2002 Catastrophic Multiple-death fires

NFPA Journal, Sep/Oct 2003 by Badger, Stephen G, McCarthy, Roberts S

Residential fire sprinklers will play an important role in home fire protection in the coming years. New construction and major renovations lend themselves to fire sprinkler installations. None of last year's residential occupancies were protected by fire sprinkler systems.

In nonresidential properties, an automatic suppression system with alarms along with a sound safety program, and adequate number of fire extinguishers would go a long way in reducing fire losses. In this year's study only 2 of the 5 non-residential catastrophic structure fires had information reported on the presence of suppression equipment. One property had an unreported coverage system that was effective in controlling the spread of the fire in the bagging area, distant from the equipment that was involved with the fire's ignition, and adjacent to the area of explosion. The other property had no system present. Information on the presence of automatic detection equipment was reported in two fires. One had no system and the other had a complete system of heat detectors but it was unknown if the system activated.

Acknowledgments

NFPA thanks the U.S. fire service for their contributions of data, without which this report wouldn't be possible. The author would like to thank to his co-workers for their guidance in the completion of this report.

Where we got our data

NFPA obtains its data by reviewing national and local news media, including fire service publications. A news clipping service reads all daily U.S. newspapers and notifies the NFPA Fire Analysis and Research Division of catastrophic fires. Once an incident has been identified, we request information from the local fire department or the agency having jurisdiction. NFPA's annual survey of U.S. fire experience and mailings to state fire marshals are additional data sources, although not principal ones. We also contact federal agencies that have participated in the investigation of such fires. The diversity and redundancy of these sources enable us to collect the most complete data available on catastrophic fires in the United States.

1 The September 11th terrorist attacks accounted for, resulted in 2,789 deaths.

STEPHEN G. BADGER is a Fire Data Assistant in NFPA's Fire Analysis and Research Division and is a firefighter with the Quincy, Massachusetts, Fire Department in Massachusetts.

ROBERT S. MCCARTHY was a Fire Data Assistant in NFPA's Fire Analysis and Research Division and a retired Lieutenant from the Quincy Fire Department in Massachusetts. We are saddened to report that Bob passed away during the information gathering stage of this study, and too early into his retirement from the fire department. We've have lost a knowledgeable and wonderful human being. It was an honor and privilege to have been a coworker with "BooBoo" both here, at the NFPA and on the Quincy Fire Department.