CHAPTER 16 Flashcards
Crane collapse most often occur when
They are overloaded, moved, assembled or disassembled
NOT DURING FIRES
Burning buildings under construction are extremely dangerous to firefighters. What are the hazards
- The major life hazard during the day will be workers on upper floors, especially the crane operator in the cab of the crane
- The dried out formwork supporting the freshly poured floors creates a maze like layout
- Propane and coal may be used to heat concrete during the curing stage
- After work hours at night a fire will grow unnoticed into a large fire, and the major life hazard will be the firefighters. The hazard will be the fire and the collapse of the structure
If you have a crane on top of a building under construction and the top of the building is on fire and the fire is spreading toward the crane you would be correct to order a collapse zone equal to
The height of the crane
What are correct points concerning cast in place concrete buildings
- For a serious fire the strategy should be defensive, using outside large caliber streams
- After 27 days concrete reaches its maximum strength
- Construction engineers state that if the formwork has been burned away within 24 hours of pouring the entire concrete floor can collapse
Construction site elevator hoist. Which one does the FDNY members use
Use the hoist designed for the workers. Not the hoist used to bring equipment up
Firefighter equipment may be sent up the
Material car hoist
No members in this car
Asbestos removal projects and fire protection systems in buildings under construction and renovation are important issues to firefighters. What are some correct statements
- The EPA requires a floor undergoing asbestos removal to be sealed tight and placed under a vacuum
- An asbestos contaminated building is required by the EPA to be completely enclosed in plywood on all sides
Buildings under construction or demolition are designated
“Special Occupancy Structures” by the NFPA and statistically present the greatest danger to firefighters
The worst type of crane collapse incident is when they
Fail and collapse on nearby buildings, both the building being worked on and adjacent buildings
How can you protect a trapped crane operator
Master streams should be used
What are the 2 different types of frameworks used for high rise structures
- Reinforced concrete
* Structural steel
Cast In Place structures
- Experience the most serious fire and collapse hazard
- Suffer the greatest number of major fires in all buildings under construction
- Serious fires in these buildings most often involve the wooden formwork timbers
- Formwork has lightning fire spread capability creating large fires and floor collapse danger
- The strategy at these type of fires should be defensive using outside aerial master streams to protect exposure buildings from fire spread and extinguish the fire from a safe distance
Construction engineers state that within _____ hours of pouring the entire concrete floor can collapse on firefighters if the wood formwork below is destroyed by fire
24 hour
The fire service believes this is an underestimation. A floor collapse can occur anytime during construction and can trigger a multilevel floor collapse of the entire building
Experience shows the most serious fires and most serious collapse in a building under construction occur during a
Fire in the formwork
Concrete spalling means
The collapse (failure) of the outer layers of concrete
Spalling is caused by
The rapid heating of moisture inside the concrete
What are the 2 types of concrete spalling
- Explosive
- Dropping
Explosive spalling propels concrete downward with an explosive force and is accompanied by a loud noise
Dropping spalling is similar to a plaster ceiling collapse
Spalling concrete can kill or seriously injure a member
Whether it is explosive or not
Shanties are require to be
- Non combustible
- At least 30 feet from the building under construction
- Cannot be grouped together
The number 1 ignition source for shanty fires is
Portable heaters too close to combustibles. Illegal smoking, matches and careless cooking are also ignition sources
Worker shanties should be considered a
Target Hazard
The most serious fire at a construction site is the one involving the heavy fire load created by the
Combustible formwork used to support cast in place concrete floors
In and around the lumberyard of formwork there are
Heaters to dry out the concrete. The entire floor containing the wood and heaters may be covered around the perimeter with plastic sheets to hold the heat. The heaters often ignite the nearby wood or plastic sheathing.
Fires in wooden formwork
Will spread rapidly throughout the entire floor
Single hose line attach will be useless
Outside aerial master streams are recommended
All firefighters should be moved from the building
The __________ structures experience the most serious fire and collapse hazard and suffer the greatest number of major fires of all buildings under construction
Cast in Place
Serious fires in cast in place structures most often involve the
Wooden formwork timbers. This formwork has lightning fire spread creating large fires and floor collapse danger.
The strategy at a fire involving the wooden formwork of cast in place structures should be
Defensive, using outside aerial master streams to protect exposure buildings from fire spread and extinguish the fire from a safe distance
Can a fire in formwork be extinguished via a handling from a wooden ladder
No, This is useless
Members ______use the material and equipment hoist even if that car is suggested by workers or a watchman
Should not
If 2 elevator cars are present at a construction site the material and equipment car will be correctly identified by the following characteristics
- Supported by only 1 or 2 cables
- Uses a bell system at each upper floor to signal to the ground operator to move the car. The bell signal sounds like the low air warning on our SCBA’s
- The material and equipment car has NO safety brakes
If fire involves the wood formwork that is in place before the concrete is poured is the still a danger of collapse
Yes. Construction workers use very few nails or connectors when assembling the formwork structure because it must be reassembled many times for each new floor.
If necessary firefighters should consult the _________ to determine the structural stability of the formwork
Construction shoring foreman.
The timbers placed on top of each other and fitted together will collapse progressively if 1 or 2 strategically placed columns or legs are destroyed by fire
