Fire Fighters Working Above Fire-Damaged Floors -New NIOSH Report

Fire fighters are at risk of falling through fire-damaged floors. Fire burning underneath floors can significantly degrade the floor system with little indication to fire fighters working above. Floors can fail within minutes of fire exposure, and new construction technology such as engineered wood floor joists may fail sooner than traditional construction methods. NIOSH recommends that fire fighters use extreme caution when entering any structure that may have fire burning beneath the floor. Report HERE

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The NIOSH Alert: Preventing Injuries and Deaths of Fire Fighters due to Truss System Failures includes relevant information and prevention recommendations. Construction truss systems and engineered floor joists have similar collapse hazards associated with fire degradation.

The NIOSH Alert is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2005-132/

The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) and the U.S. Fire Administration have developed the following Web site with information for the fire service about traditional and engineered wood products: http://www.woodaware.info/. A CD entitled Awareness Level

Firefighter Training for Modern Wood Products developed in cooperation with the Illinois Fire Service Institute is available from fire@woodaware.info.

Underwriters Laboratories, with funding from the Department of Homeland Security, has developed an on-line course for fire professionals, "Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions" available at http://www.uluniversity.us/

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Building and Fire Research

Laboratory maintains a Web site with links to publications on fire safety topics: http://www.fire.nist.gov/. Information on engineered wood I-joist research at NIST can be found at http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2007_0830.htm#firetest.

NIOSH Web site at www.cdc.gov/niosh