COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Fire investigators got their first look Tuesday at what may have led to a massive five-alarm fire in College Park that burned an apartment building under construction.
Prince George's County fire investigators were raised in a fire truck's bucket early Tuesday afternoon to examine the area of the apartment building where Monday's fire seems to have started.
No one is yet permitted in the building, in the 4700 block of Berwyn House Road. Fire officials said the risk of collapse of the upper floors is too great. Firefighters continued to put out hot spots Tuesday.
Fire officials cite the type of materials used in construction -- all permitted by code -- as a factor in how hard the fire was to fight.
"Our biggest challenge is access to the building. It's a lightweight wood truss construction, and a majority of all the fire was in the roof area of the trusses, which immediately started to collapse," Prince George's County Assistant Fire Chief Alan Doubleday said. "Once they are loaded excessively by water or exposed to fire is when they have a large potential for collapse."
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6 comments:
You build with crap, you pay the price.
Who wants to build a house or anything with concrete??
Construction materials questioned? Did they answer back?
Options are easily out there. If the weight of water being held by the drywall ceiling is an issue, then drains could be installed with rated closures, or a different fireproof material that would collapse under water weight like a suspended ceiling could be used. Also available are lightweight metal trusses made right here on the Shore in Delaware. They won't burn at all, so no water would be required.
Good call on all involved to reduce monetary and possibly even some human loss.
It is called State contract. State always uses lowest quality / discontinued material. All they care about was it suitable when contract was written X amount of years ago. This proves very poor DGS writing specs for state buildings. This building would never survive Hurricane force winds and lives would be destroyed / sacrificed by poor State management. My pole barn had to withstand 140 + mph winds. These dorms would not. Typical for government construction.
@April 26, 2017 at 4:21 PM
It's not about building a house out of concrete.
It's about a 6 story mixed use, multiple unit building constructed the same way one would build a 2,500 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath tract house.
The damm thing was a fire trap before the contractor finished framing the third floor.
Sand Box John
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