The winter season is upon us, and families across the country are decorating their homes for holiday festivities. Unfortunately, this time of year is also marked by an increase in fires – with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reporting the highest occurrence of candle and decoration-ignited fires during the month of December.
NFPA estimates U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 366,600 home structure fires per year during the five-year-period of 2007–2011. These fires caused an estimated average of 2,570 civilian deaths, 13,210 civilian injuries, and $7.2 billion in direct property damage per year. Almost three-quarters (71%) of the reported home structure fires and 84% of the home fire deaths occurred in one- or two-family homes, including manufactured homes. The remainder occurred in apartments or other multifamily housing.[1]
This reality serves as a reminder of why fire safety and fire resistance are such important topics in the building world, especially as it relates to wood construction. By their design, building codes are written so that compliant structures all provide the same levels of safety, regardless of principal materials used. As a result, when built according to code, wood-frame construction has a proven fire safety and performance record.
The American Wood Council (AWC), reflecting the interests of the wood industry, takes its role on fire safety very seriously. To encourage proper building design for fire safety, AWC has developed various resources and regularly works with local and national fire authorities on how to prevent and reduce fire losses. Several AWC publications are currently available, geared toward designers of wood structures. AWC also maintains a specialized website intended for educating the fire service and has developed best practice manuals for preventing fires at construction sites.
Publications for Designers
AWC publishes the Design for Code Acceptance #2 – Design of Fire-Resistive Exposed Wood Members (DCA 2) and Technical Report No. 10 – Calculating the Fire Resistance of Exposed Wood Members (TR 10). Each document reflects new provisions found in the 2012 and 2015 International Building Code (IBC) pertaining to designing wood buildings for fire safety.
The updated reports contain full details and are available for free download at www.awc.org. Revisions incorporated in the reports include:
- New sections that support the use of a calculation design method with smaller dimension sizes associated with lumber joist floor assemblies;
- Revised design tables which allow more accurate calculation of fire resistance of columns; and
- A new section for calculating the fire resistance of single-span lumber joists for any design stress ratio when joists are exposed on 3 sides and braced on the top edge.
Material Education
Woodaware.info is a website AWC developed in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Fire Administration to provide information to the fire service on traditional and modern wood products used in residential construction. Supplementing the online educational materials are hands-on wood display cases, custom-built and shipped to fire training academies around the country to help firefighters learn about wood industry products.
Construction Fire Prevention
AWC also partnered with FireforceOne, a consulting firm led by retired California State Fire Marshal Ronny J. Coleman, to develop a set of best practice manuals, training videos, and a new website –www.ConstructionFire.com. These materials are designed to educate and inform construction site safety stakeholders, including developers, construction personnel, site superintendents, local building and fire regulators, and responding fire departments, on how to prevent fires, reduce losses, and ensure overall safety at large construction sites.
Specific topics covered in the manuals include:
- Basic Fire Precautions During Construction of Large Buildings – Applies to the project’s design and planning stages, as well as the actual construction of buildings. Many hazards can be addressed before they become an issue through the adoption of management best practices.
- Hot Work During Construction of Large Buildings – Describes management best practices of hot work, thought to be the most impactful way to reduce the occurrence of large loss fires for buildings under construction. Hot work activities include cutting, welding, grinding, thermal spraying, thawing pipe, installation of torch-applied roof systems or any other similar activity. Accountability and oversight must be in place to ensure these practices are implemented and working, and that all procedures are being followed.
- Fire Department’s Role in Prevention and Suppression of Fires During Construction of Large Buildings – Outlines pre-fire planning for large building projects, and prepares tactics and strategy for a fire if it occurs.
AWC wants everyone to enjoy a fire safe holiday season, safe structures, and be protected from fire year round; therefore, it is important that we widely share an understanding of fire safe design, taking advantage of wood’s inherent benefits while still adhering to the latest building code parameters.
The full DCA2 Construction Guide is available for free download at the AWC website: http://www.awc.org/codes-standards/publications/dca2. Technical reports, including the revised TR10, are also available for download on the AWC website at http://www.awc.org/codes-standards/publications. The construction fire prevention manuals and videos are available for free download at www.ConstructionFire.com.
[1] National Fire Protection Association, “Home Structure Fires,” April 2013