USING
ELEVATORS AT FIRES
By Vincent Dunn,
Deputy Chief (retired)
Fire Department of New York
Each year, firefighters are brought up to fire
floors in high-rise buildings by elevators and are forced to run
for their lives through a gauntlet of flame, heat and smoke.
Recently, two firefighters in Memphis, Tennessee, did not make it
out alive. A firefighter in White Plains, New York, was trapped
and died inside an elevator during a fire. Firefighters
responding to fires in high-rise buildings must realize that the
elevator is a deadly trap during a fire. Regardless of whether
the elevator is equipped with an emergency mode "firefighter
service" or not, firefighters must use extreme caution when
using an elevator during a fire. Flame, heat and water from hose
streams or sprinklers can cause elevators to malfunction.
An eight-year study of 178 high-rise fires in New
York City, where elevators with Phase I and Phase II "firefighter
service" were used revealed:
- 59 elevators failed either upon arrival of the
firefighters or during the fire.
- 37% of the 59 failures were the result of fire or water
damage to the elevator electrical system.
Because of the unreliability of elevators during
high rise fires, the FDNY has requested a Phase III elevator be
installed in all high-rise buildings in New York City.
A Phase I elevator system is defined as
the automatic or manual recall of elevators to the lobby of a
high rise building. This Phase I system is designed to recall
elevators and prevent building occupants from using them during a
fire.
A Phase II elevator is defined as a system
that allows a firefighter to operate an elevator during a fire,
from within the car in an emergency mode after the Phase I system
has recalled them to the lobby.
A Phase III elevator system, proposed by
the FDNY, would be an elevator car located in a fully enclosed
fire and smoke protected enclosure, with a wiring system
insulated from the effects of water and fire. This elevator would
only be used by fire personnel.
The most dangerous elevator during a high-rise
fire is one, which does not have a Phase II "firefighter
service" mode. There are several ways an elevator that does
not have an emergency "firefighter service" mode can
malfunction and bring a firefighter up to the fire floor and
almost certain death. This can occur when a person on the fire
floor escaping a fire pushes a corridor call button, then,
decides to leave by the stairs because the smoke and heat in the
corridor become too severe. A firefighter can be brought up to a
fire floor in an elevator during a high-rise fire if the corridor
(mechanical) call button and wiring become deformed, deteriorated
and melted by the heat of the fire. A third way elevators are
called to a fire floor during a high-rise fire is when the
electronic touch button (immovable, touch sensitive) is activated
by exposure to dense smoke.
NOTE: Electronic call buttons
do not operate by heat from a person's finger. This is a
misconception. Electronic call buttons are activated by the
completion, through the person touching it, of a circuit to the
ground. Dense smoke can also create this circuit to the ground.
The following safety and survival tactics must be
used when using an elevator during a high-rise fire even one with
a Phase II "firefighter service" mode:
- Accurately determine the location of the fire floor upon
arrival. Be aware that a person reporting a fire from the
12th floor of a building may have seen smoke and flame
outside the window rising up from the 11th or
10th floor below. Even when a building
employee tells you the floor where the fire has been
reported, check the annunciator or video terminal. The
floor of reported fire on the alarm ticket and the floor
on the alarm panel, and the floor of fire reported to you
by the person in charge of the building must all be the
same. When they are not or when several floors on the
alarm panel indicate smoke detectors have activated,
assume the lowest floor is the fire floor.
- Use the elevator that has a Phase II firefighter
emergency mode and realize this system may fail. If the
fire is located on the sixth floor or below, walk up the
stairs instead of using the elevator.
- Never let a building employee take you up to a fire in an
elevator. At one fire, a building employee went up to
investigate a fire after transmitting the alarm. He saw
it was a small fire and returned to the lobby. As the
fire company arrived he assured them it was a small fire
and took them back up to the floor in the elevator. When
the elevator car door opened, the lobby contained a
roaring fire. The firefighters and screaming employee ran
for their lives and fortunately escaped to the safety of
a stair.
- Never take an elevator up to a floor where there is a
reported fire or where a smoke or heat detector has been
activated. Determine the lowest floor a fire has been
reported on by an occupant, or by what has registered on
an alarm panel or shown on a video display terminal. Then,
take the elevator two or three floors below the lowest
floor where a fire or smoke detector indicates. Leave a
firefighter in the lobby to inform arriving companies and
the chief of the reported fire floor, and the elevator
being used. After firefighters get off the elevator, they
should walk up the stairs to the fire floor and send the
elevator back down to the lobby with a firefighter
operating the controls. At a high-rise building where
there are elevator banks serving different portions of
the building, for example an elevator bank serving floors
1 to 10 and another bank serving floors 11 to 20,
consider using the elevators serving the lower floors and
walking up to the fire. If a fire is reported on the 14th
floor, instead of taking the elevator serving floors 11
to 20 and stopping at the 12th floor and walking up two
flights of stairs to the fire, take the lower bank of
elevators serving I to 10. Get off at the 10th floor
and walk up four flights to the fire. It is safer. There
is no chance of the elevator malfunctioning and bringing
you up to the fire.
- Before entering an elevator, attempt to look up the shaft
between the car door and hoistway door. You may see,
hear or feel water from a sprinkler coming down the shaft. Also,
there may be smoke in the car or shaftway. This
would indicate a fire. Check the location of stairs
in the lobby and their relation to the elevator. Look
at the "You are here," sign near the elevator,
which shows the relationship of the elevator to the stair. Remove
the sign off the wall if possible and take it with you.
Realize the lobby layout will differ from the upper floor
layout. So stop at an intermediate floor and check again
where the stair enclosures are located in relation to
your elevator.
- When entering an elevator, all firefighters should wear
full protective equipment with a mask, ready for use. Forcible
entry tools should be carried. If the elevator
malfunctions, the tools may be needed to escape from the
stalled car. Wood chocks are life saving when an elevator
malfunctions and goes to the fire floor. Trapped
firefighters will have to hold the sliding car door
closed manually for protection from heat and smoke. After
closing the elevator car door, wedge the chock between
the closed car floor and the car frame, or the sliding
door will return to the open position, allowing fire and
smoke to enter the elevator car where you are trapped.
- A company entering an elevator to investigate a fire on
an upper floor of a high-rise should have a portable
radio. A firefighter assigned to operate an elevator in
Phase II "firefighter service" mode should be
equipped with a radio. If the elevator stalls or
malfunctions in any way, the firefighter with the
portable radio should immediately notify the officer in
command of the fire. When using an elevator in Phase II
going up to a fire, use the firefighter service control
to stop the elevator at an intermediate floor. Operate
the control; see if the elevator stops as directed. This
test ensures the Phase II mode is properly operating. If
the elevator does not stop at the intermediate floor,
this indicates the Phase II "firefighter service"
mode is not functioning properly. Force the elevator to
stop and get out. The elevator could be out of control
and heading for the fire floor.
Lesson learned
The fire service needs a Phase III elevator
— one that can be used safely during a fire. A Phase I
recall system and Phase II "firefighter service" mode
are not dependable. Phase III elevators are recommended in the
"Americans with Disabilities Act" for safe removal of
disabled people during high-rise fires. Phase III elevators have
been installed in high-rise buildings in the United Kingdom and
are on the drawing board soon to be required in Japan.
The following
books written by Chief Dunn are available through Firefighters Bookstore: Safety and Survival on the
Fireground, Collapse of Burning Buildings, and his newest
book, Command and Control of Fire and Emergencies.
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