[MSN] Fire Prevention During Renovation Activities

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

From: bill.brooks at brooksfpe.com [mailto:bill.brooks at brooksfpe.com] 
Sent: maandag 21 januari 2008 16:00
To: msn-list at te.verweg.com
Subject: Fire Prevention During Renovation Activities


A belated anniversary congratulations to the MSN list.
 
I've been a member of the list for a number of years - archiving fire
related events.  These are invaluable as a resource of events that have
happened or could happen.
 
The item below emphasizes the need to control the activities to be performed
when work with heat producing appliances is performed in the presence of
combustible materials.  It seems it would be prudent to develop a separate
specification to control these work activities.  Generally, the
specification would require the contractor to conduct a hazard assessment of
each work activity.  The hazard assessment would be reviewed by the design
professional and the owner, then used to develop the work procedures to be
followed for a particular construction activity.  In most cases this would
increase project costs but the savings could be enormous if a fire is
prevented.
 
In a typical construction project, the building "belongs" to the contractor
during the construction activities.  Generally, the "means and methods" are
left to the contractor.  For example, in this case, the work activity is
removing old paint, but it is up to the contractor to do it safely.  When
the structure is new the losses are borne by the contractor.  However, this
approach would not seem to be appropriate when damage to the building fabric
cannot be tolerated.
 
Is such a hazard assessment currently included in your project
specifications?
 
Bill Brooks

William N. Brooks, P.E.
Brooks Fire Protection Engineering Inc.
372 Wilett Drive
Severna Park, MD 21146
410-544-3620 Phone
410-544-3032 FAX
412-400-6528 Cell



	-------- Original Message --------
	Subject: MSN-list Digest, Vol 8, Issue 24
	From: msn-list-request at te.verweg.com
	Date: Sat, January 19, 2008 5:20 am
	To: msn-list at te.verweg.com
	
	Posted January 18, 2008
	
	Heat gun triggered Wausau museum fire, restoration workers say
	
	Damage estimate: $100,000
	
	The Associated Press
	
	WAUSAU - A heat gun used to remove paint from a wall sparked a fire
that
	damaged the upper floors of a Wausau museum undergoing a $3 million
	restoration.
	
	Wednesday's blaze that broke out on the third floor of the Yawkey
House
	Museum near downtown caused about $100,000 in damage, said Lt. Dave
DeSantis
	of the Wausau Fire Department.
	
	The roof and attic suffered the most damage, he said.
	
	The heat guns were being used to remove 100 years of paint on an
outside
	wall to get it down to bare wood, DeSa ntis said.
	
	An area of dry rot apparently ignited, as did debris inside the
wall,
	including a bird's nest, DeSantis said.
	
	Workers thought they put the fire out and took a break. But when
they
	returned 30 minutes later, an inside room was filling with smoke,
triggering
	a fire alarm, the inspector said.
	
	Unknown to the workers, the fire had crept into some voids behind
the wall
	and spread, DeSantis said.
	
	"They were taking all the precautions they normally would," he said.
"They
	had water and extinguishers."
	
	The mansion was donated by heirs of the Cyrus and Alice Yawkey
family to the
	Marathon County Historical Society in 1954 for use as a museum. It
was built
	in 1901 and includes 19 rooms and a carriage house.
	
	Work to return the home to the way it looked in 1913 started in
November
	2006, and the first and second floors had been completely renovated.