A catastrophic fire that killed many people in the United States in 2015

Each year, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes a report on the most serious loss of life in the United States. This is referred to as "a catastrophic fire that kills many people."

Such fires are caused refers to more than five people or five people were killed in house fire or cause more than three people or three people were killed in non-residential buildings or building fires, such as forest fires (fires) or vehicle fire. If a vehicle accident causes a car accident or if a local coroner or medical examiner confirms with the NFPA that the victim died of heat damage or inhalation of combustion products rather than impact injuries, such accidents fall within the scope of this study.

In 2015 , there were 9 catastrophic fires that caused many deaths in the United States , and 42 people died , including 4 children under 6 years of age. And in 2014 occurred in 25 cases of such fires, a total of 131 people were killed and the dead included 11 children under six.

In the past l0 years, these fires decreased significantly. In 2006 , there were 36 fires that caused many deaths. The death toll was 223 people, including 28 children under 6 years of age. From 2006 to 2015 , there were 243 catastrophic multi-person deaths, including 126 fires, 59 non-residential building fires, and 58 non-building fires. These fires caused a total of 1,317 deaths, of which 726 people died in residential fires, 305 people died in non-residential building fires, and 286 people died in non-building fires.

Let us review the relevant information of the catastrophic fire in the past 10 years:

(1) Death. The number of deaths from residential fires rose from a minimum of 5 to 10 people. Fires in non-residential buildings caused 329 deaths, among which the fire caused by the explosion of coal mines caused the largest death toll. Non-structural fires caused 3 to 24 deaths. The largest casualty accident was a fire caused by an aircraft crash.

(2) Children under 6 years old. From 2006 to 2015 , 222 children under the age of 6 died of 105 fires. Of these fires, 92 were residential fires, 8 were non-residential building fires, and 5 were motor vehicle fires. The maximum number of fires among those killed by the age of 6 was five , which occurred in apartment buildings.

(3) The time when the fire occurred. Most fire deaths of catastrophic (in 243 and 140 cases) occurred at 11:00 to 19:00, a total of 779 people were killed. Among them, 176 victims were children under 6 years of age. These fires occur most frequently in residential fires (from 106), non-residential fires 24 cases, 10 cases of non-building fires.

(4) Testing and extinguishing equipment. Of the 124 buildings with information reports on smoke detection systems, only 56 buildings had complete testing equipment. Of these, 19 detection systems were in operation and 17 were not. The remaining 20 are running without reports. In 17 fires, the detection system was not operating and there were 10 fires. The smoke alarm had no battery. The other 7 fires did not report the cause.

In 68 fires (54 residential fires and 14 non-residential building fires ) , there was no smoke alarm. These fires caused 369 deaths, of which 86 were children under 6 years of age.

There is very little information on the automatic fire extinguishing system, and only six buildings have a fire extinguishing system. 4 wherein the system is running, 2 is not running. The reason why the two systems did not operate was not reported. In the four fires in which the fire extinguishing system was operating, these systems were either not in the area of ​​fire or were damaged by the explosion.

There were no fire extinguishing systems in 122 house fires (99 residential fires and 23 non-residential building fires ) , causing 695 deaths.

1 The discovery of 2015

The number of catastrophic fires that caused more deaths in 2015 has fallen sharply from the past, and this is the lowest number of such fires ever reported and the related death toll reported. A total of 9 such fires occurred , causing 42 deaths. Among these fires, there were 4 fires in residential buildings, 23 deaths, including 4 children under 6 years old; 2 fires in non-residential buildings, 8 deaths; 3 forest fires and fires caused by aircraft crashes, 11 deaths. And since 2014, 25 of these fires occurred, resulting in 131 deaths, including 6 children under the age of 11.

The most serious fire in 2015 in New York, where firefighters in 12: find a 1 000 ft (93 m) to reach the scene of the fire when the 23 single-family detached three-tier wooden houses have been surrounded by fire. At the time of the fire, a family of 9 were at home and 7 children were buried in the sea of ​​fire. The oldest child was 16 years old, and the youngest was only 5 years old. After the fire was extinguished, the firefighters thought that due to the Sabbath day ceremony, an electromagnetic oven in the kitchen on the first floor remained open overnight, igniting nearby combustibles. The fire spread to cabinets, walls, and then throughout the kitchen, spread throughout the dining room, living room, and then through the open door, into the hallway, spread to the bedroom on the second floor. A smoke alarm was installed in the basement, but due to its location, it did not work. Mother tried to save the children in the bedroom on the second floor, but because of the heavy smoke and high temperature, it could not be saved. She and a daughter escaped and were treated for smoking a lot of smoke and being burned.

By 2015, about US firefighters put out the fires 1 345 500, of which 501 500 from the non-residential building fires, 844,000 motor vehicles from the outdoor fire or fire. In short, these fires caused about 3,280 deaths. Of these fires, 2,685 people died in building fires: 2,605 people died in residential building fires and 80 people died in non-residential building fires. Another 595 people died in motor vehicle fires or outdoor fires. 9 cases were classified as deaths caused by catastrophic fires, accounting for a small fraction of the total number of fires last year, 42 people died of the total number of fire deaths in the United States in 2015 1. 3 % .

2 Catastrophic house fires

Compared with 2014, 15 cases, 4 cases occurred in 2015, causing catastrophic residential fire deaths. All four of these fires occurred in a single-family home, causing 23 deaths, a decrease of 65 from 2014 . Among the 23 victims, 4 were children under the age of 6 and this figure was 7 fewer than in 2014 . All four residential fires occurred between 11 am and 7 pm.

There are four fires and 1 on the above-mentioned seven deaths. The second occurred in a 16-386 (1 522 m) three-storey stone single-family single-family building and 6 people died in the sea of ​​fire. There was an alarm system in the house, and the alarm sounded. The alarm company was notified outside the site and the alarm company notified the fire department again. This fire ignition source is (4. 6 m) high below or near 15 ft Christmas tree placed in a large room. This tree has been at home for nearly a month. The high-resistance connector in the floor switch socket under the tree lit the plastic film or tree skirt and lit the Christmas tree. The fire quickly spread. As the facts show, even if the alarm system played a role, the six victims could not escape.

The other two fires were all killed five people. Since first fire occurred at 16:00 on a 1 200 ft, (122 m) of the single single-family, without any protection of the wooden structure of the building. There is no report on the detection or extinguishing equipment information. Multiple locations caught fire and the cause of the fire was unknown. Another fire that caused five deaths occurred in a three-story ordinary residential building without any protection. This building is connected to a two-unit apartment building. This unexplained fire took place on a closed porch and spread through an open window to the connected apartment building. Both buildings caught fire. One man died in a building that caught fire. One mother and her three children died in the second building connected.

3 Catastrophic non-household fires

In 2015 , 3 non-structural fires occurred , killing 11 people, including 3 firefighters. Compared with 2014 , the number of such fires has decreased by 3 , and the number of deaths has also been reduced by 15 people.

Since the first fire occurred when a small plane crashed into an apartment building four units. The fuel on the plane immediately caught fire and passengers were trapped in the plane. Four passengers were burned; five other passengers died of multiple blunt force injuries. There were no casualties in the apartment building.

The other two fires were forest fires/urban-rural fires. Since the first fire burned an area of 30,783 hectares burned to death four people (three people in the house and one outside next to a car).

In the second incident of forest fires, three firefighters were devoured by the blazing fire due to sudden changes in the direction of the wind . They tried to escape, but their visibility was too low. Their equipment deviated from the road and fell to a 12-meter- high embankment. One firefighter survived.

4 Fire-fighting equipment and smoke detection

There was no fire extinguishing equipment in the building fire in 2015 . This is very unfortunate because water-spraying fire extinguishing installations in many different buildings ( including homes ) have been proven life-saving tools. Installing a water-spraying fire extinguishing device can reduce the risk of death from a residential fire by approximately 80 % , while the water-spray extinguishing device can reduce the average property loss by 71 % per home fire .

Six of the catastrophic building fires that occurred in 2015 were equipped with automatic smoke detection equipment, and four of them were automatic smoke detection equipment. The information of the automatic smoke detectors in the four fires was as follows: Three houses were equipped with smoke alarms and all were running, but there was a slow response and the other one was in the basement and could not effectively remind the victims. The third alarm system Working properly, the alert company was notified and the alert company notified the fire department again, but did not know why the occupants were unable to escape. There is no smoke alarm installed in the free building.

Smoke alarms have been shown to effectively reduce the risk of death from residential fires. The most effective is the AC power supply, back-up battery, multiple alarms connected to each other. These alarms should be installed outside each sleeping area and installed on every floor and every bedroom. According to the manufacturer's recommendations, the owner should regularly detect the smoke alarm. The American Fire Protection Association recommends testing smoke alarms at least once a month.

The battery should also be replaced according to the manufacturer's recommendations; traditional batteries should be replaced at least once a year. If the siren sounds "squeaky", it is warning the battery is low and the battery should be replaced immediately. All smoke alarms, the alarm including wiring and use of the battery alarm l0, l0 years of use should be replaced in time, they can not react if the test properly, early replacement.

Smoke alarms are effective only if people in the building leave the building after they have sounded. Children should be familiar with the sound of the normal operation of the smoke alarm, follow the escape plan after repeated exercises. The plan emphasizes that there must be two safe passages from any location. Once you leave the building, you will go to the designated assembly site. Retreat exercises in residential buildings are part of many school curricula. Practicing an escape plan can help families determine if children and others can be awakened by siren if smoke alarms sound at night. All these can be considered as factors in the escape plan. Practice of escape plan and basic fire rules can prevent many fires and deaths mentioned in this report.

This data from the "National Fire Protection Association Journal" 2016 9 - 1O months author: (Stephen · G · Badger)