1900 Of the tenement house fires..... a very detailed analysis is made of the course of such fires through the buildings, showing the number and percentage of those that extended through light-shafts, through the dumbwaiter and elevator shafts, through halls and stairs, through partitions and flooring, and in other ways: It appears from a study of these statistics that, during the period under examination (1898, 1899 and the first half of 1900), there were in the City of Greater New York a total number of 16,948 fires, and that 7,943 of these occurred in tenement houses, i. e., that nearly one-half of all the fires occurred in buildings of this kind. Of these 7,943 tenement house fires 7,614 were confined to the point of starting, while 339 extended through the building; that is, 4 per cent, of these fires were serious in their consequences. Of the 329 fires which extended through the build- ing, 76, or 26 per cent., spread by means of the light- shafts; 29, or 10 per cent., through the dumbwaiter and elevator shaft, 59 of them, or 20 per cent., through the halls and stairs; 14, or 5 per cent., through the light-shaft combined with the halls and stairs; 70, or 24 per cent., through the flooring or partitions, 14, or 5 per cent., through the spaces around pipes; 16, or 5 per cent., through windows outside the building, and 18, or 6 per cent., in other various ways. That is, approximately speaking, one-fourth of all the fires went through the light- shafts, one fifth through the halls andstairs, while another ONE FOURTH SPREAD BY MEANS OF PARTITIONS AND FLOORING. It becomes evident, therefore, that the small, narrow light-shaft, serving as a flue, is a source of the greatest danger in buildings of this kind, and from the point of view of fire, as well as from the sanitary point of view, the construction of such shafts in future tenement houses should be absolutely prohibited. It is equally apparent that the public halls and stairs in such buildings should be made absolutely fireproof, and that every pre- caution should be taken to prevent the spread of fire by confining it to such fireproof portions of the building. (????????)** Mr. Egbert W. de Forest, Chairman, Tenement House Commission / 1900 / report on NYC tenement fires ............................................... What happened as a result of these recommendations in the early 20th century, is that airshafts were eliminated altogether, making life inside the apartments, without cross-ventilation, intolerable. The history of Paris, where light and air shafts abound, is that they do not spread fire in masonry construction. Only in buildings built of fuel, i.e. wood. The New Tenements of our time, continue this practice outlawed in densely populated Europe. Here we depend on fossil-fuel-fired air-conditioning to provide climate control. Windows are only on the outside of the apartments, (one for BR and one for living room in a one-bedroom apartment) with kitchens, baths and entries buried in the bulk of the building mass for economic reasons. (ShelterUS VentHOUSE units each have cross-circulation, both vertically and horizontally, as drafts do not spread fire unless the drafting is adjacent to, or within, flammable materials.) Even today, the majority of wooden structures lost to fire are the result of fire spread through the walls & floors, where fire accesses via wall penetrations for plumbing, electrical outlets and window and door openings. Every twin 2x4 wood-studding creates a chimney up which fire can move. Wooden fire-blocking is sometimes added...even required in balloon-framing...but even in platform framing, fire can jump the floor system, in its travel through that floor system, and find its way upward. Since the 2004 Richmond fire, wood in such high-density housing now is soaked in chemical fire-retardants of unknown effect on the residents within the unventilated apartments. With the epidemic of foreclosures and evictions from owner occupied housing, the market for rental units has exploded, just as in the 19th Century, when immigrants flooded American cities. Unable to finance affordable housing, low and even middle income families are being forced into the new apartment-tenements. At 20% down, house-value four times land-cost and required immaculate credit-ratings, only the upper middle and upper class can qualify for new home financing. Even existing home financing has hardened since 2008. Not news you will hear on the TODAY SHOW? (NOTE: In 1960, all student housing in my school, Syracuse University, was built of concrete, block and brick.)
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 16:47:41 +0000