The Dangers of Illegally Converted Private Dwellings - Fire Engineering

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The Dangers of Illegally Converted Private Dwellings

06/01/2011

BY JERRY KNAPP AND GEORGE ZAYAS

As a result of the slump in our national economy, families, extended families, migrant workers, college students, and
others are forced to seek affordable housing. Unscrupulous building owners can make sizeable sums of money from
converting what was a single-family home to multiple illegal apartments or single-room occupancies (SROs). These
sabotaged buildings are death traps for firefighters and a major concern for firefighters across our country. Often, these
buildings are right under our noses, disguised as single-family homes. These converted homes may exist in any style of
house, new and old, and in rural, suburban, and urban neighborhoods. This article examines the hazards these buildings
present and provides some tactical considerations to help us appropriately modify our strategy on the scene to increase
fireground effectiveness and firefighter safety.

(1) Exterior size-up provides few clues of the extreme dangers these
converted dwellings contain. (Photo by Tom Bierds.)

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(2) Padlocks, dead bolts, and other high-security locks will hamper search
and will require more aggressive forcible entry than a typical house that
likely has privacy hardware as the locking mechanism. (Photos by authors
unless otherwise noted.)

Clearly, a private dwelling converted into apartments or SROs is an extreme hazard to firefighters. We must recognize the
seriousness of the hazard and apply the correct procedures to ensure the safety of our members. The critical factor of
which we must be aware and train on is this: This is not a house fire; it is a converted private dwelling that now contains
numerous opportunities to kill firefighters.

SINGLE-ROOM OCCUPANCY
These former single-family homes now contain illegal apartments, or SROs, that were constructed in violation of local and
state fire and building codes. There may be a mix of apartments and SROs in the same house. Each occupant in the
SRO variant has a room that generally is locked by a padlock and chains or a dead bolt, which is often positioned high on
the door. The rooms are small, and occupants frequently cook on hot plates, increasing the fire hazard. Since this is the
occupants one and only home/room, it often contains a mattress on the floor and the remainder of the occupants worldly
possessions, which often are strewn about. Occupants of the SROs sometimes share a common kitchen and/or
bathroom. It is not uncommon to find narrowed halls and a lack of proper egress from the upper floors. Apartments in
TOPIC INDEX
converted homes are usually small and overcrowded with occupants, their furnishings, belongings, clothing, and items.
Bicycles, strollers, and toys that are usually stored in outside storage sheds or garages are now by necessity stored in the
View Fire Engineering articles by topic, A-Z
living areas or hallways. To complete the small apartment, these converted private dwellings are often modified with newly
added baths and kitchens, further increasing hazards such as narrow hallways, small rooms, blocked exits, and more fire
load.

SIZE-UP
Often, there are few clues to what is behind the exterior of a house or a private dwelling. So often we are not aware of or
do not understand the lethal dangers it contains. If we pulled up to an industrial building that contained hazardous
FDIC 2014: Keep Up Your 'Reading Smoke' Skills
chemicals, the dangers would seem obvious to us and cause us to use more caution on the scene. In the case of a
converted dwelling, the dangers are concealed from us most times until it is too late. There is little indication of these
modifications from the outside, since the conversions are obviously illegal. There may be indicators such as several NIST, UL Release Online Video Lectures on Fire
vehicles in the driveway, several mailboxes or utility meters, numerous cable TV wires or satellite dishes, or an attic air- Behavior
conditioner, but these indications are not reliable and may not be visible from the outside; therefore, they will not alert you
to the dangers you may find inside. An often overlooked warning sign is an unusually high number of garbage containers
or bags of trash at the curb or near the house.
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(3) Occupants may also be concerned with the security of their rooms.
Here, a security camera watches over a hallway of a single-room
occupancy. Often, drug dealers or wanted criminals want to know who is

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The Dangers of Illegally Converted Private Dwellings - Fire Engineering

approaching their lair, for obvious reasons. Wires strung haphazardly ZICO to Give Away Quic-Bar Tools at FDIC 2014
through the building can become a fatal entanglement hazard for
unsuspecting firefighters.
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(4) The living room should be just inside the front door to the left. To make
this an apartment, a wall was constructed of very combustible paneling,
shown on the left side of the photo. This room is now a bedroom that
contains a full-size bed and a crib. This creates a narrow hallway to the
rear of the house. Note the narrow stairway, which makes it difficult for
firefighters to operate; it is almost impossible for one firefighter to pass
another, creating dangerously blocked means of egress, especially if the
upper floor lights up.

The SROs or multiple apartments will provide a forcible entry challenge. Typically, in a single-family home, bedrooms and
baths may be locked only with flimsy privacy locks, if locked at all. In SROs, security may be an issue, so searching
firefighters will be confronted with doors and locks that are often difficult to force, especially in a dense smoke condition. A
tactical consideration here is to be sure you have enough personnel to counter this threat once it is reported and
recognized.

If you detect an SRO, notify Command immediately. Safe operations dictate the need for more personnel. Searches will
be delayed because of the need for extensive interior forcible entry. This is a condition not often found in a private-
dwelling fire. Crews may have to force numerous doors in high heat and low visibility. With padlocks mounted high on the
door, forcible entry can be very slow. During the primary search, all rooms subject to smoke must be forced and all doors,
regardless of location, must be opened on the secondary search. Case histories from throughout the country have shown
that kids have been found in locked rooms while irresponsible parents party, shop, or engage in illegal activities.

TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR SEARCH

Search crews that entered the front door and ascended interior stairs to the second floor will not be able to quickly use
what was typically an unlocked bedroom as an area of refuge if fire were to rapidly extend up the stairs. Highly secured
doors may trap firefighters in the hallway during flashover conditions. In typical single-family homes, a noninvolved room
could be a life-saving area of refuge immediately available for search teams.

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(5) What once was a spacious living room is now an overcrowded

bedroom on the first floor with lots of combustible material and flammable
paneling wall covering taking the place of a fire barrier of plaster or
gypsum board.

(6) If the family living in the first-floor apartment has additional children,
another cramped bedroom must be created. Again, because of space
restrictions, beds often block exits. In this photo, the beds blocked a first-
floor door and a window (not shown). It would be impossible for firefighters
to force this inward-swinging door from the outside because of the weight
of the beds. This bedroom was squeezed between the kitchen and the
apartments microscopic bathroom.

(7) This small bath could be a death trap for firefighters. With tools, turnout
gear, and self-contained breathing apparatus, it is difficult for even one
firefighter to turn around in this room. Hooking your foot on the doorframe
to perform this hostile search will solve this problem and ensure that you
dont overcommit.

Do not underestimate the risk to members searching the second and third floors. Narrow hallways, locked doors,
flammable wall coverings, and articles (i.e., bicycles) stored in hallways can add up to a fatal scenario for these well-
meaning firefighters.

Lieutenant Frank Ricci of the New Haven (CT) Fire Department states the following:

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Consideration should be given to altering your search procedures. Instead of using the front door as the primary means of
access for upper-floor search, use the vent-enter-search (VES) technique by way of the windows on the upper floors.
Search teams enter upper floors using ladders placed at windows. The window is cleared; the floor is swept for victims,
and then the floor is sounded. Controlling the door is top priority; thankfully, in an SRO the door is usually closed
immediately, putting the firefighter in an area of refuge and without impact on the ventilation profile.

This technique is not applicable to all fire situations, but it is especially important for the safety of members if the fire
below is not controlled or is extending upward. This tactic for search operations is most important to employ if the line is
delayed or decisive amounts of water are not being applied to control the fire.

ROOM SIZE
Prior to converting the home to apartments or SROs, the rooms were generally large. Furniture was well placed and
provided for relatively spacious accommodations. In the conversion, the house was modified to contain more people in
the same square footage, abnormally compressing any open floor space. This results in cramped conditions throughout
the structure. Narrow hallways become even smaller, to create additional rooms. Small rooms may seem advantageous
for search; however, when overcrowded with furniture, small rooms can be death traps for firefighters There is little free
wall or floor space, and windows and doors may be blocked.

As a result of the small size of the apartment on the first floor, occupants have to jam all their personal belongings in a
small space. This includes furniture, holiday decorations, recreational equipment, and kids toys such as bicycles. The
hazards of blocked exits, massive amounts of combustibles to burn, and other surprises make this a death trap for
firefighters working in limited-visibility conditions. Rapid egress from the area is impossible, and entanglement hazards
abound.

A bath had to be created, again in a very small space, to service this apartment. Just off this bedroom was a very tight
bath. The small size of the bathroom and the small shower could easily cause a firefighter to become trapped in a variety
of ways, especially if he had to make a hasty withdrawal because of fire or collapse conditions.

Since there was no living room in this apartment, two couches were placed in an area just off the kitchen. To make space,
the refrigerator was placed against a window, completely blocking it.

ATTIC ROOMS
We are finding attics occupied as apartments or SROs more often. The attic provides a safe and secretive place, away
from the noise and prying eyes of the daily activities on the first two floors. Like a first-floor apartment or an SRO, because
of limited space, an attic apartment contains similar hazards. In this case, the apartment was not fully furnished.
Because of space restrictions, an air-conditioner and a computer desk block the window. This, of course, makes the
window less accessible for a bailout should the room light up during a search operation. It creates an additional hazard to
firefighters below if a trapped firefighter has to quickly push out the air-conditioner before he bails for his life.

(8) Note the air-conditioner under the computer desk, blocking the window.
Except for the narrow twisting stairs to get to the attic, this was the only
other means of escape.

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(9) Because of the limited ceiling height, smoke will bank down very
quickly in the attic, dramatically reducing visibility for firefighters searching
above the fire. Additionally, as heat banks down and builds, flashover will
happen more rapidly in these smaller areas.

(10) A view looking down the stairs from the attic rooms to the second
floor.

(11) Here, a good fire barrier (plaster or gypsum board) is compromised by

penetrations to allow heat and ventilation to flow.

Often, access to the attic is very limited. We recently responded to a converted private dwelling that had illegal living
space in the attic. The narrow stairs were off a second-floor bathroom closet and, because of the pitch of the roof when
you made it to the top of the stairs (at the eave line of the house), you could not stand straight up. To access the attic, you
had to bend at the waist to enter this newly created living space.

SABOTAGE OF THE PRIVATE DWELLING

It seems the creativity of both the owners and occupants of these illegal conversions is limitless. It is done completely
without regard for occupant or firefighter safety. Essentially, this results in the buildings being completely sabotaged for
rapid vertical fire spread from a firefighters perspective.

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First, not only, as photo 10 shows, is the house open from the first floor to the second floor, but an open stairway, now a
chimney through all the floors, goes also to the third floor (the attic). Obviously, this is an excellent vertical route for fire
spread from the heat, flames, and flammable gases from the massive amount of combustibles in the first-floor apartment.

To allow ambient heat to pass from one floor to another, occupants or the building owner often cuts holes in the transom
(photo 11) over the doorways to allow heat to flow even if the door is closed and locked. This creates another excellent
path for fire to spread throughout the building. Other vertical paths of fire travel can be created, such as in photo 14.

(12) Fire extended from the room (kitchen/living room) of origin toward the
open stairwell. Note the holes in the transom to allow heat to pass and
warm remote areas that allowed fire spread. Note also the combustible
wood finish used to modify this home. This was in the newly created first-
floor hallway.

(13) The arrow indicates the site of the previous photo. This photo shows
how smoke and heat can rapidly advance to the second and third floors
from behind a closed door when the transom is penetrated, as evidenced
by the charred molding, ceiling gypsum board, and soot-stained walls. You
must recognize the potential for rapid vertical fire spread as a serious and
deadly threat to firefighters on the upper floors. If firefighters advanced up
this stairway for an interior search, rapid fire development could easily trap
and kill them in the upstairs hallway. Sabotage of the fire barriers can
create a dense and deadly smoke condition on the second and third floors,
making forcible entry and search operations much more difficult.

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(14) Holes cut in the wall allow heat to travel from the first to the second
and third floors. This modification will also allow, and even encourage,
rapid fire spread to the upper floors. A chimney is created within the wall
within the chimney of the open stairwell.

(15) Another viable means of escape for firefighters is not available to

unknowing firefighters when they need it most. Boarded-over or blocked
windows may also prevent or delay an outside team from gaining access
to victims on the second floor (VES) and delay ventilation. The new
window was intact behind a layer of gypsum board.

Space constraints (and possibly to hide the true occupancy from nearby neighbors) lead occupants to board windows with
plywood or gypsum board.

It is also important to recall that older wood-frame homes may be of balloon construction. Therefore, in addition to the
newly created methods of fire travel already discussed, the well-known built-in problems of balloon framing still remain as
a constant additional hazard. For example, fire may easily extend vertically into the attic living area.

TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
As previously mentioned, the most critical and dangerous tactic/task to consider changing at these buildings is search
operations (especially above the fire); use VES. This provides a safe method for conducting the search and possible
rescue operation. If a firefighter is anticipating that the floor will light up any second, how thorough and effective do you
think the search will be? Additionally, consider how many times we get reliable reports of people trapped that are
completely unfounded. Our plan must be based on firefighter safety and fireground effectiveness.

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(16) Heavy fire in the first floor threatened the second floor by way of the
vertical stud channels of balloon construction.

Discussions with other fire service leaders from around the country show just how prevalent the converted house is and
how dangerous these structures are to firefighters. Captain Bill Gustin, of Miami-Dade (FL) Fire Rescue, stated on the
dangers of converted private dwellings:

Illegal conversions of single-family homes in my district are a big problem. It is important to get the hoseline in place by
the most direct means possible. In my district, fire showing at the rear of a house can often not be reached by a hoseline
advanced through the front door because the house has been divided, creating a separate occupancy in the rear. In the
neighborhood where conversions are prevalent, we take the line to the doorway or stairway that is closest to the fire
because there is a good chance that it is the only path to reach the fire.
Similarly, firefighters stretching a hoseline through the front door and up an interior stairway to reach a fire on the second
floor are likely to find their ascent blocked by plywoodthe stairway was closed off to create a separate occupancy on the
second floor that can be reached only from an outside rear stairway.
In terms of forcible entry, consider taking bolt cutters, as SROs are commonly locked with a padlock and a chain that
passes through an opening in the door, usually where the doorknob was removed, and a hole in the adjacent wall. It is
critical to get a hoseline in position and operate on the fire as quickly as possible; this is the most life-saving function at
any fire where there will be a delay in searching all areas.
Your search of upper floors will fail if the fire is not rapidly confined, and firefighters conducting the search will be placed in
grave danger. Firefighters ascending above the fire floor are depending on the engine company operating the hoseline to
protect the stairway.

Tom Labelle, executive director of the New York State Fire Chiefs Association, tells this story of a converted home in the
Albany (NY) area:

We had a second-floor fire in a legacy two-story wood-frame farmhouse with a scissor stair to the right of the front door.
When I took the line to the top of the stairs, I was looking at gypsum board! They had made it into two apartments. I could
not get to the fire.

Jeff Shupe, an experienced member of the Cleveland (OH) Fire Department, summarizes the danger of converted homes
and succinctly describes it as a changing urban environment. If our firefighting environment has changed, should we
consider changing our tactics? He further describes the need for different tactics at converted homes:

It is almost impossible for firefighters to adapt and overcome problems presented in converted homes on the fireground
because they are in the middle of a rapidly deteriorating condition bordering on or going to untenable, and they likely do
not know what is happening to them and why.

Shupe agrees with Gustin:

Another thing we have to get away from is always trying to hit the fire from the unburned side. It does not hold true
anymore. Back in the old days, that was fine, but now fires burn with more speed and intensity. We must get water on the
fire in the quickest way possible.
TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND FIRE TACTICS
Consider the following recommendations as the basis for discussion on your current strategic and tactical plans to
determine if changes are necessary to your procedures for converted houses.

1 Size-up. Commanders must pay particular attention to attic windows for signs of occupancy such as air-conditioners.
Multiple satellite dishes and cars in the driveway, excessive trash, and multiple mailboxes and utility meters are other
good clues of an SRO. An excellent suggestion is to observe the attic during nighttime hours to look for the flicker of
televisions or other signs of the attics being occupied. Although this may not indicate an illegal SRO, it sure indicates an
illegal and unsafe apartment. This may be grounds for notifying the building or fire inspector to take action.

2 Reports from search teams.Members must be trained to immediately identify an SRO and the aforementioned
dangerous conditions to Command to consider changes to strategy and tactics as required by the specific situation.

3 Search and rescue.Converted homes will require more personnel to search and conduct rescue operations because of
the increased forcible entry efforts and rescue of a higher number of occupants. If fire conditions dictate, to protect
firefighters, consider using VES to gain access and search upper floors.

4 Hoseline. It may be vastly more beneficial to get the hoseline in place and operating before conducting a search and
rescue attempt, even in low-staffing situations. Although this seems contrary to our traditional life first priority, it may be
the best tactic for firefighters and victims. We must recall that this building is not a standard house fire and likely has
multiple and severe hazards created by the sabotage of normal vertical fire spread barriers. You also must recall the
extreme hazards for the specific building in which you are operatingyou will not fully understand them until the smoke
has cleared and you can see them.

5 Firefighter safety. Another option for protecting the search crews is to make sure they have a charged hoseline with
them for protecting their means of egress (likely the interior stairs). This, of course, slows the search, which may make
this option unacceptable to some. An alternative to this is to position a hoseline to keep the fire away from and to protect
the stairs, thus protecting the means of egress. This may be an alternate plan for the second hoseline that would normally
go to back up the first or the floor above. However, we must remember that we are not dealing with a house but a
converted house that has extreme hazards for firefighters.

Another alternative to improve firefighter safety is to limit search crew members to those who have thermal imaging
cameras (TICs). Truck companies (if available) could also be assigned to ladder as many windows as possible to provide
emergency egress for members.

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6 Ventilation. This is a two-edged sword, especially in converted homes. First, it may be difficult to accomplish because
the windows may be blocked by gypsum board, which may be over interior windows, furniture, appliances, or stored
materials. Although ventilation is always viewed as a positive factor, the additional oxygen allowed in will increase the fire.
This is not new, but consider how much material is burning and how rapidly it will extend upward toward the unprotected
members. In converted houses, coordination of truck and engine companies is even more critical.

THE FIRE
On January 14, 2011, at 2231 hours, the West Haverstraw (NY) Fire Department responded to a fire in a converted
dwelling. Many of the factors listed in this article were present and resulted in a Mayday call by a fire officer while
conducting a primary search. The building was a 2-story wood balloon-frame building that was converted to a first-floor
apartment and SROs on the second floor and in the attic.

The first-floor kitchen was fully involved and was at the rear or C side of the building in a one-story extension off the rear.
The first hoseline was stretched to the rear of the building along the D side up a driveway. This line entered the rear door
directly into the kitchen and contained the fire.

(17) Despite heavy fire extending toward the second floor through the void
space, the plaster on lath with an additional layer of gypsum board held. It
is critical to realize how quickly and deadly the fire could extend to and
light up the upper floors from a first-floor or basement fire in these balloon
frames. When firefighters opened this space for overhaul, fire aggressively
shot out approximately four feet into the room. The charged line made
quick work of it and prevented further extension. If you are searching for
hidden fire, you must have a line in place to control it.

(18) Because it was easier and cheaper to simply put a layer of gypsum
board on the existing plaster, this created another layer of fire resistance
to keep the fire from spreading to upper floors through the walls as a result
of the balloon construction.

Before the line was stretched and operating, reliable neighbors reported people in the house. The second floor was fully
charged with smoke down to the floor. The captain and one firefighter, assigned as the primary search and rescue team,

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entered the front door and went up the interior stairs to the second floor. After forcing the doors, the team separated to
speed the search of multiple rooms. While searching a second room, the captain became low on air and became
disoriented and attempted to find a window. The window in that room was covered by gypsum board, to hide the SRO.
Another smaller window was located high on the wall. Distressed, he called a Mayday and was found by a third firefighter
with a TIC.

The now unconscious firefighter was removed from the building by the firefighter with the TIC and two others. The captain
was treated and transported to the nearest hospital and then to a hyperbaric chamber, where it was determined that his
blood gases had reached safe levels; he was released the following day. The captain has since recovered and returned to
full duty.

The first hoseline extinguished the fire. A second line was taken to the floor above and used during overhaul to extinguish
significant fire in the framing and void spaces. Ground ladders were placed at numerous windows as alternate egress
routes for the search and rescue teams. Overhead electric, cable, and phone wires made the use of the aerial device
impossible.

What makes this incident significant in terms of tactical decisions is the following:

1 Illegal modifications to the building to allow ambient heat to rise to the upper occupancies created a dense, zero-
visibility smoke condition on the upper floors. Given a few more minutes, the combustible transom would have burned
through, allowing fire from the first floor to rapidly move up the stairs.

2 Illegal modifications (locks on SROs on the second floor) delayed the search teams; had the second floor lit up, these
locked doors could have easily prevented the search and rescue team from gaining access to life-saving areas of refuge.

3 This was a balloon-frame building. Although fire extended into the shed roof void of the extended one-floor kitchen, it did
not get into the wall studs beyond the second floor, B/C corner. If this fire had extended beyond the second floor and
caused plaster to fail, the attic and second-floor rooms could have quickly ignited, injuring firefighters.

4 The disoriented firefighter followed all the right emergency procedures: He acknowledged that he was disoriented,
searched for a window, and called a Mayday. The window that was covered with gypsum board could have provided him
an easy egress. Despite the proper actions, it was close to a fatal scenario.

5 It was by sheer coincidence that the additional firefighter had the TIC and was able to find the Mayday firefighter and
direct the rescue. If the camera had been in use downstairs, there may have been a significant delay in finding and
removing him, and there could have been a horribly different outcome.

6 In the experience of veteran members on the scene, this was the seventh search operation in recent memory based on
reliable reports of people trapped. Including this fire, five of the seven reliable reports were completely false. A number
of extreme dangers faced firefighters at this fire with no possibility of commensurate reward, and each could have led to
fatal consequences. As part of our overall strategy, we must remember that actual fireground experience has shown us
that reliable reports are not always reliable.

7 Directly beneath the stairs from the first to the second floor was the door to the fire room. As we have learned from other
famous fires where firefighters were killed (such as Watts Street, FDNY), control of this door is often the difference
between life and death for firefighters operating above the fire. During this fire attack, an assistant chief directed the line
to be stretched to the rear of the house and directly attack the fire. Had the line come through the front door and had this
door been forced, it could have led to instant vertical fire spread to the upper floors, probably causing a flashover in the
charged upper floors, trapping and killing the three firefighters searching. Instant and decisive amounts of water applied
after this door was opened would likely have caused the fire to be controlled/extinguished. A kinked line, burst line,
injured nozzleman, or other factor that would have delayed getting water on the fire could have resulted in a very poor
outcome. The important factor to remember here is to always control the door to the fire area.

Clearly, a house converted into apartments and SROs is an extreme hazard to firefighters. We must recognize the
seriousness of the hazards and apply the correct procedures to ensure the safety of our members. The critical factor of
which we must be aware and train on is this: It is not a house fire but a fire in a converted house that contains numerous
opportunities to kill firefighters.

JERRY KNAPP is a 37-year veteran firefighter/EMT with the West Haverstraw (NY) Fire Department and a training officer
at the Rockland County Fire Training Center in Pomona, New York. He is an assistant chief with the Rockland County
Hazmat Task Force and a former nationally certified paramedic. He has a degree in fire protection. Knapp is the author of
the Fire Attack chapter in Fire Engineerings Handbook for Firefighter I and II and of numerous feature articles in state,
national, and international fire service trade journals.

GEORGE ZAYAS is the chief of the West Haverstraw (NY) Fire Department and a 30-year veteran of the department. He
is a training officer at the Rockland County Fire Training Center in Pomona, New York. Zayas is an adjunct instructor for
the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs hands-on training program and a career police officer for the Town of Stony
Point, New York.

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http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-164/issue-6/features/the-dangers-of-illegally-converted-private-dwellings.html[3/19/2014 9:31:40 PM]

The Dangers of Illegally Converted Private Dwellings - Fire Engineering

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http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-164/issue-6/features/the-dangers-of-illegally-converted-private-dwellings.html[3/19/2014 9:31:40 PM]