Attic Fire

[Martin Compton]

On my way to an inspection in a gated development in the La Quinta, CA area, I saw a fire damaged house. On my way back, I stopped and took a few photos. The garage appears to be burned out and the roof over the house failed. I would guess that there was a fire separation between the garage and the attic violation. There are a lot of homeowners who have installed evaporative coolers with vents through the fire separation ceiling and pull down ladders. The local newspaper did not have much information except that the three occupants escaped unharmed and there was a half million dollars worth of damage. Many if not most realtors do not consider this a problem. One even says that the evaporative cooler vents in the ceiling will cool the attic which lowers your a.c. costs.
Most of our garages in this area that have a drywall ceiling do not have an additonal fire separation wall between the garage attic and the house attic.

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[Rolland Pruner]

Martin: I would think the fire dept was the cause of the roof failure. They cut a hole in the roof for fire to exit!!

[Jerry Peck]

I would guess that there was a fire separation between the garage and the attic violation.

I would not make that presumption - the fire could have started in the attic.

Not even knowing this:

There are a lot of homeowners who have installed evaporative coolers with vents through the fire separation ceiling and pull down ladders.

Most of our garages in this area that have a drywall ceiling do not have an additonal fire separation wall between the garage attic and the house attic.

No reason to have a secondary separation wall when the garage ceiling is at least 1/2" drywall.

If we were to think of all the ways people can screw houses up and recommend ways to defeat those screw-ups ... the houses would be built like M1 Abrams tanks.

[Bruce Ramsey]

Martin: I would think the fire dept was the cause of the roof failure. They cut a hole in the roof for fire to exit!!

Yeah, kinda.

Fire departments cut holes in roofs to let the heat and combustion gases out. Wood combusts at 451 degrees. If they can release the heat in the attic to lower the temp below 451, the wood will not burn. As items burn they release gases which are combustible. Opening the roof releases the combustible gases and helps to cool the attic space below the ignition point.

As a secondary measure, it provides access to the attic to apply water. Often you will see a mist pattern vs. a stream pattern. The mist turns to steam converting the heat to steam. This serves to cool the area below the ignition point.

Fire needs three things: heat, oxygen and fuel. If you reduce or remove the heat below the ignition point, the fire will self extinguish.

[Martin Compton]

I would not make that presumption - the fire could have started in the attic.

It appears from an on site observation and the photos that the garage was totally burned out. It does not seem likely that a fire starting in the attic would burn out the garage as a fire starting in the garage migrating to the attic with fire separation violations.

No reason to have a secondary separation wall when the garage ceiling is at least 1/2" drywall.

Yes, I agree that a secondary separation wall is not required, but they do exist. When I find a pull down ladder violation, I check to see if there is fire separation between the garage attic and the house attic. And in some cases, I have found fire separation walls between the garage attic and the house attic. I have a secondary fire separation wall in my own house (based on observations during construction).

My main point is that attic fires can be a real disaster. Therefore, be observant of fire separation violations that could cause this to happen when a fire orginates in the garage. There is some resistance to this realization in the real estate community.

[Jerry Peck]

My main point is that attic fires can be a real disaster. Therefore, be observant of fire separation violations that could cause this to happen when a fire orginates in the garage. There is some resistance to this realization in the real estate community.

I completely agree with that - even some home inspectors (and some municipal code inspectors too) do not pay as much attention to that as they should.