Summary

Dormitory Fire, Franklin, Massachusetts
October 25, 1995

NFPA Report by Ed Comeau

Summary

On Wednesday, October 25, 1995, at approximately 2:00 a.m., a fire occurred in an occupied college dormitory. The building was successfully evacuated without loss of life or injury. The building, however, was a total loss.

The building was a three-story, wood frame, structure that had been built in 1882 as a private residence. A number of additions had been made over the years, so at the time of the fire the total square footage of the building was 12,000 square feet. Approximately 30 students were housed in the building. At the time of the fire, there were 28 people in the building.

The building was not equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system. It was equipped with an automatic fire alarm system that had spot-type heat detectors in the residents rooms, some common areas, and the basement; smoke detectors in the common areas, and manual pull stations in the hallways. The building was equipped with audible devices to alert the occupants.

When the fire alarm system was activated, an alarm signal would be transmitted to the Franklin Fire Department. After dispatching fire department units, the dispatcher would notify campus security of the alarm.

There were two interior stairwells between the first and second levels and one interior stairwell between the second and third level. An exterior stairwell was located on the south side of the structure, and two fire escape ladders, one on the east side and one on the west side, provided secondary means of egress to the second and third levels.

At 2:06 a.m. on Wednesday, October 25, 1995, the fire alarm system was activated in the building. A resident from the third floor came down the interior stairwell and approached the closed door to the room of origin, which was Room 8. Upon opening the door, he was confronted with a well developed fire located in the vicinity of a bed in the southwest corner of the room. He could not make entry and could not close the door due to the extreme heat.

When the alarm system was activated, it automatically transmitted a signal to the Franklin Fire Department. The dispatcher, after dispatching the apparatus, notified the college's Department of Public Safety regarding the alarm. Two college security personnel were dispatched to the building by radio from a building immediately adjacent to the fire building. When they exited this adjacent building, they immediately observed a working fire on the second floor that had vented out of the south windows and was extending up the side of the building. They did not transmit a radio report to their dispatcher with regard to the fire at this time.

The two security personnel entered the building and went up the stairs to the second floor where they met the student who had come down from the third floor outside of the room of origin. They ordered him to leave the building, and then attempted to extinguish the fire. However, the fire had grown too large, and they both then exited the building via the interior stairs, leaving the room door open. At this time they radioed a report to their dispatcher of a working fire.

The student from the third floor, upon leaving the building, climbed up the fire escape ladder on the west side in order to look inside the window. It was his belief at this time that there were still occupants in the room. However, he was not able to see anything through the window other than the glow of the fire.

The Franklin Fire Department was automatically notified of the incident when the fire alarm system was activated. They immediately dispatched a standard response of one engine with three Franklin Fire Department members on board. Enroute to the incident, the dispatcher received additional information of a working fire, and a box alarm was sounded based on additional information from the college security personnel. The remaining two members at the fire station immediately responded with a second engine, Engine 4. When the box alarm was sounded, it notified all of the off-duty paid personnel, the call force personnel, and the fire chief.

Upon arrival, Engine 1 reported a working fire on the second floor of the building. Bystanders and residents reported that there were people still inside the structure, and the crew immediately entered the building in order to initiate search and rescue operations. However, conditions by this time had become so severe that they were not able to search all areas due to the extreme heat.

Personnel from Engine 4 and Ladder 1 then advanced a hoseline from the engine up the east stair of the building in order to initiate a fire attack. At the same time, additional Franklin Fire Department personnel advanced another 1 3/4-inch line up the fire escape on the south side to the second floor. However, they were only able to enter about 10 feet into the building. Even with two handlines in operation the fire continued to grow on the second and third floors.

At approximately 2:35 a.m., the decision was made to attack the fire defensively. All interior crews were removed and two ladder pipes were used to apply water.

Based on an investigation conducted by the Franklin Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal's Office, the area of origin was in one of the dormitory rooms on the second floor. The cause of the fire was accidental/undetermined.

The room in which the fire originated was occupied by two residents. Prior to the fire, the residents had been using candles and incense, which was against college policy. In addition, there had been a party in the room earlier in the evening, during which several people were smoking, according to investigators from the Franklin Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal's Office.

Considering the type of structure, the time of the evening, and the number of occupants, the outcome from this fire could have been dramatically different. There were certain distinct design features of this building and actions taken by the residents and employees that contributed to the significant fire damage that did occur:

• Insufficient protection from vertical fire spread through interior stairwells
• Lack of automatic sprinkler protection
• Insufficient smoke detection in living spaces
• Lack of self-closing devices on individual room doors
• Improper action by employees upon detection of the fire

There were several factors that contributed to the lack of fatalities or serious injuries in this fire:

• The age and agility of the residents
• Lack of disabled residents, which may have required additional rescue resources or delayed evacuation of the building
• Familiarity with the building and the various means of egress
• Quarterly fire drills conducted by the Fire Department

However, there were deficiencies in the means of egress from this building when evaluated with respect to the requirements of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code. These included:

• Insufficient means of egress from the third story
• Inadequate interior stairwells between the second and first stories

Since this fire, the college has taken the following steps:

• Banned all smoking in residential structures
• Conducted additional fire safety training for all resident directors and all residents in conjunction with the Franklin Fire Department
• Installed single station smoke detectors in all resident rooms.