By Sharif Durhams Steve Harrison and Peter St. Onge
The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
 Photos courtesy of Salisbury FD Justin Monroe and Victor Isler. |
SALISBURY, N.C. — Firefighters knew any blaze at Salisbury Millwork could grow quickly, fueled by sawdust and adhesives, and that fighting it would be difficult due to a shortage of available water, according to plans the Fire Department keeps on area buildings.
That “pre-plan,” released at the Observer’s request, also called for an “aggressive attack” to fight fires at Salisbury Millwork.
Salisbury fire Chief Bob Parnell said Friday during a news conference that his firefighters did “exactly what they were supposed to do” at a March 7 fire at the millwork that killed two firefighters.
He also said the Salisbury city manager, David Treme, told him in the wake of the tragedy to create a panel of firefighting experts to examine the strategies used in fighting the fire.
Investigators said Friday the fire wasn’t arson and started in a drop ceiling in a basement below the millwork’s office.
The cause of the fire is “undetermined,” said Earl Woodham, spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He suggested investigators knew what caused the fire, but didn’t want to say publicly.
Woodham and city officials refused to answer questions whether firefighters should have been sent inside the building, or whether the department should have been more conservative.
The millwork presented a number of challenges, according to the pre-plan, which can be consulted by firefighters while en route to a blaze. There are parts of the building where flames could be hidden. Hazardous materials were inside the manufacturing area. The plan noted “rapid overhaul for hidden fires, numerous additions make it difficult to search.”
The plan said the department could get 4,300 gallons of water per minute from nearby hydrants. If Salisbury Millwork was fully engulfed by flames, the fire would need more than 11,000 gallons of water per minute.
Gary Mocarski, of the S.C. Fire Marshals Association, said it’s not uncommon in old mill towns for there to be less water pressure than in newer areas. He said it appears the Salisbury Fire Department followed its pre-plan by calling for help to get more water, and by laying hoses across nearby railroad tracks to get fire from faraway sources.
After the fire started in the basement, some witnesses and firefighters have said they thought the blaze was contained in one part of the building. But it spread quickly to a manufacturing and warehouse area where a three-man team was manning a hose.
Firefighters Justin Monroe, 19, and Victor Isler, 40, were killed. A rescue team retrieved Rick Barkley from the warehouse. He has first- and second-degree burns.
Firefighters are facing severe challenges more often in commercial buildings, a fire expert told the Observer.
“Firefighters today are seeing more and more dynamic and hostile fire behavior,” said Bobby Halton, a 26-year firefighting veteran who trains thousands of firefighters a year at the national Fire Department Instructors Conference.
Halton does not know what was inside the manufacturing area at Salisbury Millwork. But he said fires are spreading more quickly than in past decades because materials used in manufacturing -- such as glues, plastics and particleboard -- have significantly larger heat release rates than the hardwoods and metals once used more prominently.
“That type of phenomenon is becoming more common than ever before,” Halton said.
Carl Peterson, of the National Fire Protection Association, said it’s a judgment call as to how aggressive firefighters should be when trying to save property.
“Obviously if they pull up and they have a lot of smoke blowing out from everywhere, you shouldn’t be inside,” Peterson said. “If you pull up and there is a little bit of haze, at that point, you don’t write the building off.”
The Fire Department’s inspections for the millwork, released Friday, found only one violation this decade. In the last four years, there were “no hazards apparent,” according to the inspections.
The N.C. Department of Labor, in its last inspection of the millwork, in 2002, found 20 violations. Only one violation was deemed serious, and it didn’t appear to pose a fire hazard.
Most of the violations stemmed from the millwork having improper signage for emergency exits and not having portable fire extinguishers available.