additional floors. This is all complicated by water supply issues. When dealing with the H-RUC, we should never plan on an operational sprinkler or standpipe system. Rather, our officers should confirm—floor by floor—whether there is access to water. The incident commander should plan on using aerial platforms as water towers until standpipe conditions are confirmed. This ensures a proactive rather than reactive response.
Throughout the offensive attack, and while crews are conducting operations within the structure, it is critical to continue monitoring both CAN reports (Conditions, Actions, Needs) and building reconnaissance reports from your division assignments. What do we mean and what is the difference?
The CAN report is the assessment from the attack team within the building. Their report will be very myopic. They have a very limited view of the building and other factors that may be changing. Getting reconnaissance reports from divisions gives the incident commander and other officers a good idea of where the fire has been and where its headed. Additionally, reconnaissance offers valuable information related to falling debris, structural integrity and any exposure issues.
The H-RUC requires the fire officer and incident commander to get creative. One such technique involves using adjacent buildings for fire attack. Using neighboring high-rises and their standpipes and fire pumps to deliver water and provide reconnaissance updates on fire activity is an excellent adaptive solution to a technical problem. Safe, creative solutions to difficult problems are the hallmark of an excellent fire officer.
Defensive operations
Due to the open nature of the H-RUC and a great deal of unknown and unpredictable conditions, defensive fire operations from the first unit’s arrival is a paramount consideration. Do not plan on fighting the fire you are dispatched to, and do not establish an all-encompassing plan based on fire conditions from the first arriving units. H-RUC are protracted fire events and evolve rapidly. Plan your strategy and tactics predicated on the fire you will have 10-20 minutes from now.
The plan for a defensive strategy should begin with the first arriving units. Knowing where the fire is, what’s in its way and where it’s headed must be immediately determined, paying close attention to collapse zones, fire spread and exposures. Ladder placement at building corners allows a quartering angle of attack which offers the best use of proximate ladder placement.
Meanwhile, ensure placement of units on the windward side of the occupancy. Careful consideration should be paid not only to the direction and speed of wind and weather conditions, but also to the fluid dynamics of high-rises and grid structures compressing and amplifying wind conditions in and around buildings.
The decision to establish or transition to a defensive strategy should be a cue-primed response for the incident commander. Obvious or more subtle benchmarks should prompt the decision. Those thresholds are different for each department or IC. However, when it is time, the decision should be made decisively, and sooner rather than later. The decision to transition from offensive to defensive is a critical tipping point. Should fire operations transition from offensive to defensive, crews evacuating the structure should be given ample time to retreat from the fire floor or building with time to spare.
Exposure protection and fire containment should be our strategic imperatives during defensive operations. The incident commander should pay special attention to the volume of water being applied to the unfinished structure. Application of water could cause pooling and cause structural collapse. If there are basements or underground parking structures, these void spaces will become reservoirs, which could present future additional hazards for ongoing operations.
The future of H-RUC
The value of land in our cities’ central and downtown areas continues to increase vertical expansion. This expansion illustrates the need to address and have a working plan for H-RUC operations for all fire departments.
According to the International Code Council, there are several administrative and enforcement issues that could use continued improvement when dealing with NFPA 241 and the I-Codes, all of which would translate into prevention and mitigation efforts that help the fire service.2 These included:
- Lack of building department staff and resources to fully administer or enforce the adopted code provisions and standards for construction site safety.
- The need to better educate the construction workforce on fire safety issues and code requirements, especially with the economy coming out of the recession and with so many new members in the construction workforce.
- The need to provide worker training programs and construction site signage (i.e. “No Smoking” signs) in multiple languages to ensure understanding and comprehension.
- The consensus of roundtable participants was the requirement for a fire safety plan or designation of a fire prevention program superintendent was not being consistently followed by industry or enforced by code officials.
In the fire station and in the field, our best time, money and effort will continue to be spent in the prevention and mitigation efforts. Getting out of our stations, off our apparatus and walking the buildings will help create tactics that support strategies which come on our terms and will pay untold dividends. Competent well-trained professionals are the embodiment of the fire service. I don’t like to fight fair. I want to show up prepared and win every time!
Fire chiefs, code enforcement specialists or the Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) should pay close attention to building code and enforcement in their communities. Additionally, they shouldn't hesitate to enforce best practices to protect the community, the firefighters and the workers from the perils of a High-Rise Under Construction.
As a young boot firefighter, I was told, “There is no honor in putting out a fire that could have been prevented.” Now, more than ever, I reflect on this maxim, and I hope the profession will, too.
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1 NFPA report: Fires in Structures Under Construction, Undergoing Major Renovation, or Being Demolished, April 2017
2 International Code Council. “Fires in Buildings Under Construction: A roundtable discussion convened by the International Code Council, the National Association of Home Builders and the National Multifamily Housing Council,” 2014
Kristopher Blume
Kristopher T. Blume is the fire chief of the Meridian, ID, Fire Department and has more than two decades of fire service experience. He is an author, lecturer and independent consultant. Blume is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer (EFO) program and is an instructor at the National Fire Academy. As a student of the fire service, he is focused on values-driven, mission-focused leadership for the profession.
