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Flames destroy apartment building under construction on Southside

1/13/2020

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110 firefighters worked for hours to get 3-alarm fire under control

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  JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A four-story apartment building under construction on Jacksonville’s Southside burned to the ground before dawn Sunday morning in a fire that kept the eastbound lanes of Baymeadows Road blocked at Interstate 295 all morning.
Flames from the Fusion Apartment at Baymeadows being built along Baymeadows Road East spread to woods but the fire was stopped before it could spread into the neighboring Hampton Park neighborhood.

The only thing left standing by daybreak was the concrete-block stairwell in the center of the building.
It took more than three hours for 110 firefighters to bring the three-alarm blaze under control, but lingering smoke is keeping roads in the area closed.

None of the firefighters called to fight the fire were injured, although their heart rates and temperatures are being taken assess heat exhaustion or other ill effects. Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Chief Keith Powers said 14 engines and seven ladder trucks were needed to battle the three-alarm fire.
​

Powers said the fire grew quickly because the sprinkler system in the large, mostly wooden structure was not yet active.  ::Read entire article here: https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2020/01/12/jfrd-battling-structure-fire-on-southside/
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Stick-built apartments a rising risk in North Carolina

10/10/2019

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​"Why are municipal leaders in the Triangle [Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill] working with developers to cover our cities with dangerous, hastily constructed condos and apartment homes made out of sticks?"
 
A concerned Durham, North Carolina resident and journalist confronts the building solution he believes is putting his fellow citizens in grave danger. To read the full story, click here.
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Brick, Block & Beers Vol I, Issue IV

12/28/2017

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Why does masonry perform so much better than other light frame products during high-wind events, such as hurricanes and tornadoes?
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Masonry's Greatest Strength
Long time South Florida residents who have weathered a severe hurricane often express a heartfelt thankfulness that they were in a concrete masonry structure. Structures built of many lesser products have weathered hurricanes but block homes provide the secure comfort of rock solid construction. This is not just antidotal – its common sense. After reading this article perhaps you will have a better understanding of concrete masonry’s built in strength.

It’s all about the “safety factor”. Simply stated the “safety factor” is the difference between what engineers expect will be the largest wind load a structure will ever be exposed to --- and the wind load that they calculate would rip the structure apart. Structural engineers always like a good safety factor – usually around 3 times or 300%. Poor construction and material deficiencies erode safety factors but if you have sufficient safety factor there is some room for error.

Understanding Wood Frame Connection Problems
Wood frame residential structures have performed poorly in every wind event I have had the opportunity to do wind damage assessment on. The problem is not in the wood itself but in the connectors. A tree branch can be very strong – but if you saw it off you will have a real problem on your hands to nail it back on to its original strength.
The lumber industry is extremely sophisticated in their design procedures. Nails and connections are assigned industry accepted load carrying capacities and safety factors based on extensive testing. All of this is proper engineering. There is, however, a number of factors which explain why Hurricane Irma left dozens of modern wood structures in ruins and zero concrete masonry structures in ruins.

These are:
  • Product Weight and Stability
  • Natural Safety Factors in Design
  • Complexity in Design
  • Complexity in Connections
Read More: "Brick, Block & Beers" Volume I, Issue IV (December 2017)
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Life is Better with Masonry! Masonry Vs. Wood Energy Comparison

3/23/2017

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By Don Beers, PE
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Your family deserves a safer, longer-lasting home that saves you money!   The energy efficiency of concrete masonry is one of the reasons it has remained
 the predominate building material in Florida for the past 70 years. Thermal Mass is 
the secret behind its energy saving attributes. 

Review the MAF Tech Note: http://bit.ly/2ngtFrI

​Contact Don Beers, PE for more information. don@floridamsaonry.com or
​561-310-9902

 #Masonry #MasonryThermalMass #EnergySavings #MasonryAssociationofFlorida
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Massive fire at wood-frame apartments under construction

5/4/2016

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Within the last year the number of large scale fires destroying wood-frame apartment complexes while under construction has increased, causing huge amounts of damage. In Phoenix this past week, another 5-alarm fire struck, resulting in massive evacuation around the area and destruction of the construction. Read more.
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Code officials ignored it. Developers ignored it.

2/16/2015

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Wood you?
Demand concrete block.

It was built to code. It had working sprinklers. But as local firefighters pointed out, once the lightweight wood assembly caught fire, sprinklers were simply no match for the 5-alarm blaze that tore through this luxury apartment complex recently in Edgewater, New Jersey. It prompted local officials to declare a state of emergency, and displaced more than 1,000 residents. Read More>
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"Good thing wood is a renewable resource----IT NEEDS TO BE"

2/2/2015

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 HACKENSACK, N.J. (CN) - Tenants displaced from last week's massive residential apartment fire along the Hudson River in Edgewater, N.J., claim in court that the lack of sprinklers in attics of their complex and use of lightweight wood construction "may have accelerated the spread of the fire."

The class action against Avalon Bay Communities in Bergen County Superior Court comes just days after a Jan. 21 fire burned to the ground the 408-unit luxury housing complex known as Avalon Bay at Edgewater, constructed in 2002.  Read More>

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Massive Fire Destroys a Large Stick Built Apartment Complex

1/27/2015

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Once again, a massive fire destroys a large stick built apartment complex, this time in Edgewater, NJ. Miraculously, there were no fatalities, just a few minor injuries. However, the comments made by Edgewater Fire Chief Thomas Jacobson are priceless: "the fire appears to have started on the first floor and quickly spread through the floors and walls because of the building's lightweight wood construction. If it was made out of concrete and cinder block, we wouldn't have this problem,"  adding the building complied with construction codes. He said the sprinklers were working and going off when crews first arrived to the scene.

This is the second time this complex has burned down; the first was in 2000 while under construction!

Follow this link for videos and the complete story: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/01/22/hundreds-displaced-after-massive-fire-engulfs-edgewater-apartment-complex/
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Wood Frame Apartment Fire

12/15/2014

 
The susceptibility to dramatic fire of tall, wood frame structures under construction was demonstrated again last night in this upscale apartment complex in Los Angeles… in case you missed this:  http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-massive-downtown-la-fire-closes-freeways-20141208-story.html

Houston Wood-frame Apartment Fire

3/27/2014

 
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A construction worker narrowly escaped death Tuesday when a fire ripped through a newly developed wood-frame apartment building he was apparently working on in Houston, Texas.

What started as a small fire quickly became an unmanageable blaze as strong wind gusts ignited the flames, according to the AP.

Watch the video here:  http://mashable.com/2014/03/26/construction-worker-leaps-raging-fire/

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