Brannigan's Complete Book Flashcards
Why do you need to study building construction?
Because your life depends on it.
It is essential for firefighters to have a working knowledge of how buildings are -
Designed and constructed.
Renovated and maintained.
Altered and fall into disrepair.
In the United States between 2013 and 2018, on average, how many firefighters are killed annually in
the line of duty?
70.
What was the largest building collapse in recorded history?
The collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001.
How many firefighters were killed during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September
11, 2001, in New York City?
343
With building construction, you must understand -
The language of construction,
How building materials behave under attack of the fire,
How different types of buildings fail in a fire and how the type of occupancy impacts fire load and lift safety.
) In 2017 more than ____ firefighters were injured on the fire ground sustaining injuries from sprains,
burns, and smoke inhalation.
Nearly 25,000
What is the universal distress signal?
Mayday
The mayday message is used by firefighters for all but which of the following situations?
When they require water for their hoselines
What is the term, based on national standards, that is used to clear the radio of all communication to
issue an evacuation order?
Emergency traffic.
When an evacuation order is issued by the IC, firefighters should -
Should leave all tools and equipment behind in order to leave the building as quickly as possible.
The radio order for evacuation is sometimes supplemented with which of the following?
Short airhorn blasts,
Siren signals
Who said, “Panic will save your life, provided you are the first to panic and are headed in the right
direction” ?
Francis Brannigan.
Why is it more appropriate for a firefighter to refer to a building as “a building of ordinary
construction,” rather than simply “a brick building”?
The proper terminology is a sign of professionalism,
The proper terminology conveys the characteristics of the building to other firefighters,
The proper terminology conveys any hazards the building may hold to other firefighters.
A document developed by gathering general and detailed data use by responding personnel to
determine the resources and actions necessary to mitigate anticipated emergencies at a specific facility is
called –
Prefire planning.
You must understand how construction ___ behave under attack by fire?
Materials.
When exiting a building after being given an evacuation order, the firefighter’s attention should be
focused in what direction?
In the direction, they are traveling
A fire dispatched as a building fire could indicate which of the following?
A fire involving the structure of a building,
A contents fire within the building
A structure fire should only indicate what type of fire?
A fire attacking the gravity resistance system of the building.
Prefire planning is a critical component of fire fighting because?
It prepares firefighters for the many potential hazards they may face with regard to a specific building.
What is a GIS?
Geographic Information System
The word plan, though commonly used to describe the prefire effort, might be a misnomer. A more
accurate term may be -
Prefire analysis
Branniganism is defined as - “___ the building when analyzing how and where the fire will spread in a
building”?
Undress.
An inspection is essentially what type of function?
A policing function.
Instead of showing up unannounced at a business to develop a prefire plan, a better strategy may be
to -
Send a letter asking the business owner to contact the fire chief to set an appointment.
According to Brannigan, how do fire departments operate differently than other services or industries
operating around the clock?
Fire departments deliver a senior officer with broad authority to make important decisions immediately
to the scene of an emergency at any time of day.
How many officers should a business owner be in contact with during the development of an
emergency plan for his or her business?
1
Preplanning can detect whether a potential disaster exists that cannot be adequately addressed by the
fire department. When this happens -
Immediately share the conclusion with the management and appropriate officials
What are the three common sources of after-action reports?
NIOSH,
www.firefighterclosecalls.com
www.firefighternearmiss.com
What is the eternal enemy of every building?
Gravity.
According to Brannigan, forces attributable to gravity and other sources of stress on the structure are
called -
Loads
NFPA 5000: Building Construction and Safety Code says, “Forces or other actions that result from the
weight of all building materials, occupants and their possessions, environmental effects, differential
movement, and restrained dimensional changes” are defined as -
Loads.
Loads are external forces acting on buildings. What are internal forces that resist loads called?
Stress \ Strain
What is the force per unit area that produces a deformation called?
Stress.
How is stress measured?
Pounds per square inch (psi).
Occasionally pounds per square foot (psf).
KIP is an engineering term meaning -
1,000 pounds.
The actual percentage of elongation (deformation) that occurs when a material is stressed is -
Strain
Which is not one of the four types of forces that can be applied to a structural member?
Strain.
What is a force that squeezes a structural member?
Compression.
What is a force that stretches a structural member?
Tension.
What is a twisting force known as?
Torsion.
The measurable turning force applied to a structural member is which of the following
Torque.
A ___ force occurs within a building member when opposing forces pull the member in opposite
directions?
Shear.
The ___ is the weight of the building itself and any equipment permanently attached to it or built in?
Dead load.
According to Brannigan, a more accurate term for dead load would be -
Self-weight.
Fire resistance is closely related to -
Mass
At what times during a building’s lifetime, does its dead load often increase?
During alterations
The addition of lightweight trusses to strengthen existing trusses, due to an increased load, will not
improve resistance to collapse due to fire. Why?
All trusses will burn and lose strength at the same time.
___ are any loads other than dead loads?
Live loads.
What are the practical implications for firefighting operations with regards to live and dead loads?
Dead loads can be accurately calculated while live loads are indeterminate and must be estimated
Typical building code minimum design load requirements for modern buildings are spelled out in
which NFPA code?
NFPA 5000.
What type of load acts on a very small area of the structure’s surface?
Concentrated load
What type of load is rainwater trapped on a flat roof?
Added live load.
Keep in mind the tremendous amounts of weight added to a building by the use of heavy caliber
master streams. A 1,000 gallon per minute (gpm) master stream will potentially add over ___ ton(s) of
weight to the building in just 1 minute.
4.
The effect of a moving load upon a stationary structure, describes what type of load?
Impact load.
A firefighter very gently stepping off a ladder onto the roof of a building is what type of load?
Impact load
A force that acts on a structure from a horizontal direction, such as wind or seismic forces, is what type
of load?
Lateral impact load
The ___ built into ordinary buildings are rarely large enough to assure that there will not be a
progressive collapse in the wake of the first excessive impact load.
Safety factors.
Which of the following are used to fortify structures against terrorist attacks?
Increasing the setback of buildings.
Placing bollards (posts) in front of terrorist targets.
Installing blast resistant security windows.
A load that is applied slowly and remains constant is what type of load?
Static load.
A heavy safe is an example of what type of load?
Live static load.
What is the term for an intermittent load?
Repeated load.
What type of walls are installed in buildings to resist lateral loads from wind and earthquakes?
Shear walls.
Which of the following is a type of structural frame designed to resist a lateral wind and earthquake
load?
Braced Frame.
Moment Frame.
The term ___ refers to a force causing rotation of a structural member around a fixed point of
connection, where the force is applied some distance from the fixed point.
Moment.
In wood-frame dwellings, strategically placed metal straps to hold roofs in place and bolts to hold the
frame to the foundation is an example of what type of bracing?
Hurricane bracing.
An arrangement of braces in high rise buildings to resist wind loads that resemble the letter “K” is
known as -
K-bracing
In old buildings and railroad bridges, heavy riveting of girders to columns from top to bottom of the
frame is called -
Portal bracing
Floors that are designed to stiffen the building against wind and other lateral loads such as
earthquakes are called ___ floors.
Diaphragm
What are the possible consequences of lightweight, unprotected, noncombustible steel buildings that
are tied together to resist wind loads?
The fire caused a failure of one part of the building may cause the collapse of other sections.
Which of the following are static loads?
Loads remaining constant
Loads applied slowly
What type of construction utilizes externally braced buildings?
Tube construction.
What type of truss is rectangular with rigid corner bracing?
Vierendeel truss.
A steel beam resting on a masonry wall is what type of load?
Concentrated dead load
Besides the use of solid block, brick and reinforced concrete, which of the following can be used to
stiffen a wall and carry the weight of a concentrated load?
Wall columns.
A load that passes through the centroid of the section under consideration is what type of load?
Axial load
A force that is perpendicular to the plane of the section but does not pass through the center of the
section is what type of load?
Eccentric load.
In a building, what type of load represents the potential fuel available to a fire?
Fire load.
If the building is combustible, is the building part of the fire load?
Yes.
The term heat release rate (HRR) or (Q) indicates the -
The rate of available energy (heat) released.
Pages 24, 53
The basic measurement of caloric value is the -
Btu.
Kilojoule (kj).
Pages 25, 52, 53
The quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of ___ of water ___, at a pressure of ___ and a
temperature of 60 degrees equals 1 Btu.
1 pound, 1 °F, 1 Atmosphere.
Pages 25, 52
Wood, paper, and similar materials are estimated to release ___ Btu/lb. if totally consumed by fire.
8,000.
Page 25
Plastics and combustible liquids are estimated to release ___ Btu/lb. if totally consumed by fire
16,000
Page 25
What is the primary determinant of whether a compartment will reach flashover
HRR (Q)
Page 265
The basic measurement of caloric value is the Btu. What is the metric equivalent?
Kilojoule (KJ)
Pages 25, 53
Which of the following is not true of slender tensile members that carry suspended loads?
The tensile member has greater fire resistance than the compressive member
Page 25
In old heavy timber buildings, overloaded beams are sometimes restored by inserting a ___ , which
goes up through the building, generally to a truss or beam extending from wall to wall in the cockloft.
Tie rod.
Pages 25, 55
Which term represents the ratio of the strength of the material just before failure to the safe working
stress?
Safety factor
For economy of construction, it is practical to use a material in a structure so that it will be loaded to
its ultimate strength?
This statement is false as written.
Page 25,
All of the following are reasons materials should not be loaded to their ultimate strength except -
The climate conditions in different parts of the country affect the ultimate strength of a material
Page 25
When two materials are combined to take advantage of the best characteristics of each, a ___ material
is produced
Composite
Pages 276, 52
The combination of two different materials in a floor is called a ___ floor.
Composite floor
Page 26
Why would a builder utilize a brick and block composite wall?
The cost of the composite wall is less than the cost of a brick wall.
Pages 27, 52
Concrete is strong in ___, but weak in ___.
Compression / tension
Page 26
A ___ is made by sandwiching a piece of steel between two wooden beams
Flitch plate girder
Pages 27, 52
What is probably the oldest structural member?
Beam
Pages 28, 52
In what direction does a beam transmit forces?
Perpendicular to such forces to the reaction points (points of support).
Page 27
The definition of a beam does not consider its ___, that is, its vertical or horizontal orientation
Attitude
When a beam is loaded, it ___ downward
Bends or deflects
Pages 27, 52
What is the term used to describe a beam built with a slight upward rise, so that when the design
load is superimposed, the beam will be more nearly horizontal?
Camber.
Pages 27, 52
A beam must deflect so little that the deflection will not be noticed. In what way can this stiffness be
achieved
Increased material mass
Geometry
Page 28
The load-carrying capacity of a beam increases by the ___ of its depth.
Square
Page 28
Considering a beam’s span, as the length of the span increases, the safe load capacity ___ in direct
proportion.
Decreases
What type of beam is supported at two points near its ends
Simple beam
