In the paper this morning came the news that another "Big Box" store is moving into our area. This time it is a Home Depot, but we all recognize the names of other famous "Big Box" stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and Lowe’s. My department has recently had several fires in "Big Box" stores and businesses, and between those fires and the loss of nine firefighters in Charleston in a "Big Box" furniture store, my crew discussed certain "watch-outs" to help safely and successfully deal with fires in large commercial occupancies.

First, I would like to define what I mean by "Big Box" occupancy. Most of the discussion in the fire service will center around large square footage buildings (mostly 50,000 square feet and above). But dangers can abound in 5,000 square foot occupancies if they are not compartmentalized by rooms that prevent fire spread with building and fire code specified wall and door assemblies. For me, a Big Box is just that — a large uncompartmentized room that allows for rapid fire spread to interior fire loads and important structural members like the roof supporting members. A small box(read room or compartment)can produce a good room and content fire, but it is easily managed with the properly sized hose, good deployment and hose management, and spreading the right sized water droplets throughout the entire compartment. A 10' x 12' bedroom (a standard-sized room in most cities and towns) will take only 40 gpm to extinguish. Even several small compartments on fire can be easily managed by initial resources, at least in terms of the water necessary to cool the contents below their ignition temperatures. But a Bigger Box compounds the basic fire flow formula.

Let’s take our 5,000-square-foot compartment a 50’ x 100’ building) and apply the basic fire flow formula. If this occupancy were fully involved, it would take approximately 1,600 gpm to extinguish this fire. Imagine a 5,000-square-foot portion of a 100,000-square-foot building on fire, and you get the picture: "Big Box" fires are difficult to control. Add to this basic premise the following "watch outs" and you can have a downright dangerous condition that has been responsible for a large percentage of line-of-duty-deaths in the American Fire Service.

My department had four recent "Big Box" fires of various degrees each allowing for potentially dangerous situations. They included: a roofing company that had fire through the roof on arrival and was fought defensively; a local café/diner with a fire in the back break room that was not easily accessed; a fire in a large commercial laundry that was only partially controlled by sprinklers; and a fire in a door and lock manufacturer that was put out by the sprinklers but produced a zero visibility situation in the 20,000-square-foot warehouse area. The "watch outs" below can be directly tied to firefighter fatalities in our recent history:

• Delayed responses due to the initial dispatch coming in as a fire alarm usually sending only 1 engine to investigate. The delay of the initial first alarm assignment can cause a small fire to gain ground and become a major fire quickly in a Big Box.

• Not planning ahead for apparatus spotting by the initial arriving unit can cause the Trucks to take up less than optimum positions bringing into play hazards such as power lines.

• Lots of smoke from a Big Box on arrival probably means a good sized fire because it takes a lot of products of combustion to fill a Big Box.

• The lack of a pre-plan or the lack of a walk through means that you will go into a totally unknown situation. You don’t know the layout of the occupancy, the contents, or any construction features for sure. Couple that with a poor visibility situation and it has trouble written all over it.

• Delayed forcible entry has caused several line-of-duty-deaths again because it allowed a small fire to gain ground quickly.

• Hot, black smoke to the floor pushing out of the initial openings made by the truck company begs the question if an interior attack is even possible. The location, extent, and material involved is unknown which makes the selection of lines and the time to complete the job anybody’s guess.

• Cold smoke to the floor tells you that a sprinkler is at least partially working but the chances of becoming disoriented in a large area with poor visibility is a distinct possibility. Be very careful in "reconning" with a hose line trying to find the fire location in a large warehouse.

• The existence of a mezzanine is a neon sign "watch-out." Mezzanines hide large fires and can allow them to burn in the structural members of the roof. Mezzanines can also collapse under heavy fires underneath. Last but not least, mezzanines do not always have stairways leading out or proper fall protection railings to the warehouse area proper and a severe fall hazard can be present to a hard concrete floor.

• Building construction features like arched roofs, lightweight roof or floor members, and improper remodeling features (which are generally unknown) all need to be part of the size-up by all members involved in fighting the fire. Numerous fatalities have been caused by firefighters trapped by the collapse of walls, floors, and roofs. A Big Box fire allows for more rapid fire spread to these structural members that are generally unprotected. How many dry wall ceilings have you seen in the last warehouse that you walked through? Be very aware of how the building is put together.

• Last, but certainly not least (and probably the biggest most important "watch-out" of all), identify basement and attic fires in Big Box occupancies. Often these fires present with little or no visual signs upon the first units arrival. They tend to show their ugly and deadly course once the crews are deployed into the building. Counter these threats by pulling drop ceilings early near the main entry point, sending a crew to the roof to see if there is fire in the attic, and knowing if a building has a basement and the subtle signs of a fire below you. Monitor, monitor, and monitor changing conditions both in the interior and the exterior. Many times there are small changes that should be noticed before the big change, like smoke pushing downward under pressure from a concealed attic fire, engulfs the helpless crews in seconds.

There are many more "watch-outs" to discuss, but this seemed like a good list. Use this list to discuss strategy and tactics to make your next "Big Box" fire safe and effective. Let’s all make sure that the stories we tell about our "Big Box" fires are stories of triumph and not tragedy.