Fireground Size-Up for Fires in Churches A fire in a church will present some of the most challenging, resource-intensive and dangerous incidents that any one of us will respond to. The buildings themselves can vary greatly in size, age and construction. They can range from the 200-year-old, gothic-style, heavy timber structure, to the more modern contemporary-style building composed of all lightweight building materials. In either case, it is critical for the fire officer to anticipate the difficulties presented by all types and styles, and to prepare for a difficult operation. For the purposes of this article, we will focus our thoughts on the larger, heavy-timber church. History shows us that they have produced the greatest challenges as it relates to property and life loss over the years. Size-Up: The 15 Points Following is a review of the 15 size-up points which can be brought to mind using the size-up acronym “COAL TWAS WEALTHS” 1. Construction: Heavy-timber, gothic-style churches derive their name from the style of architecture developed in Western Europe, anywhere between the 12th and 16th centuries. This style of church appeared in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries and is still a well-represented symbol in many towns and cities throughout the country today. Churches of this size and design will often cover an entire city block and consist of masonry exterior walls with large wooden interior timberwork, all covered by a steeply pitched, slate-tile roof. Buildings of this style, although considered one-story in height, can have peaks reaching 60 feet or more, with steeple heights of 150 feet. The large, interior timberwork associated with the Class 4, heavy-timber design will make up a significant portion of the building’s skeleton. Large columns and girders of wood will support the floor and roof spans, while the timbers used to support the roof system will often be represented by a scissor or triangular truss design. The space that makes up the roof-support members is often referred to as the hanging ceiling space, the attic, or the cockloft. This area between the nave/auditorium ceiling and the underside of the roof deck can be quite sizable. Heights can range from 12 feet to 18 feet and will often cover the entire church auditorium. If accessing this space is required, it will be extremely limited. Often the entrance to access this area will be through a small trap door that is only reachable by a narrow staircase or access ladder. Below the hanging ceiling space covering the church auditorium will be a vaulted plaster ceiling. These heavy ornamental ceilings could extend 50 feet or more above the church auditorium floor. The heavy plaster ceilings will be of specific concern to advancing firefighters due to the possibility of large sections of the ceiling failing and dropping to the floor once fire attacks the attic space. Sections weighing a hundred pounds or more can drop into the church auditorium, bringing large lighting fixtures down with them. Roofs associated with the gothic-style church will most often be slate tile over wood planking. These roofs will often date back from the building’s original design. Slate is a material that is virtually unaffected by its exposure to the weather. The design of the roof, with pitches of 45 degrees and greater, will allow these roofs to last a lifetime. 2. Occupancy: At first glance, occupancy concerns for churches will focus around the concept of a place of worship, where the building is only occupied at certain times of the day, week, and year. Further investigation of this will often prove otherwise. Although we can expect the gathering of parishioners on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, we must also be aware of other uses, as well as those people who may be occupying the church and any other attached buildings. Churches today take on many additional roles other than Sunday services. From day-care centers, homeless shelters, banquet halls and parochial schools to food kitchens, these additional occupancy concerns can take place any day of the week, at any time of the day or evening, as well as anywhere within or nearby the church itself. The occupancy concerns are not limited to the above. Many congregations require that the minister of the church have living quarters on the premises for himself and his family. This may be a separate residential property on church grounds, a building attached to the church itself, or a couple of rooms located within the church proper. This is an excellent example of how pre-incident information can prove to be extremely valuable.
In our occupancy size-up, we also like to include any specific concerns related to the building’s contents. In the church, we have to add the thought of any “high value” contents specifically related to items of irreplaceable value. Such items could include scrolls, robes, chalices and statues, to sight a few. These items, when possible, do warrant considerable attention. When conditions allow and resources are available, consideration should be given to removing irreplaceable items. This action, however, must come with significant thought. We all know that items of this type are extremely valuable and of great concern to parishioners. But committing a compliment of firefighters into a well-involved building to retrieve an object is not an option. 3. Apparatus and Staffing: As one might imagine, a fire in a church, especially one that is large and old, will tax the resources of even the largest departments. Fires of any significant size will require multiple alarms, bringing large numbers of firefighters and equipment. If there is any opportunity to control a fire in a gothic-style church, it will obviously be in the early stages of the fire. Fire officers must anticipate heavy fire loads, large area buildings, as well as numerous concealed spaces and voids with extreme difficulty in accessibility. An overwhelming force of firefighters and equipment is necessary to control a fire a heavy-timber church. As we have said numerous times before, “Call for help early; if you don’t need them, you could always send them home.”
With this thought in mind, the front of many heavy-timber churches will offer openings for ventilation and eventual stream placement. Large churches may contain a round or oval window in the front gable, which is referred to as the rose window. This decorative window allows the colored light of the stained glass to shine into the church auditorium. At a fire incident, this window can be penetrated to vent the church proper; it can allow access for a strong stream from an elevating platform into the church auditorium; or it can be used by a tower ladder to penetrate the ornamental ceiling in an attempt to get water into the attic space.
Another window that can be found within this same space that is much smaller, and often higher into the gable is the vent window. This window, or louvered opening, allows direct access into the attic space over the church auditorium. The vent widow will give the ladder company another opportunity at venting or directing a stream into the attic space. This opening, when available, is a much smaller window than the rose window. Its small size will definitely limit the maneuverability of an elevated stream. Nevertheless, its presence will warrant early access. Additional ventilation options for a fire in a church will come with limitations, as well as with some hesitations. Stained glass windows are expensive and often difficult to replace. The hesitation on breaking them and providing a large opening for ventilation has resulted in the loss of entire buildings. If their removal will assist the operations as well as prevent further structural loss, they need to be removed.
Roof ventilation efforts by a ladder company at a church are going to be impossible to extremely difficult, as well as dangerous. It is without doubt that the two main reasons fires cannot be controlled in large, old churches is our inability to ventilate the roof, and our inability to quickly open concealed spaces and voids. But, there maybe additional options to assist with these difficulties. The first will be specific to the address. Pre-incident information specific to churches in your districts may show construction features that may be identified and possibly used to assist with the roof vent. Natural roof ventilation options for the ladder company may come from roof turbines, louvers or ridge vents, to name a few. Depending upon their design within the space, they may assist with ventilation in the church auditorium or attic space. Pre-incident information will determine the difference.
Barring some of the more obvious construction features and considerations previously described, an additional and necessary tool used by ladder-company members to assist with the difficulties of quickly opening the building’s concealed spaces and voids is the immediate deployment and use of thermal imaging. Thermal imaging has become the fire service’s best weapon in identifying the fire’s location and extent. It is critical that in buildings of this construction, square footage, and complexity, thermal imaging be deployed immediately upon its arrival. Prioritizing our efforts on identifying the fire’s location will not only assist with early control, it will also prevent the loss of firefighters’ lives. 4. Life Hazard: Life-hazard concerns for the firefighter at churches will be numerous. The greatest concerns to the firefighter will occur when members attempt to conduct interior operations. Advancing into these buildings with a hoseline or to conduct a search will prove to be the most dangerous. When an offensive mode is in place, firefighters must obtain immediate information on the fire involvement of the void spaces. Fire involving these spaces will burn intensely as they travel throughout and make their way up to the roof space. Those that don’t, will produce favorable conditions for a backdraft. Whether in the free-burning or smoldering phase, fire involvement of the concealed spaces can produce tremendous fire conditions when exposed to the open spaces of the church auditorium. Not only have these conditions forced firefighters to scramble in an attempt to find an exit, they have also brought down large sections of the ornamental ceiling, lighting fixtures, duct work, and structural roof members that can trap and kill a firefighter. As we have indicated, any attempt at putting people to work inside a church must be accompanied by a thermal imaging camera(s). The high ceilings and large open spaces associated with the church auditorium will prevent firefighters from actually feeling and observing true fire conditions. Information gathered from a number of images above, around, and below you can save firefighters’ lives. Exterior operations associated with church fires will also come with significant life-hazard concerns for the firefighter. As we have already mentioned, gothic-style churches are known for their architectural style and design. Features commonly associated with their design will also have to be noted and observed during fire department operations, most notably when members are in defensive positions. Some of the more common will be slate-tile roofs and steeple heights. Slate tiles are large and heavy. Individual tiles can vary in size and in weight. Their installation is similar to that of a conventional roof with each tile laid side-by-side starting at the roof’s bottom edge, with overlapping rows up to the roof’s ridge. The concern with slate tiles will come with their eventual failure. Failure will occur from two different means. Once fire enters the attic space, members must expect eventual roof deck failure. As this starts to occur, the roof will shed its tiles creating a serious threat to firefighters near the building’s perimeter. The concerns with slate tiles are further realized from fire department operations. Tiles can be swept by a high-caliber stream and dislodged. The force of the water can throw tiles extended distances and can severely injure a firefighter.
As the incident grows in size and intensity, fireground commanders will be forced to operate in defensive modes. The life-hazard concerns for the firefighter must not lessen in this mode; they must change in perspective. Within this mode will come extended operations with established collapse zones. Zones must be established to include the full height of the building, including any steeple or bell towers. This consideration must also include any attached or closely spaced buildings. Aggressive stands to hold fire from traveling into a building annex or attached residence will come with great concern as fire and the earth’s gravity attempt to drop the building or any portion of it to the ground. 5. Terrain: Churches will come with limited concerns in your terrain size-up. Most notably, we find some problems with building setbacks. Depending upon the property size and its location within the city or town, a church may have a considerable setback from the sidewalk or accessible area limiting elevated use from an aerial or platform. This concern can be further influenced by the more common obstructions such as trees and overhead wires. Any significant setback information and how to deal with it should be another piece of information placed within the pre-incident action plan. Information concerning the difficulties will be easily identified from your first visit to the complex. Identifying where you can get in, where you cannot, and whether you are able to access a certain part of the building is going to be useful information when you need to go to work at that specific address. Waiting until you arrive to figure it out is not sound thinking.
6. Water Supply: Anticipation is the key within this size-up factor. With the potential fire growth these buildings can produce within themselves as well as to their neighbors, officers must plan for quick, large, and sustained water. This way of thinking can only be enhanced by efficient guidelines for engine companies assigned to the incident. The grouping of engine companies to initiate quick water as close to the seat of the fire as well as to establish and deliver water from a large source is a concept that continually works well. Engine companies must be prepared to support quick and sustained water supply and delivery. Any unorganized approach of your engine company complement will only allow the fire to take possession of the building and its surrounding exposures. You need to identify large and reliable water sources in your immediate and nearby streets. Hydrant mains sizes, available flows as well as other secondary sources must be noted well before an incident occurs. In anticipation, chief officers must also be able to identify and select any larger GPM pumpers within their resource compliment to act as water supply companies. In Jersey City, N.J., high-volume engine companies (2,000-gpm pumpers) are strategically placed throughout the city’s battalions to enhance the water supply needs of a potentially large incident.
7. Auxiliary Appliances: The absence of automatic alarms and suppression equipment is a major contributor to large fire loss in churches. Many churches, primarily those of the gothic style, were built before codes were written; and in many town and cities they are not required to conform to existing codes. Often the only time fire officers may find alarm or suppression equipment in any area of a large and older church is when the church has undergone some type of renovation. Even with renovations, the alarm and suppression requirements will be based on the amount and type of work performed. Other instances where an alarm or suppression system is present on a limited basis may be in a basement or storage area. Knowing where these systems are and the location of a possible fire department connection are crucial to the first few minutes of the operation. Statistically, the basement and heating/furnace room, as well as those areas used for storage, are where most fires will start in church. If they are protected, the local fire department can enhance their ability to quickly control the fire. 8. Street Conditions: Street size-up concerns will be specific to each building’s address. As we mentioned earlier, it is important for companies to get out and seek key areas for spotting and placing their apparatus. Churches and the surrounding properties will come with their own unique obstacles and access concerns. Depending upon the street width and traffic flow surrounding the church, fire officers should review the placement possibilities during the street’s most difficult times, as well as those times when the street and surrounding areas are free of parked cars. Seeking apparatus placement options on a Saturday morning might be quite different from the next morning when the streets and the parking lot are full with vehicles for the Sunday service. 9. Weather: Weather and its related categories will plague any incident commander with additional fireground considerations, regardless of the type of building. However, for the purposes of this article we need to focus our thoughts on a fire in a church, most notably a large one. The wind and its effect on a church will greatly increase what is already a difficult situation. We know that winds as little as 10 m.p.h. will significantly affect the fire’s intensity within a building, as well as cause a significant concern to any exposures nearby. The fire’s intensity within a building will be directly affected by the wind’s velocity, the size of any openings, the building’s open areas, and the building’s fire load. With the heavy fire load in buildings of this design, additional concerns from firebrands must be considered. High winds combined with a fire involving a gothic-style church will create a tremendous firebrand problem. Add the possibility of the church’s steeple becoming involved, and the hazard of flying brands will spread and land over a larger area. Incident commanders must give serious consideration to requesting a brand patrol or brand group downwind of the incident, when feasible and available. Establishing a minimum of an engine and ladder company to patrol areas downwind to observe the affected neighborhood from building rooftops or from the height of an aerial ladder may help to eliminate any additional building fires. 10. Exposures: Exterior exposure concerns that surround a gothic-style church will again vary, based on the specific address of each incident. What will become quickly obvious to anyone who operates at a well-involved church fire is the tremendous amount of radiant heat that can be produced from these types of buildings and how quickly they can spread to surrounding exposure buildings. If additional buildings within the neighborhood or church complex are attached or nearby, fireground commanders must anticipate early fire spread and plan to combat it. Structures within as little as 50 feet will become early exposure threats requiring resources to protect them from the radiant heat. Obviously, well-placed master streams are going to be required. But what must be added this is how the energy will be expelled from the building, how it can be redirected, and how you can anticipate the difficulties. In photo #10 below, within the first few minutes of the fire department operations, all the building’s windows failed, most notably the large rose window on the front of the building, producing a concentrated and intense source of radiant heat to all surrounding sides. This forced companies to take flanking positions as water was placed on nearby exposures and all buildings were searched and evacuated. Once the roof failed (photo #11 below), the fire’s energy was now redirected. Most of the radiant heat’s energy was channeled up and away, lessening the lateral concentration of fire and heat to nearby buildings of equal height. But now with the most of energy being directed up through the failed roof deck, we now had an added concern to nearby buildings of greater height. Heavy-timber structures by themselves are very predictable. We know that once fire takes hold of the structure, fire will exit with tremendous force through the building’s weakest areas first. What adds an element of concern is when other buildings surround this heavy-timber structure, as is often the case with the neighborhood church.
11. Area: Square footage in a church and its surrounding properties will come with a number concerns to responding and operating firefighters. The concerns will not be limited to the large open spaces and their potential involvement, but firefighters also must be concerned about any maze-like areas in and around the building where companies may have to operate. As examples, there may be small and narrow stairs behind a closed door in the front vestibule that may lead to a choir and organ loft. Behind the altar, there also may be rooms used by church members for meetings. Locked storage areas for sacred documents and materials, as well as a kitchen, bath, and study for the church clergy may be found in the rear of the church. Basement areas, although often large open areas, may contain a stage area for church performances. It’s in the basement again where you may find areas that contain numerous rooms for storage, classrooms for Sunday school, as well as a kitchen for church functions. The point that should be gathered here is, although we note the difficulties with the large open spaces of a building of this size, depending upon the fire’s location and extent and the difficulties that surround it, the small and difficult to reach areas will often present us with more. 12. Location and Extent of Fire: Determining a fire’s location and extent is information that all fireground commanders seek in order to deploy and assign resources. This holds true for all buildings that we arrive and go to work in, but what makes this information gathering process difficult in churches, especially older churches, are the numerous places where fire can start and travel through. Our primary concerns within this size-up factor will be when the fire involves the below-grade areas of the furnace/boiler room and the hanging ceiling space above the church auditorium. When we look at the furnace or boiler room of a church of this size and age, a number of problems will arise. The first is poor housekeeping. Many times, due to carelessness and complacency, the furnace room becomes a collection point for the storage of combustibles, paints, varnishes, etc. The problem obviously starts with the use of a furnace room as a storage room. It is only a matter of time before the room’s contents come in close contact with a heat source. A second concern is the integrity of the furnace or heating room to prevent any amount of fire from spreading. Fires that start in a furnace room can spread quickly to other parts of the structure. Initially, the fire can spread to other areas of the basement through flimsy or non-fire-stopped partition walls. More often than not, all you will find is a framed-out partition wall covered by wooden clapboards or gypsum wallboard. Partition walls associated with these rooms will only extend up to the underside of the unfinished floor joists. With an unfinished ceiling, a partition wall installed at a right angle to the floor joists allows large horizontal openings for fire to spread. With the high probability of an unfinished ceiling in this area of the basement, it also has to be expected that fire will have the opportunity to spread from the furnace room up through openings in and around the heating ducts. Walls and ceilings throughout the church can be hollowed out as much as 16 inches to 20 inches in order to accommodate the old heating ducts in these buildings. These areas offer expanded raceways for fire to extend throughout the building. The openings will extend from the basement up into the sidewalls of the church auditorium, on up into the hanging ceiling space over the entire church. The hanging ceiling space over a church is the most difficult and most inaccessible space in the building. Access to this area is generally limited to a narrow staircase at best, to a wooden ladder leading to a trap door. Fire can originate in this area or enter this space from numerous wall voids around the structure. With the large wooden interior timberwork of the ceiling and roof support system, accompanied with heights in these spaces averaging 12 feet to18 feet over the entire length of the building, chief officers must be prepared for defensive operations once fire enters this space. 13. Time: The fire officer’s concern with time will focus around the universal thoughts of the time of the day, day of the week, and the time of the year. As a general consideration, a church’s occupancy load will generally be at its highest when church services are in session. This is normally on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings. With services, there is also the probability of Sunday school. As one can expect, this will bring an untold number of children to an area in the church basement or church annex. The day of the week also allows us to focus on other church events that generally occur on specific days. Weddings most often occur on Friday evenings, Saturdays or Sunday afternoons. Holiday or religious events and their dates will vary based on the day of the week and the time of the year. These events will bring large numbers of people to the church and its surrounding properties. 14. Height: With the church’s roof peak able to reach heights of 60 feet or more and steeple heights known to reach 100 to 150 feet or more, fire officers must anticipate the difficulties. When we initially look at the steeple heights of many churches, not only does their design and construction (which is similar to a giant chimney flue) enhance their fire growth, but also the total height of the steeple must be considered in the collapse zone when operations go defensive. In many neighborhoods across the country, the church is the largest and tallest building in town. These buildings will often be the vocal point for the town village or Main Street area. With this mind, there will usually be smaller and sometimes closely spaced buildings. When church fire operations go defensive, fireground commanders must consider and establish collapse zones around the entire building. With the church auditorium reaching the height of a six or eight story building and steeple heights equaling the height of a 15-story building, all surrounding areas must be evacuated to encompass the collapse zone for that affected height.
Anticipating the direction and path of a steeple collapse is often an unpredictable event. Often the best course of action when collapse of a church steeple is anticipated is to establish collapse zones for its full height in all directions. To aid in determining the path of a collapse, the setting up of a surveyor’s transit(s) on a fixed point on the steeple may help to indicate a potential collapse area. Movement of as little as an inch can be detected and relayed to the incident commander and division/sector officers. Even with companies operating in a flanking or lateral-collapse position, information that the church steeple is starting to lean their way will warrant repositioning. 15. Special Considerations for Chief Officers: Baring information that may be specific to a certain address, the following is a list of a few basic reminders that a chief officer must consider at all fires that involve a church.
Salvage Considerations: An area you might want to add, or make a specific note of in your pre-plan information, is the location of church valuables. These items can be given consideration if you know where they are and fire conditions allow. The occurrence of fires in churches is not an everyday incident. The infrequency of working in these types of buildings may invite us to be complacent and ignore some of the historic difficulties when advancing in to find the fire. These structures will present the firefighter and fire officer with unique challenges that must be calculated with every step of our operations. Ignoring any one of them may lead to injury or death of a firefighter. Fireground commanders must set realistic goals. It is your experience and your education with these buildings that will make the difference. Editor’s Note: Chief Terpak is the author of Fireground Size-Up, available from Fire Engineering Books. To purchase, return to the Fire Nuggets home page, scroll down and click on the book icon. © Copyright Firenuggets.com 2005 • Click here for Terms and Conditions of Use
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