Section 9 Major Urban Fire Table of Contents WHY MAJOR URBAN FIRES ARE A THREAT...9-2 HAZARD PROFILE...9-3 HISTORY OF MAJOR URBAN FIRES...9-4 POTENTIAL DAMAGES AND LOSSES...9-5 MAJOR URBAN FIRE MITIGATION ACTIONS...9-6 City of Austin Hazard Mitigation Action Plan Page 9-1
WHY MAJOR URBAN FIRES ARE A THREAT The fire problem in the United States, on a per capita basis, is one of the worst in the industrial world. Thousands of Americans die each year from fire, tens of thousands of people are injured, and property losses reach billions of dollars. To put this in context, the annual losses from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters combined in the United States average just a fraction of the losses from fire. According to the National Fire Data Center of the U.S. Fire Administration, recent trends show a decline in the numbers of fires, deaths, injuries and dollar loss to property. However, despite these encouraging trends, an average of over 5,000 deaths and 28,000 injuries to civilians and over 100 firefighter deaths occurred annually over the 10 year period from 1987 to 1996. The fire death rate, by State, is shown in Figure 9-1. FIGURE 9-1 Fire Death Rate by State 1 1 Fire in the United States 1989-1998, United States Fire Administration National Fire Data Center. Page 9-2 Disaster Ready Austin: Building a Safe, Secure and Sustainable Community
The leading causes of fires nationally are arson, open flame, and cooking. The leading causes of fire deaths are smoking, arson, and heating. Between 70 and 80 percent of deaths stem from residential fires. People under age 5 and over age 55 have a much higher death rate than the average population. These two age groups account for more than one-third of all deaths nationally. For the purposes of this plan, major urban fires are those structure fires in the City of Austin that were greater or equal to three alarm fires. HAZARD PROFILE Urban fire events can have a major impact. Such events can completely shut down facilities for at least two weeks and cause more than 25 percent of affected properties to be destroyed or suffer major damage. FIGURE 9-2 Major Urban Fire Hazard Profile Summary Major urban fire events are highly likely, with an event probable in the next year. Indeed, there have been an average of over 13 major urban fire events in Austin each year since 1990, with a historical maximum of 20 major urban fires in 1998. The winter months are the peak period for fires and fire deaths. Warning time for urban fire events is minimal or none. Existing warning systems include local television and radio stations, Channel 6, Emergency Alerting System, Internet, Emergency Conditions telephone line, Austin Warning and Communications System (AWACS) paging, and the Emergency Conference Network. City of Austin Hazard Mitigation Action Plan Page 9-3
HISTORY OF MAJOR URBAN FIRES There have been 151 major urban fire events in Austin between 1990 and 2001. The Emergency Operations Center was activated 21 times for major urban fires between 1994 and 2002. Table 9-1 shows major urban fire events, by year. AFD urban fire incident. TABLE 9-1 Major Urban Fire Events 1990-2001 2 Year Major Urban Fires 1990 8 1991 11 1992 9 1993 4 1994 12 1995 12 1996 19 1997 10 1998 20 1999 18 2000 16 2001 12 Total 151 2 Austin Fire Department, Planning Division Page 9-4 Disaster Ready Austin: Building a Safe, Secure and Sustainable Community
After averaging four deaths a year for the past twelve years, twice that number have been killed in fires in Austin in 2002. The City s record of 11 fire-related deaths was set in 1990. POTENTIAL DAMAGES AND LOSSES Potential dollar loss estimates for urban fires is not available. However, the historic average occurrence of major urban fires in the Austin area serves as the best predictor of future expected recurrence. Figure 9-3 shows the recurrent trends for major urban and wildland fires. Figure 9-3 Annual Major Urban and Wildland Fire Recurrence in Austin 25 Major Urban Fires Major Wildland Fires Poly. (Major Urban Fires) Poly. (Major Wildland Fires) 20 Number of insidents 15 10 5 0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002* Note: Poly. = Polynomial trend line or fitted curve City of Austin Hazard Mitigation Action Plan Page 9-5
MAJOR URBAN FIRE MITIGATION ACTIONS ACTION FI-1: Promote use of new technologies for detecting and suppressing fires. Give consideration to decreasing the threshold for requiring sprinkler detection systems on new construction. Promote residential sprinkler systems. Provide financial incentives to retrofit existing structures to enhance fire protection. Consider an ordinance requiring sprinklers on older residential high-rise buildings. Estimated cost: On a national average, residential sprinklers add 1 1.5 percent to the total building cost, or approximately $0.80 per square foot. Benefits: As with other industries, the technology of detecting and suppressing fires is continuing to progress rapidly. Equipment and systems exist to detect the products of combustion and to control, extinguish, or suppress hostile fires. These systems include electronic detectors (smoke, heat, and flame); water-based suppression systems (automatic sprinklers, deluge systems, standpipe systems); and gaseous, liquid or solid chemical suppression systems (CO2, halon replacement gases or "clean agents" dry chemical systems, and wet chemical systems). Sprinklers typically reduce chances of dying in a fire and the average property loss by one-half to two-thirds. The National Fire Protection Association has no record of a fire killing more than two people in a completely sprinklered public assembly, educational, institutional or residential building where the system was working properly. In 1998, 31- percent of public assembly properties where fires occurred in the U.S. were equipped with sprinklers, compared with 3-percent of residential properties. In 2000, 85-percent of fires occurred in the home, resulting in 3,420 fire deaths in the U.S. The Fire Code that applies to the City of Austin is the 1997 Uniform Fire Code, which was adopted by the Austin City Council. It requires sprinkers in new construction of high rises. However, among the City s 70 high-rise buildings, only 18 or 24 residential buildings have sprinklers and only 39 of Austin s 46 commercial towers have them. Page 9-6 Disaster Ready Austin: Building a Safe, Secure and Sustainable Community
The City of Scottsdale, Arizona implemented a residential sprinkler ordinance on January 1, 1986 3. Now 41, 408 homes more than 50% -- are protected with fire sprinkler systems. Over the past fifteen years, there were no deaths in homes with sprinklers; thirteen people died in homes without sprinklers. There was also less damage in homes with sprinklers. Average fire loss per sprinklered home was $2,166; average fire loss per home without sprinklers was $45,019. Only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate, spraying water directly on the fire. Ninety percent of fires are contained with the operation of just one sprinkler. There was also less water damage in homes with sprinklers. Sprinkler systems discharged an average of 341 gallons of water per fire, whereas 2,935 gallons of water per fire were released by firefighters hoses. Responsible Organization: Austin Fire Department Implementation Schedule: This is an on-going activity. Related Objectives: Objectives 2.2, 3.3, 3.5, and 6.2 ACTION FI-2: Continue and enhance fire prevention and fire safety awareness educational efforts. Promote home inspections by AFD to warn about possible fire hazards. Encourage homeowners to: o Install smoke detectors on every level of the home. o Test detectors monthly using the test button. o Replace batteries once a year or as soon as the alarm chirps. o Search homes for fire and safety hazards. o Never leave cooking food on the stove unattended. o Keep space heaters away from flammable items. o Never leave lighted candles unattended. o Store gasoline, kerosene and propane outside your home. o Discard all smoking materials properly. o Don t smoke in bed. o Use large ashtrays that won t tip over. o Douse cigarette butts with water before discarding them. o Keep matches and lighters out of reach of children. 3 Automatic Sprinklers: A 10-Year Study: A Detailed History of the Effects of the Automated Sprinkler Code in Scottsdale, Arizona, published by the City of Scottsdale in partnership with the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition and the Rural/Meto Fire Department. City of Austin Hazard Mitigation Action Plan Page 9-7
Estimated cost: Benefits: The mission of the Austin Fire Department (AFD) is to protect lives and property through extensive fire prevention and safety education efforts, in addition to a quick and effective response to emergencies. Among the goals of the AFD are to: deliver comprehensive safety services of the highest quality and be a community resource for life safety knowledge and information about AFD services. This action will continue and enhance ongoing fire prevention and fire safety awareness educational efforts of the AFD. It will continue to help save lives and property by educating the public on how to prevent fires. Responsible Organization: Austin Fire Department Implementation Schedule: This is an on-going activity. Related Objectives: Objectives 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 2.1 ACTION FI-3: Continue to undertake an aggressive fire inspection program. Estimated costs: Benefits: This action will help ensure that those structures subject to the 1997 Uniform Fire Code adopted by the City of Austin, are periodically inspected to ensure that they are operating consistent with the code and are free from fire hazards. It will help save lives and property from fires. The types of inspections conducted by the AFD are described below. New Construction: Frequently referred to as technical inspections, inspections of new construction are provided for all structures built within the City of Austin (excluding State-owned buildings). These inspections must be passed prior to occupancy. Technical inspections range from a visual check of sprinkler and alarm systems to an observed discharge of a special extinguishing system. General Business: There are a number of occupancies within the City of Austin that receive regular fire and life-safety inspections, such as day care, health care and institutional occupancies. Also, all high-rise structures within the city receive a thorough inspection of fire protection features annually. The department also insures that all fire protection systems within structures (sprinklers, alarms, elevators, etc.) in the City Page 9-8 Disaster Ready Austin: Building a Safe, Secure and Sustainable Community
receive an annual inspection by an independent third-party contractor (this is a state requirement enforced by local municipalities). Any business within the City is subject to a periodic fire and life safety inspection by AFD. Residential: The AFD inspects all multi-family residential occupancies within the City, including fraternity and sorority houses. Due to the unique risks posed by multi-family residential structures, AFD has made them a priority for regular fire and life safety inspections. These inspections are done by firefighting crews during their shifts and are often referred to as "in-service inspections" within the department. AFD conducts more than 12,000 fire and life safety inspections of targeted properties a year. Single-family living: The Uniform Fire Code does not give direct authority to the fire department to conduct fire and life safety inspections of single-family homes and duplexes. However, through the AFD s "Home Hazard Assessment" program, homeowners can effectively conduct their own fire and life safety inspection. Public Assembly: The phrase Public Assembly refers to any structure or occupancy that is designed for 50 or more people to meet for entertainment, worship, dining or amusement. Since so many people are present at these venues (convention centers, bars/restaurants, theaters, etc.), it is necessary to meet strict fire code requirements and to ensure that the requirements are maintained over time. AFD maintains regular inspection rotation(s) of places of public assembly, including its night inspection program of bars and clubs. Responsible Organization: Austin Fire Department Implementation Schedule: This is an on-going activity. Related Objectives: Objectives 3.3 and 5.3 City of Austin Hazard Mitigation Action Plan Page 9-9