Fire Fighters

Expands and looses strength

Aluminum

Coper

zinc

Aluminum is occasionally used as a structural material in buildings

Expands more than steel

Glass

Windows door skylights sometimes walls

noncombustible but not fire resistive

Ordinary window glass

tempered glass

Laminated Glass

Glass blocks

Wired glass

Gypsum board

Naturally occuring mineral

Good insulator and noncombustible

Gypsum board is often used to cover interior walls and ceilings

Paper covering will burn slowly

Does not conduct or release much heat

Wood

Most commonly used building materials

Types include

Solid lumber

Laminated wood

Wood panels

Wood trusses

Wood beams

High combustibility

Acts as fuel in fire

Fire depends

Ignition

moisture

density

preheating

size and form

Pyrolysis is a chemical change that occurs when wood is heated to a temperatures high enough to release volatile compounds

Fire retardant treated wood

More difficult to ignite

Plastics

Often combined with other materials to produce building products

Combustibility varies greatly

Often produce heavy smoke and toxic gases

Thermoplastic materials

Melt and drip when exposed to high temperatures

Thermoset materials

Fused by heat and will not melt as plastic burns

Fire inspectors must recognize 5 types of construction

Types 1 and 2 and primarily noncombustible

Types 3,4, and 5 burn

Building codes specify type of construction to be used

Type 1 construction

The most fire resistive category

Buildings designed for large numbers of people

With high life safety hazard

Tall buildings

large area buildings

buildings containing special hazards

Can with stand a fire longer than any other class of construction

All structural members made of noncombustible or limited combustible materials

Buildings beyond specific height and area limits generally require use of fire resistive walls/floors

Typically uses reinforced concrete and protected steel frame construction

Type 2

Noncombustible construction

Less stringent fire requirments

Steel is most commonly used

Contents determine fire combustibility

Type 3

Used in wide variaty

Limited fire resistance requirments

Fuel loads

Contents

Combustibility building materials

Fire resistance rating depends on when the building was built

Type 4

Exterior walls of masonry construction

Wooden interior, walls, columns, beams floor, assemblies, roof structure

When constructed to meet code, has no concealed spaces

Withstands fire better than ordinary construction

Mill construction

Conversions may introduce voids and flammable contents

Type 5

All major components made of wood or other materials

most common type of construction

Often no fire resistive components

Can rapidly become involved in fire

Usually has voids and channels that allow fire spread

Newer construction is lighter weight

Buildings can collapse completely

Covering does not reflect type of construction

Two systems used to assemble

Ballon frame constructed

Platform frame constructed

Foundations

Transfer weight of building (Dead load) and contents of building ( live load) to ground

Essential to building stability

When inspecting looking for cracks

Walls

Load bearing walls

Supports buildings weight and contents

Transmits load to foundation

Damaging or removing can result in building collapse

Nonbearing walls

Support only their own weight

Removal should not affect structural support of building

Less stable than load bearing walls

Party walls

Shared by a building on each side of a property line

Fire walls

Designed to limit fire spread from one side of the wall to the other

Fire partitions

May enclose fire rated interior corridors

Parapet walls

Extend above roof line

In deteriorated state prone to collapse

Can rest on load bearing or non load bearing walls

Masonry walls may withstand rigorous assault by fire

Wood framing is used to construct the walls in many small commercial buildings

Can be covered with a variety of materials

Doors and windows

In an emergency almost interchangeable

Door components

Door

Jamb

Hardware

Locking device

Types of swinging doors

Slab doors-Solid core or hallow core

Ledge doors

Panel doors

Inward opening doors

Outward opening doors

Sliding doors

Revolving doors

Overhead doors

Fire doors and windows

Designed to prevent passage of flames heat and smoke

Rated for particular duration of fire resistance standard test

Interior Finish-exposed interior surfaces of a building

Affects reaction of building or occupancy to a fire

Fire fighters must evaluate the combination of interior finish materials