by Tom Wroe

Fire Science

The Uniform Building Code, Chapter 38, requires that an approved fire extinguishing system be provided for Hazardous Occupancies. A farmer located in an unincorporated portion of the county legally divided his land for commercial and industrial use. A prospective buyer wanted to move a hazardous occupancy from the city to an area away from populated areas.

The buyer obtained a building permit to construct a 11,200 sq. ft. single story, unprotected all-metal building for the purpose of conducting a manufacturing process involving large amounts of flammable and toxic materials. The finished product was benign and intrinsically safe. There are no fire hydrants nor water supply in the area, and you learn it would cost in excess of $20,000 to make this addition from a neighboring system.

This location employs approximately 20 college age part-time employees and the owner's immediate family. There were (32) 55 gallon drums of Class 1C flammable liquids with a flash point of 79 degrees F. There are no flammable liquid storage rooms, no exhaust ventilation is provided, and there is no fixed extinguishing system. There are only two portable fire extinguishers found, which were not suited for this occupancy.

Ceiling mounted gas heating devices and open electrical circuits were found throughout. Even with all the problems, this location had no record of inspection since it was constructed in 1977. It had been in operation since that time with no incident.

You are the first fire inspector on the premises since it began operation. Up until this time, previous inspectors were not permitted entry nor did they have the experience how to deal with this situation and were intimidated. You are using the first adopted Uniform Fire Code in your jurisdiction and you find the previous fire code did not specifically address these problems.

Questions:

You recognize from taking this wonderful class, there are going to be problems.

What ethical and technical issues are involved?

How would you deal with them? As part of your answer tell how would you deal with the construction of the building.

Are there ways to work around these problems and would you do any of them?