Two Firefighters Dead, Twenty Nine Injured
Pittsburgh fire fighters were seriously injured and two perished
in a church fire that took place in the city of Pittsburgh, but did
not have to happen this way?
By Nick Markowitz Jr., technical writer
Security Mission
Call it bad luck, misfortune, bad timing, stubborn headed, or simply fate, but two firefighters recently perished in a fire that consumed The Ebenezer Baptist Church along Wylie Ave. in the city of Pittsburgh’s Hill District. One of them was a Battalion Chief. The other was a firefighter. Incidentally, the Ebenezer Baptist Church was made famous in producer Steven Bochcos’ “Hill Street Blues“ television series. The church is a massive wood and stone cathedral-style building built over 100 years ago.
The fire started during the Saint Pats Parade a few blocks away at about 9:00 a.m. on the 13th March, 2004. The fire started with an explosion in the basement, which was thought to be electrical in nature. This took place while members were getting ready for a church breakfast. Luckily, all of them were able to safely leave the building.
As firefighters arrived, the fire quickly went to four alarms, More than a hundred city firefighters were on the scene or arriving, having been brought back from just leaving their work shifts.
Firefighters were already inside the church when a back draft blew several of them outside the building injuring them in the process. There was no hope of stopping the fire and saving the church. But, instead of going to a defensive attack mode and remaining outside the building, using what is commonly called a “Surround and Drown,” they decided to try one more time. It actually looked as if they might beat the fire, but this decision would prove fatal for two firefighters.
The heavy ceiling wood beams, which weigh several tons, suddenly gave way. This scenario has killed many firefighters and is a known killer. It is well documented by Francis Brannigan in several of his books that he wrote for the fire service on building construction. Mr. Brannigan is well known for his famous saying, “the building is the enemy, know the enemy.”
In fact, over the last few months, in Pennsylvania Fireman Magazine, which this author routinely appears in, you will find articles that Brannigan published about wall collapse. But like always, “the old man’s (fools) ramblings,” as many firefighters teasingly call his writings, played out exactly as he said it would in his books
When the church was built, the beams were designed to fit in a slot in the brick walls. Thus, the weight of several tons is held in place and distributed by the roof. Let the walls start heating up and moving, and those huge beams are coming down. The walls only need to move one to three inches for this to happen.
This author took pictures of the beam collapse at the Old Allegheny Social Hall, which my customer bought. He did so after the collapse took place, which happened because of an ice build up in the outside gutters. I called several fire officials that I knew after taking the pictures so as to show them exactly what could happen. This would aid firefighters so they can see what could happen and what to look for. This would enable them to know when it is time to evacuate. As usual, I was totally and completely ignored, just like Mr. Brannigan .The result is exactly what happened in Ebenezer Baptist Church. Firefighters charged into an unsafe structure and some of them were seriously injured and two killed.
To begin with, the fire load of the building, since it was of a mostly all wood construction, meant that firefighters did not have enough water on hand to successfully put out the fire, even with plenty of hydrants nearby. Next, you add the fact this fire appeared to be electrical by nature, it means that it had several hours to build up inside the walls of the structure. This allowed for serious internal, invisible structural damage—and since the church was balloon constructed in the first place, the explosion was the result of the fire getting to a breach somewhere in a wall. Quite suddenly, this blew out at full force when it saw a rush of oxygen.
Knowing all of this, firefighters should not have attempted to enter the church when they arrived and accessed the situation. As one veteran firefighter who survived the collapse told me, “what the hell were we thinking, going in there with just a 2 ½-inch hose line? There was no saving the building. No one was trapped. We should have stayed out.”
But unfortunately there are those who run in with tunnel vision, thinking they can take on and kill the fire-breathing dragon. This author has seen it in the many fires that I have been at as a volunteer firefighter. Knowing construction, with 25+ years of construction trades experience, I often see firefighters go into structures and do things I would not attempt. Knowing full well the danger, but be it the macho factor or stubbornness, they go right on in and then they are injured, or worse, as in this case.
I have called for a requirement that all firefighters have to do a mandatory on-site construction course were they physically have to work building structures for a couple of weeks. This will enable them to see exactly how a structure is built. Myself, and many others in fire service believe we can cut firefighter deaths and injuries in half with such a requirement in place.
Many of the firefighters who were injured were outside at the time. They were simply too close to the building. When you are fighting a church fire, you must take into account building collapse because there have been so many deaths from it. The site command also was struck by flying bricks and debris as the roof caved in. This is because they were too close to the burning building as well. You also have to consider the steeples of the church, which can collapse as well. You must have personnel and equiptment at least one building length away from the burning building when positioning for a fire of this type
When Fire command knew they were dealing with such a massively built church, they should have had the on-call City Building Engineers on site to assist and watch for signs of collapse—but they did not do so.
When all the reports are in, it is once again going to look bad for the city fire service because they did not follow established protocols. When the fire service gets serious about building construction as part of the overall training for fire fighters, then and only then will we see less injuries and fatalities.
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About The Author:
Nick Markowitz is a fire investigator and author in the fire service industry. In addition, he is owner and operator of Markowitz Electric Protection, located in Verona, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.
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