Fire chief Brian Stauth stands next to a fire engine in this file photo from a year ago. Stauth has raised some concerns about the provincial decision to allow woodframe construction of buildings up to 12 storeys high. The current limit is six storeys.--FILE PHOTO
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Medicine Hat Fire Service is raising some concerns about Alberta’s decision to increase the maximum height of wood-building construction.
Current Alberta and national building codes allow wood construction up to a maximum of six storeys. The next building code, to be available by the end of the year, will allow tall wood construction with fire-resistant material up to 12 storeys high, the provincial government announced recently.
Brian Stauth, Medicine Hat’s fire chief, says the biggest risk is during the construction phase. Once construction is complete, drywalled, siding in place and sprinklers installed, the risk is reduced.
“If you are going to go down the path where we see these tall woodframe constructions or buildings going up we’d want to work with the contractor to make sure that they had an adequate emergency plan in place during construction,” said Stauth.
New technology makes taller wood construction feasible, the provincial government noted in a press release.
“Advancements in fire-protection and wood-product technology are allowing for the construction of taller wood buildings without compromising safety.”
The building codes will require encapsulated mass timber construction, where the solid or engineered wood has been surrounded by fire-resistant material and they will also be fully sprinklered.
The greatest risk though is during the construction phase when all of the timbers are exposed. There is a greater risk of fire moving rapidly through the structure, said Stauth.
“Every time you have exposed woodframe construction the risk (of fire) is higher,” said Stauth. “From a rescue perspective I wouldn’t consider the rescue challenges any greater in a finished woodframe construction building than I would a concrete and steel (one).”
Brad Readman, president of the Alberta Fire Fighters Association, says fire fighters support a vibrant wood products industry and economic opportunities for forestry workers. The concern is that mid-rise and high-rise combustible woodframe buildings have come on the scene very rapidly with little or no consultation with the fire fighting community.
“We believe that very few Alberta municipalities have the frontline resources available to protect these structures and adjacent buildings, in the event of fire, and that’s a huge concern,” Readman said in a press release.
He also noted that tall wood structures are often proposed as seniors’ or students’ residences, which magnifies the risk and the level of response required.
AFFA has suggested that the Alberta Building Code requires municipalities that provide permits for 12-storey woodframe buildings to show that adequate training, equipment and an emergency plan is in place.
Stauth says he would want to engage the local planning department early on before any approvals were given for a project like this here.
Currently Medicine Hat fire service has equipment that reaches 10 storeys and that is adequate for the height of current residential and commercial buildings in the city. If a 12-storey building was planned it would require additional equipment.
“We would be looking to purchase equipment that had a greater reach than what we have today,” said Stauth. “A vehicle like that would be in excess of $1.5 million.”
Stauth says a minimum of one would be necessary in the community.
