The United States loses countless lives every year from large loss building fires. Every year the NFPA reports an average 7% increase in the lives lost to fire incidents. The majority of fire casualties occur in residential units. Large loss of life in home-related incidents places the very old and very young populations at the highest risk of dying. The leading cause of home fires is electrical appliances including home-cooking equipment such as ovens. The National Fire Protection Association reported that the fire death rate per 1000 homes was 7.5% in 2018 (Badger, 2019). The most catastrophic home fire occurred in 2018 when 10 people died in a two-family house in Illinois. In 2016, the most catastrophic home fire occurred in Tennessee claiming ten casualties (Badger, 2019). The ensuing analysis examines the human behavioral factors that led to the loss of life in the Illinois and Tennessee fires, a direct comparison of facts in the two cases, lessons learned, and research on errors made in the design that led to fire vulnerability. The study delves into the behavioral factors that led to numerous casualties in the Tennessee and Illinois large-loss fires. The qualitative study assesses human behavioral factors based on how people respond to crises. It will also focus on the aspects that were similar in both cases and those that were different, the lessons learned from both cases, and the design errors leading to increased building fires. The main intent for conducting research on the topic is to understand how interventions can be designed based on human behavior response in fire incidents. Human behavior is a combination of three factors namely actions, cognitions, and emotions that determine how an individual responds to external and internal stimuli. In this case, the analysis looks at the fire as an external stimulus. The Illinois fire led to the death of 10 children between the ages of 3 months to 16 years (Badger, 2019). The building was a one-story structure. Reports from the Chicago Fire Department indicate that the cause of death was an open flame. In addition, reports also indicate that the children choked on the fire leading to loss of consciousness. The Tennessee fire occurred in a one-story, single-family home claiming 10 deaths, two of which were under the age of six. The fire killed all seven occupants on the spot while the rest died in the hospital (Badger, 2017). Reports indicate that the main human behavioral factor leading to the casualties was panic leading to the delayed response of the appropriate measures to take in case of a fire. The three that were able to escape died at the hospital due to fatal burns. The Illinois and Tennessee fires share some similarities and differences on some aspects. In both cases, the deaths occurred in small residential units. The Illinois fire occurred in a two-story, two-family home apartment and the Tennessee fire was in a one-story, single-family home apartment (Badger, 2017). Ten casualties were recorded in both incidents. The two incidents began at around the same time after midnight. The Illinois fire started at 3:54 a.m. while the one at Tennessee started at 1:21 a.m. In both residencies, the casualties were reported to be asleep at the time the fires began (Badger, 2019). This led to carbon dioxide suffocation causing loss of consciousness. In Illinois, the fire began from an exterior stairway while in Tennessee, the fire began from a short circuit in an electrical cord in the family room. Both cases show that fire casualties are fatal after midnight. Incidents occur when people leave appliances running overnight without using a fire-preventive device such as a circuit breaker or power overload device to protect the structure from fire. In the second incident, the children were sleeping in a couch after a slumber party. A legal guardian or adult left them unsupervised (Badger, 2019). Based on this information, parents should be urged to leave their children under supervision always. By doing so, they ensure that children have an adult to direct them on the necessary measures to take in case of a fire (Badger, 2019). City inspectors discovered that the unit in Illinois was already under supervision after a tenant complained of two electrical violations. An inspector who recently made a routine visit to the residence found that smoke detectors were still missing from the basement, the stairway where the fire had started, and the first and second floors. If proper measures are not taken to either close down the building or fix the existing issues, tenants might soon face more casualties. Design and planning errors during construction can lead to fire vulnerability in a building. Both the Tennessee and Illinois apartments had notable design errors. In Illinois, the house was done using an unprotected ordinary construction featuring exterior masonry walls supported by combustible beams and trusses (Badger, 2019). The lack of fire-resistant cladding increased the rate of fire spread in the building. A city inspector reported missing mortar in joints and carbon dioxide detectors in the structure. The Tennessee apartment was constructed using an unprotected wood-frame construction (Badger, 2017). The design uses lightweight wood construction that is prone to fire. Evidence indicates that the house had smoke alarms, which were removed prior to the fire. Identified errors were made without any consideration of human behavior in case of a fire emergency. Smoke detectors can help in alerting occupants before a fire spreads to multiple parts of the house providing time for evacuation. Wood constructions have also led to increased incidences because most constructors are using substandard wood or cutting costs on fire-resistant cladding.
Conclusion
Huge losses from fires could have been avoided had the building constructors and owners adhered to the necessary fire-preventive measures such as the use of quality wood constructions, regular maintenance of joints and application of mortar, electrical connections maintenance, and installation of smoke detectors. Children are high-risk casualties in the occurrence of a fire. Parents should ensure that they always leave their children under the supervision of a babysitter or adult with fire escape training. Continuous implementation of the highlighted measures can reduce the number of fire-related deaths reported annually.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
References
Badger, S. (2017). Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires in 2016. NFPA Journal. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/US-Fire-Problem/Catastrophic-multiple-death-fires
Badger, S. (2019). Catastrophic Multiple-Death Fires and Explosions by Type in 2018. NFPA Journal. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/US-Fire-Problem/Catastrophic-multiple-death-fires
