Garden Apartments

Fighting fires in garden apartments present some unique challenges to fire fighters. The main challenges fire fighters face are the construction of the building, the building’s location from the street, the layout of the apartment unit, adequate resources needed, basic strategies and tactics, and a solid incident command system. If one of the above components is missing, the results could be tragic.

Garden apartments can host varying methods and types of construction. In these occupancies, firefighters can find construction methods representative of Type 3 (ordinary), Type 5 (wood frame), and Type 2 (noncombustible), all with varying uses of lightweight building materials. When it comes to construction fire fighters need to be concerned with the use of truss design supporting systems and prefabricated or modular designs. (Terpak, 2003)

Garden apartments are not a new concept. They have been around for almost one hundred years. The first garden apartment was built in Jackson Heights Queens, New York in 1910 at a cost of $300,000 (Popik, 2005).  In that era the apartments would have been constructed of brick and block with plaster and lath walls. The roof, more than likely, would have been flat with a slight pitch for rain runoff with 1x4 planks covered with tar and gravel. This is a far cry from what is being used today. Almost all peak roofs on a garden apartment are now of truss construction. The roof decking is particle board or plywood that is anywhere from ¼ inch to ½ inch thick. Most of the truss work is pre-built, and little to no nails are used to hold the lumber together. Gusset plates are used to join the wood together to form the truss. Unfortunately the gusset plates penetrate the wood less than one inch. This roofing system is very flimsy when it is lifted off the truck and put into place during construction. I have seen portions of a roofing system break while being lifted with a crane. What was more appalling was the construction workers putting the broken components back together on the ground and then lifting it back into place. Truss construction is fragile to begin with because all the components rely on each other for strength. Once fire starts to deteriorate the truss system a catastrophic failure can occur. To say working on or under a truss roof system during a fire is dangerous is an understatement. 

Floors are also truss construction, and pose the same hazard as the truss roof. Once they are exposed to fire, failure can happen quickly. The metal “I” beam has been replaced with a wooden “I” beam consisting of two 2x6s with a ½ inch piece of plywood as the web. Adding to this weakness is the fact that most HVAC workers and plumbers cut through the plywood web of the “I” beam to run duct work and water pipes. In the fire service we call these holes “a poke through” and they are not just found in wooden “I” beams. They are found in the dry wall and even block walls that are supposed to be fire walls.  Once the framing is complete drywall is used to cover the frame work. The job of the drywall from a fire department perspective is to keep fire contained to a room for a period of time. Most drywall is rated for one hour during a fire. This means that under normal conditions the dry wall should absorb heat for one hour.  After that hour drywall will start to break down. Drywall that has been breached by contractors will not afford the one hour rating and allow fire to spread much faster.  This can also happen in the attic where drywall is used as a fire wall between buildings. More often than not this drywall also contains poke throughs which can allow fire to spread quickly to adjoining buildings.

The garden apartment buildings take advantage of the green space the building sits on. This is where the name garden apartment comes from. It is not uncommon for buildings to be as much as 200 feet from the road. Fire fighters can often come up short with their attack hoses. Most buildings are also built terraced into the land. From the front you may see only three floors, but in the rear you can have four floors. This can confuse fire fighters who are working in the interior of the building; they may not know what floor they are operating on. Some buildings will sit perpendicular to the street - this is called “shot gun” - again causing issues with layout of attack hoses and where in the building you are operating.

It is important to know how the individual apartments are laid out. Most apartments units are built on a “stack design”. This means the bathrooms and kitchens are built on top of each other from the bottom floor to the top. This configuration takes advantage of common pipe chases or “soffits” to connect all water, gas, and vents in each apartment. (Norman, 1998)  Most kitchens and bathrooms are built back to back in each individual apartment on the same floor to take advantage of the same common soffits. This is a major contributor of fire and smoke spread.    

Most apartments are laid out the same way, give or take a bedroom. Apartments next to each other on the same floor are mirror layouts. The best way to gather this information is by preplanning, especially while the apartments are being built. Looking at apartment units before an alarm is ever received and seeing where the gas and electric shut offs are is important. Investigate the kitchen and bedroom layout.  By doing this during the building phase, fire fighters can gain valuable information before the apartments are occupied.  Another method to learn the layout of a garden apartment is to take a quick look at the apartment next to the one that is on fire. This will give firefighters the valuable information such as kitchen and bedroom location as well as balconies incase someone has to leave the fire apartment but can not make it back to the door. This important information will greatly assist in the mitigation of most fire emergencies.

Standard operating procedures (SOP) are a set of guidelines that direct what fire fighters have to do on the fire ground to achieve effectiveness.  These SOPs are flexible and may change as the conditions on the fire ground change. (Brunacini, 1985) The SOP will establish a structured fire assignment consisting of fire units such as engines, ladder trucks, a rescue squad, an ambulance and a command officer. Each unit is responsible to report to a geographical location around the fire building, such as the front or rear. On the responding fire units are the fire fighters who have pre-assigned tasks that must be performed in the fire building. If one of the units or firefighters does not follow the SOPs, fire fighters or citizens could be hurt or killed.

In Montgomery County Maryland where I work, our structure fire assignment consists of five fire engines, two ladder trucks, one rescue squad, one ambulance and 2 command officers.  (Rescue, 2005) This is the model I will talk about. 

When responding to a garden apartment fire all officers and fire fighters must “size up”. A size up is an evaluation process that reviews all factors that could have a positive or negative impact on the incident. (Smith, 2002)  The size up starts with pre-fire planning, either during inspections of occupied buildings or inspections of buildings that are in the building phase. The size up starts again once an alarm is dispatched and the fire units are responding to the fire. Once the fire unit arrives on location the officer must give an initial on scene report via his radio. This will give the rest of the responding units, as well as the command officers, information on the fire situation. A good on scene report will consist of the following: The side of the building you are on, the number of stories, the type of occupancy, and conditions on arrival, need for additional resources, and any deviation of the SOP. An example would be: “Engine 723 is on side A of a 3 story garden apartment with fire showing from the second floor quadrant A. I will be advancing a 2 inch line to the fire floor”.  This on scene report paints a mental picture for the responding units.

Our structure fire SOP tells where each apparatus reports to as well as where the fire fighters should report.  The first engine secures a water supply, typically a hydrant, and reports to the address side of the building (usually the front of the building).  These fire fighters report to the fire floor with all tools necessary to fight the fire. The second engine expands the water supply of the first by pumping the hose of the first engine. The fire fighters from the second engine will check the basement to ensure the fire did not start there or that any fire has not dropped down via the soffit space. Their officer will report any findings back to command. The firefighters will then advance an attack hose and report to the fire floor to assist the first engine with extinguishment. The third engine secures a water supply and reports to the rear or opposite side of the first engine. This officer must give an on scene report like the officer of the first engine. This lets the command officer know the conditions at the rear of the building. An important observation that must be relayed to the commander officer is how many stories are in the rear. Typically there are more floors in the rear than what is seen from the front. This is due to the terracing of the landscape and how the building is built into the land. The fire fighters then advance an attack hose and report to the floor above the fire and check for fire spread.  The fourth engine expands the water supply of the third, and these fire fighters become the rapid intervention company. They are responsible for the safety of the crews operating in the building, and will be the crew to rescue any down and injured fire fighters. The fifth engine remains uncommitted and these fire fighters report to the command post for an assignment. An important thing to remember with garden apartment fires is that care must be given when advancing attack hoses through the same door. More that two attack hoses will create a tangled mess and make it difficult for the fire fighters to advance hose into the fire. An alternative is to advance other attack hoses through upper windows and balconies via ground ladders.  The first ladder truck reports to the front of the building and the fire fighters ensure ground ladders are raised and positioned to the upper floors. These ladders are for the fire fighters operating in the fire building, ensuring the fire fighters have a way out if the need arises. The fire fighters from the first ladder truck then report to the fire floor and assist with search and rescue and overhaul. The second ladder truck reports to the rear and, like the fire fighters from first ladder truck, raise ground ladders and position them to windows and balconies. The command officer will make the decision whether the fire fighters then report to the floor above the fire or to the roof for ventilation. These fire fighters also check the attic to ensure the fire has not traveled through the soffits into the attic space. The truck officer will give this report to command. The rescue squad will report near the front of the building and will assist with search and rescue and ensure the utilities are shut off. The ambulance will position as to be able to leave in the event they need to transport to the hospital. The fire fighters from the ambulance will then set up a first aid station. The command officers take command of the fire ground and quickly develop a strategy and communicate tactics. They will monitor progress and request additional resources as needed.

As you can see fighting fire in garden apartments poses unique challenges to fire fighters due to construction, building materials, design and layout. Fire fighting tactics must be tailored to meet these specific challenges. Having strong standard operating procedures, good preplanning, and accurate size up will assist fire fighters overcoming these unique challenges, leading to a favorable outcome.