Hotter, quicker, more toxic: Varied construction methods, modern materials change the rules of firefighting

Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tom Bell can remember watching an informational film early in his training that emphasized the importance of escaping a fire in the first five minutes.

Now, he says, people have closer to three minutes to get out of a burning home safely.

“It’s a new battle that’s out there, and it’s tougher for the firemen,” Bell said.

Throughout 2½ decades as a firefighter, Lower Burrell Fire Company No. 3 Chief Brennan Sites has watched fires get more intense.

“When I started, a lot of the house fires we would go to were mostly room and contents fires, or with some minor extensions. Over my career, I have noticed a lot more intense fires, a lot more rapidly growing fires,” he said. “It’s much more difficult today than it was 25 years ago.”

Modern construction techniques, home layouts and furniture materials, firefighters say, have contributed to hotter fires that burn more rapidly, making them more dangerous for first responders to tackle.

Rapidly burning fires like this week’s devastating blaze in Jeannette that killed a father and four children are emblematic of an increasingly challenging task.

“When you see down there in Jeannette, my heart goes out to those guys,” Bell said. “It’s just one of those things you look at and say, ‘Oh my God — it just burned so fast.’ ”

Construction challenges

Lightweight and synthetic building materials exacerbate the intensity of fires and make buildings more likely to collapse, Sites said.

“A building built in the 1920s can withstand typically more fire because it doesn’t penetrate the structure as quickly as a newer building that is built with lightweight materials,” he said. “That presents dangers to both the occupants inside if there’s a fire, if they don’t get out quick enough, and also firefighters.”

Lighter roofing materials, glued woods and plywoods are all less sturdy, and a fire can consume them faster. Bell noted that the quicker, cheaper construction of modern homes doesn’t help.

“We have to worry about collapse,” he said. “For a chief or an on-the-scene officer, you have to look at when to put the (firefighter) in and when not to put the (firefighter) in.”

Likewise, the floor plans of modern homes can present more difficulties for fire crews, said Chief Josh Wiegand of West Deer Volunteer Fire Company No. 3.

“What happens with new construction is the layout of the building has a more open concept. That allows the smoke to travel further, faster than (in) older-style homes that had smaller rooms (and) had dividing walls,” he said.

“Now, you walk into a house and it’s completely open from front to back, and has a huge kitchen island separating the kitchen, the dining room and the living room. The open concept has contributed to a rapid increase in fire extension throughout the house.”

Some construction methods intended to improve a home for its residents can be detrimental in a fire situation.

“When the construction industry sets out a goal to make an improvement, they might make insulation better and more effective, but in return, it might be more flammable,” he said. “Weatherproofing the outside of the house, some houses today are airtight, which could be a problem for us doing ventilation.”

While modern homes have many challenges, older homes, like many in the neighborhood of the Jeannette fire, have their own pitfalls, Bell noted. An old-fashioned type of construction called a “balloon frame” often leaves cavities in the walls that function as chimneys, and fires can spread through those gaps quickly.

“Once it gets into the walls, you know it’s moving,” Bell said. “It’s moved from floor to floor, and then the next thing you know, it’s in the attic.”

Shawn Stitely, deputy fire chief at Irwin Volunteer Fire Department, has a similar opinion.

“The older balloon-frame structures, from top to bottom, it’s open. If a fire gets in a wall, it’s going to run straight up,” he said. “Even with an older home, from the ’60s or ’70s or ’90s, homes are built different, but you’ve got modern furniture in there and modern plastics and stuff — it’s still going to burn.”

Plastic problem

Materials commonly used in furniture and appliances can add to the danger — and overall temperature — of a fire.

“What causes the hotter temperatures is the amount of synthetic material that we have in our house, compared to years ago when most of our furniture was made out of wood,” Wiegand said.

“It’s now primarily made out of petroleum-based products, plastics and compressed wood fiber that is glued together. When that burns, it off-gasses a lot more chemicals and it burns faster and hotter, and that makes the smoke that much more dangerous.”

Items such as plastic tote bags can cause toxic smoke in a fire, Stitely said. Firefighters have to meticulously clean their gear and clothes after calls where they might have been exposed to smoke and other chemicals.

“Everyone has self-contained breathing apparatuses when they go into a fire, but even when the bulk of a fire is knocked down, you have to keep your self-contained breathing apparatus on,” he said. “With the modern construction materials and just the materials of the contents of a house, like couches and chairs and such like that, I think it’s a lot easier to burn.”

“Everything carbon-based, think of it as fuel,” Sites said. “Let’s say you have a plastic shelving unit that’s on fire. When it starts to burn, it off-gasses, and within the smoke (there’s) a lot of carbon. It burns faster, it burns hotter, and the fire reignites within the smoke as well, because the smoke is more carbon. It lends to hotter fires and a lot more intense fires.”

Fighting today’s fires

Firefighters today have to adapt and stay informed about evolving methods of home construction. They also sometimes need bigger and stronger hoses to knock down larger fires.

“In Lower Burrell, we have a mix. We have homes built in the 1920s, 1960s and huge plans that were built just a couple of years ago,” Sites said. “The construction of those homes are different, and the strategy and tactics of how you fight these fires, you need to be able to adapt to the building you’re encountering.”

Wiegand says the West Deer fire company regularly educates members on how to deal with different types of homes, as well as what to be aware of with newer items such as solar panels or electric vehicles.

“We hold training to educate our firefighters on building construction methods and how the new methods are changing what we have to deal with,” he said. “There are several classes that are available for that.”

More intense fires can sometimes require more firefighters and departments on the scene — a worrying situation when volunteer fire companies across the country are facing a dearth of volunteers.

“One of the tactics has been obviously increasing the amount of water we’re using on fires, (and) increasing the personnel we are calling, because there’s more tasks that could be accomplished and more personnel are needed,” Sites said.

For homeowners, Bell emphasized the importance of staying prepared with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

“I don’t know how much we can stress this: The biggest thing you can do to protect yourself is have smoke detectors in your homes,” he said. “That’s the least expensive thing you can do for yourself to make sure you have protection.

“Early detection is the best protection.”