EMS Fire Incident January 16, 2001

Post-Incident Synopsis: On Tuesday, January 16, 2001, smoke from a smoldering fire in EMS WB 91 was detected by the building's smoke detection system which activated the evacuation annunciation alarm. Lab personnel from EMS W185 attempted to extinguish the combustible material but were driven away by the thick smoke. The University Police responded to the alarm and they immediately notified the Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD). MFD extinguished any remaining fire and ventilated the building. There were no injuries and property damage was minimal. Post-incident reports were issued to campus personnel for comment and follow-up corrective action.

Location of Fire in WB91 Room WB 91, at source of fire, after MFD extinguished any remaining smoldering materials. The combustible material involved in this incident appeared to be several small wooden storage crates and some plastic sheeting (bottom of picture).

Also in this room were several containers of hydraulic oil and hydraulic equipment for apparatus in room W 185. Hydraulic oil is a combustible liquid (NFPA/HMIS Fire Rating = 2), however it didn't appear the oil was a fuel source for this incident.

Oxy-Fuel cutting was the probable cause of this incident The probable cause of the fire was a torching operation performed in room W 185, which is directly above room WB 91. Lab personnel reported smelling smoke approximately one half-hour after the torching operation ceased.

We believe spark or slag from the torching in W 185 dropped through the floor jack-stand holes onto combustible materials in room WB 91 (see pictures below).

Holes in deck (ceiling), which spark probably fell through
Room WB 91: note the jack-stand holes in ceiling, directly above the fire source, and below the torching operation.
Deck penetration, this one plugged with tennis ball, in W185
Example of a floor jack stand-hole in room W 185; some holes were not plugged or covered at the time of the incident. This particular hole is plugged with a tennis ball.

View of WB 91 Room WB 91: View of hydraulic pumps for civil/mechanical enginerring research equipment in room W 185. Note the dry chemical fire extinguishing medium throughout the room, including on the equipment.

Another view of WB 91 View of WB 91

Below is a photo of the corridor leading to room WB 91 (area of fire). Departments on campus must remember that storage in hallways and corridors is strictly regulated. Storage must not obstruct egress routes, interfere with normal building operations or hinder emergency response operations.

In this particular incident, the Milwaukee Fire Department was required to work around these obstructions in order to gain access to WB91. This type of obstacle both increases the risk to response personnel and hinders response efforts.

Please note the dirt and dry chemical fire extinguishing medium tracked throughout the corridor from just this small fire. These type of incidents can be very disruptive to both research and normal campus activities.

 Obstructed egress corridor adjacent to WB 91

non-code compliant electrical apparatus Immediately adjacent to the combustible material in WB 91 was this non-code compliant extension cord receptacle box. We do not believe this was a probable cause for the incident, however this item is in violation of good fire prevention practices and OSHA/DCOM/NEC code. For more background information on this seemingly harmless item, please see Fire Safety: What's Wrong in this Picture #6. Other interesting fire prevention information can be found on the UWM Fire Safety Index Page.

Updated Mayy 2, 2006 by SAK