Attic Fire Tactics

Fire mitigation tactics from full scale fire testing in realistic residential structures.

Attic fire tactics.

Under an award from the the federal emergency management agency fema and department of homeland security dhs assistance to firefighter grant program emw 2011 fp 00611 underwriters laboratories led a 2 year study to examine fire service attic fire mitigation tactics and the hazards posed to firefighter safety by the changing modern residential fire environment and construction practices. Case explained that one of the best tactics for knocking down an attic fire is through an eave attack noting that the engine company can get this done in a matter of minutes specifically. Attic fires impact every town and city across the united states. Background attic fires pose many hazards for the fire service.

A quick sweep with a thermal imager can reveal an attic fire. Consider the wood stove. And even with all of the newly updated building codes and flame retardant building materials the number of residential attic fires isn t declining. When a fire occurs in an attic it is common it goes unnoticed reported until smoke or flames are visible from the outside of the structure.

Find the fire at some incidents it will be easy to determine that the fire is in the attic. For more for more information about attic fires check out greg jakubowski s fire attack column fire up above. If you want the fire to get. Federal emergency management administration fema there are over 10 000 attic fires each year resulting in an average of 35 deaths 125 injuries and 440 million in property damage.

The purpose of the study was to increase firefighter safety by providing the fire service with scientific knowledge on the dynamics of attic and exterior fires and the influence of coordinated fire mitigation tactics from full scale fire testing in realistic residential structures. Randy frassetto has worked for the city of surprise ariz fire department since 2001 and was promoted to captain in 2005. Fire that reaches the attic will find a large lumber yard of fuel and unlimited air supply based on the exchange of air within the structure.