Summary

Office Building Fire, Treasury Building, Washington, DC
June 26, 1996

NFPA Report by Ed Comeau

Summary

A fire occurred in the United States Treasury Building on June 26, 1996. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the District of Columbia Fire/Emergency Medical Service concluded that the fire was caused by roofing operations that were being conducted at the time. The fire damaged 8,300 square feet of the roof structure over the north portion of the building and caused water and smoke damage throughout the building.

Based on the NFPA investigation and analysis of this fire, the following are considered to be significant factors that contributed to the loss of property in this incident:

• The failure to take adequate safety precautions during roofing operations;
• The lack of fire barrier separations in the void space;
• The lack of smoke or fire separations within the building;
• The lack of HVAC interlocks with the fire alarm system that could have shut down the HVAC system upon alarm and limited the spread of smoke within the building and could have prevented smoke from spreading to the adjacent annex building through an underground tunnel; and
• The open tunnel between the two buildings without adequate smoke or fire barrier separations.

The lack of protected enclosures surrounding the means of egress left these escape routes vulnerable had a fire occurred within the structure on one of the occupied floors. In addition, these unprotected vertical openings contributed significantly to the spread of smoke throughout the building.

The rapid response of trained personnel from the building's security forces was instrumental in holding the fire in check until the arrival of the municipal fire department. A number of dry chemical fire extinguishers were discharged on the fire, helping to limit the spread of the fire over the surface of the roof. The fire, however, continued to burn in the inaccessible combustible void space underneath the roof. The fire resulted in the destruction of approximately 8,300 square feet (771 square meters) of the roof structure. The building was closed for 4 days, displacing approximately 1,200 to 1,400 employees.