ShapPhoto - Prospect Heights McIntosh Court fire 7-18-18 part 1 revised

[@k50atze]

I don't get it! Why the fire hose on the second story balcony is wasting time useless spreading water to the rejecting intact roof while unapproachable fire spreads on 2. story balcony to it's next? Is there a blind fire captain? Don't get me wrong. I see, there is a lack of fire hoses, but I see at 0:27 heating escapes at eaves height what caution fire on balcony we see at 0:50. ShapPhoto there is a lack of documentation between 0:49 and 0:50 which causes the lost of important information by spreading fire. Cutting is censorship. Who cuts a real ongoing incidence, supress ongoing informations. Be reporters, not entertainers.

[@Sonic-sh2vh]

Looks like there are fire breaks in the construction, but the fire seems to have breached them somehow.

[@k50atze]

At first sight the building looks solid and stable. At second sight you see the teenytiny appartements and balconys/terraces and the low cost roof. Why always imitate worthy shist by combustible tar paper? I am sorry for each tenant especially for those, who decorates their balconies with plants and flowers to create a home. Unfortunately this house is a wolf in a sheep's clothing.

[@theshadow1559]

Hey guys, believe it or not, there are statistics which have been compiled by the National Fire Academy and other such organizations, as to how fast a fire will spread if the VFD's Command Officer does not order an immediate interior attack on the fire by/upon the arrival of the First-In fire company. This being a crucial time in the VFD making its initial attack on the fire while the fire is still located in its original area of ignition and before it breaks out and spreads either vertically or horizontally, which it will if a successful attack is not ordered and made.

[@Bentcypress]

Great work on the video. News reports here in Milwaukee say this fire was caused by a child playing with matches. Do you know if that is true? Or is it just another case of media hot air? Thanks.

[@conorosterman]

Bentcypress7 Nah it's true. I have multiple friends who lost all their belongings in the fire, they confirmed it with me

[@dougdiplacido2406]

That type of roof design is a real heaven for fire spread. A few sheets of fire rated drywall separations would have done wonders. As for those criticizing the firefighters, get a life and shut up.

[@joewallower7079]

A few properly trained companies with experience would have done wonders early on. As for the criticism, they earned it. What a terrible display of 'firefighting'.

[@williemartin9872]

Shouldn’t make comments on incomplete information, we don’t know all of what was happening on scene, only what we can see from a distance there is a lot of questions we don’t have answers for.

[@brainfreeze44131]

It's not the design per say. But the construction and the codes. I bet the state code doesn't call for a firewall. Money in the right persons pocket or campaign can smooth over pesky codes. I saw where the city wanted more firewalls and the builder sued because state codes stated they needed less. If they had firewalls from bottom to roof and they were marked on the roof at least the fire people would have had a fighting chance. As it was, it looked like they lost it early and could never get ahead of the fire.

[@rj4590]

The architect of this complex should find another line of work...Like flipping burgers.

[@k50atze]

You think an architect was involved?

[@grenaud911]

What about a bunch of firefighters on the roof for there next fire? As I said earlier on a other video from this fire scene, this will be a nice case for insurance company's lawyers. Really sad to see in 2018.

[@peggybuetow1026]

Why don’t they keep the water on it in one place......they keep stopping and starting.......

[@ritirons2726]

The unfortunate reality is the this very type of construction is present all over the country. Just about anywhere you look you find it. We've had buildings constructed this way in our response area for well over 30 years. The real problem is the amount of void space which contributes to fires burning undetected and also allowing for rapid fire growth in those spaces. A simple fire on a deck becomes a real problem due to the cantilever construction. A room fire venting to the exterior of the building can quickly extend to the void space on either side of the window. Fire stopping/blocking methods should be used but often aren't required or in many cases if they are installed the work is often done incorrectly or incompletely. My only question as far as the fire department performing their duty is why so many small inspection holes? If the fire is suspected of already being in the void space why not some nice big holes to really let it vent. This type of roof is not possible to do a true trench cut however a quasi version of one may have helped a lot. It just seemed as if a lot of time and effort was wasted by just opening small holes, I'm guessing the intent was to see if the fire had progressed to that area (hence the name inspection cut) but I'm just wondering if some nice large holes would have allowed a lot of the advancing fire to vent out of the building. Similar effect to a true trench cut.

[@williemartin9872]

RIT Irons. I agree fire walls blocks and stops could have changed this entire scene. I question about the inspection holes, if they were looking for a second roof. I know in my district that is an ongoing problem, I’m sure you also have that issue. Mansard roofs suck, however, I fear the truck company doing the vent in the beginning contributed to the spread. I say this because the construction isn’t new, and the smoke is brown making me think it’s filtered due to the distance it traveled from the seat to escape. But I was not there and can only speculate.

[@capi1lope]

Nice thoughtful comment, but what I am really wondering is why the fire service in general is not putting penetrating nozzles in service. I see them cutting holes and letting air flow. With a penetrating nozzle, one could make the small hole wet the fuel, and cool the fire. A penetrating nozzle is the tool that they need and don't have. It seems that the fire service is forgetting that the best way to stop a fire is to simply get the appropriate amount of water on the burning fuel. I do like your thoughts on mini trench cutting too. Defensive ventilation.

[@peterp1158]

14:12 Did I hear the radio correctly? "They're gonna burn to the ground"

[@lupegarzon8986]

Death trap

[@Ramseylove]

nice job ShapPhoto

[@jefmat4625]

Where's part 2?

[@davidwx2116]

That was Hard to whatch

[@sahmuleadams5270]

Fricken Mansard roofs… hate em!

[@wannabetowasabe]

People should not paint the United States with a broad brush. Building codes very by state and locality. The type of construction used for the apartment building in this video would not be allowed in my town. Much of the reason for that is the least amount of snow the town receives, on its eastern boundary, is a little over 17 feet annually. The western portion of town, closer to the crest of the Sierra receives 50-100% more. We have received twice of that in 1983 and 2017. The construction in the county and town codes specify a minimum snow load that can handle more than those two events. We also have a paid staff of two chiefs (one is the fire marshall) and one engine staffed with four, 24/7/365 and about 30 volunteers. Fire code is stricter because we don't have mutual aid very close to us and those departments are full volunteer organizations. Also weather, strong snowstorms, can make a mutual aid response nearly impossible at times so we have to be more self reliant. The result is construction costs that are higher than the state's average. Land is also very expensive as it is a year round resort town with one of the largest ski areas in the country. I know there are some very strict building codes for various items in the City of Los Angeles, but they are reluctant to apply some codes retroactively, which would help a great deal, but also be very expensive. Surrounding southern California cities have some very strict codes. Contrast that with some of the cow counties of Nevada, where building codes are almost non-existent. Nye County, Nevada is a prime example of this.

[@JB91710]

Ineffective American fire Playing at it's best. They turned a Small fire into a Big one. Vent the roof and Really get it burning good!

[@richardolsen2798]

They sure did! Lots of nice oxygen rich fresh air.

[@lchaput7721]

Not a clue. Command didn't understand what they had from the get-go--the dump was cheaply built, poorly designed, and the fire companies asleep in their boots. A study in incompetence.

[@jackimperatrice4599]

I'm no fire fighter but dam I thought the same

[@jennypurlock2280]

They pushed fire into the house

[@malgorzatamroczka5820]

My dad lived there (im texting from my moms phone)

[@33lex55]

Another Mission Impossible for the FF's. Do NOT blame a kid playing with matches. This is just one more example of crappy American design and building. Yeah, they use brick walls, so it looks safe. But then they top it off with an origami attic. Only in America can you see a fire starting on the first floor left and spread to the attic on the right in minutes. I have seen on YT a video of a fire in Russia; a blazing fire in an old high apartment complex. It may have scorched some paint of the appartment above it, but it NEVER spread; not even to other rooms in the same apartment! Every computer needs a firewall, I think we can all agree on that. Firewall is a construction term, known all over the world, but NOT in America. It contains and/or delays the fire, so that the fire is limited and can't spread to the whole complex. If, like seems to be the custom in America, the firewall never reaches higher than the floor of the attic, you might as well leave it out alltogether; it's useless. A proper firewall should reach at least as high as the roof, and preferably, just a bit higher. In most parts of the world, a building such as this would never be approved by the authorities. Good video, though.

[@k50atze]

33lex55 I agree. I wonder why this design is approved by the authorties. Intelligence is independent from country but the rules are. So, I deduce at USA might be an economic wheighting amongst statistical fire risk and higher construction costs.

[@ritirons2726]

This "design" has been around for well over 100 years and in more countries the America. Building construction, the design, and the products used unfortunately do come down to cost. However don't play this "only in America" crap. There are plenty of countries that use the same designs and the same materials. They will burn the same way there. I'd just like to point out that you used an OLD building in your example. Old buildings are constructed completely different. We have just as many areas in America that we could say the same thing about the lack of dire spread.

[@Blacksheep1042]

RIT Irons Yes but... it is somehow much more comprehensible when it’s come to undeveloped country. When you see/ read/ learns about the scale of that epidemic in the most reach, technological developed country/ nation in the world your jaws just drop with disbelief.

[@zyglo9826]

33lex55 The kid playing with matches was just the final ingredient necessary. Everything else was in place. All it needed was a source of ignition.

[@rico334]

At 3:12, If I were the apartment manager, I'd demand that the big ass truck be removed off my grass, that crap is too expensive and too labor intensive to grow and then just have some 20 ton truck drive up on it and stab stabilizers down into it...........

[@gogomez4]

What a joke you're if I was the fireman I'd give you a fire extinguisher and let you walk in

[@eng57rtlt21]

OOPS