A fire that destroyed a residential complex under construction in Richmond has provided some lessons for other municipalities considering six-storey wood frame buildings.
A six-storey residential building that was under construction in Richmond was destroyed by fire in May. Richmond Fire-Rescue had to call in firefighters from other jurisdictions to help fight the blaze on Cambie Road.
New Westminster's development services and fire departments recently provided a staff report to city council about fire safety and other concerns about six-storey wood-frame building construction.
They aren't opposed to this type of construction but want the city to be aware of some concerns and ways of addressing those concerns.
Frank Durante, the city's manager of building inspections, said the provincial government enacted new regulations in 2009 that permitted mid-rise wood-frame buildings.
The B.C. Building Code now includes provisions for mid-rise wood-frame buildings around matters such as sprinkling, height limitations, size limitations, exterior clad-ding, hold-open devices for doors and more.
"The code added extra conditions above what a four-storey would have," Durante noted.
According to Durante, a mid-rise wood frame building has been built in Kelowna and another has been proposed in North Vancouver.
"We have a preliminary one that has come in. It is across the street," he said about a site near city hall. "It is in the preliminary stage."
New Westminster Fire and Rescue has considered a number of issues around this type of development. The report cites issues such as the fire department's ability to fight fires from the interior and exterior, the ability for portable ladders to be used to fight fires, the lack of fire sprinkler systems in buildings that are under construction, and the ability for the fire department to have the equipment and staffing resources to respond to a fire in a sixstorey building.
"While it is understood that we have many buildings within the city that are as high or greater than six storeys in height, most current buildings exceeding four storeys in height are constructed of non-combustible materials," said a staff report. "Fire developing within higher wood frame structures will present additional challenges."
The head of the New Westminster Fire and Rescue Service, however, said these issues could be addressed when the city's fire plan is updated.
Fire Chief Tim Armstrong said he doesn't want to scare council off from the concept of six-storey wood frame buildings but wants them to be aware of some of the concerns about that type of construction.
Coun. Bob Osterman said the city would have to ensure that the fire department had access to all sides of six-storey wood frame buildings.
"I can certainly see we have to be very, very careful for granting variances for the site, side yard variances," he said. "I'd be very uncomfortable seeing a sixstorey wood frame building with a six-foot side yard clearance to the next building."
Armstrong said a fire in a six-storey building would tax the fire department's on-duty staffing resources pretty significantly.
He noted that calling staff back to work is becoming "more and more challenging," something that recently prompted Richmond Fire-Rescue to ask New Westminster to assist with a fire because it couldn't get enough of its firefighters back to work.
Durante said it doesn't make sense to require sprinklers to be installed in buildings under construction for various reasons, but a 24-hour fire watch would help "mitigate a fire taking hold" because it would be discovered early.
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