"Fire!" she yelled. "Fire! Help. There is a Fire!"

Nancy's co-workers came running and saw a fire in the trash can in the women's restroom. They were on the 10th floor of a 16 story mid-rise office building. The bathroom had smoke pouring out of it.

"Help! I'm soaking wet!" was the next exclamation as the fire sprinklers kicked in and Nancy got soaked. The fire was put out immediately. Her co-workers put in a call to the building management. A maintenance technician and property manager showed up within 15 minutes. The property manager called the sprinkler company while the maintenance technician started cleaning up the space. Water was dripping everywhere, leaking into the hallway, leaking through the ducting into other floors of the building. They needed a quick response, so the property manager called a disaster relief contractor. The contractor sent in a water-sucking machine and dehumidifiers to dry up the space.

These tenants were lucky, so to speak.

Let's take a look at the national numbers on fire loss.

The National Fire Protection Association in their 2005 report estimated that 77.5 percent of all fires occurred in residential structures with an estimated total of 1,602,000 fires responded to. Total estimated property loss was $6,875,000,000 of which $5,781,000,000 occurred in one and two family structures, and $948,000,000 occurred in apartment structures.

Other damage figures were as follows:

• $40,000,000 in institutional properties

• $590,000,000 in storage properties

• $238,000,000 in special properties

• $687,000,000 in office properties.

There were 3,675 fire deaths and 17,925 fire-related injuries in 2005. Of these injuries 10,300 occurred in one and two family dwellings, while 3,000 occurred in apartments. The balance of injuries occurred in other categories. Fire damage and occurrence are risks we live with daily.

You might wonder what causes fires.

The most frequent causes of residential and office fires are:

1. Electrical shorts from electric coffee makers, hot plates, portable electric heaters, etc.

2. In older buildings the insulation of wires and cables gets brittle and can create short circuits and fire

3. Arson

4. Smokers that throw their cigarettes or matches into trash cans and it catches fire

5. Kitchen fires where people either forget they have something on the stove or they overheat oil or another substance. (Restaurant fires are also common.)

Smoke Inhalation: The top cause of death related to fires is smoke inhalation (Web MD).

Smoke inhalation occurs when you inhale smoke and fumes created by combustible materials during a fire. Smoke is a mixture of heated particles and gases that can sear and damage your lungs. Smoke inhalation can damage the body by simple lack of oxygen, chemical irritation, chemical asphyxiation or a combination of these.

Numerous signs and symptoms of smoke inhalation may develop, such as shortness of breath, coughs, hoarseness, headache and acute mental changes as in confusion, fainting, and seizures.

In any case, you want to avoid smoke inhalation, because the dangers are very real. Should you be exposed to smoke inhalation you need to consider visiting an emergency room. Bear in mind that many materials used in the construction of buildings such as plastics, glues, metals, carpeting and wood products all throw off different gases.

Prevention

All properties are at risk for fire. Preparing for the potential for fire is the best course of action to save lives and keep property from being damaged. New fire codes that require carbon monoxide, heat or smoke sensors, as well as sprinkler systems, have made newer buildings somewhat safer than older buildings.

Fire extinguishers need to be located as required by the fire marshal. Emergency exit maps need to be clearly placed. Emergency exits should be well-marked and easy to get to without being blocked.

Fire exits should not be locked shut so that you cannot exit out of them in an emergency. This happened on December 31, 2004 when locked emergency doors prevented patrons from exiting a Buenos Aires nightclub resulting in 174 persons killed and some 410 injured in one of Argentina's worst disasters in decades.

Conclusion

It is up to you (the owner, tenant, maintenance personnel, property manager) to pay attention. Make a point of preventing fires. You can have an impact on your life and the lives of others. Work with your local fire marshal to make sure that everyone has a chance of surviving a fire, even if it means getting a shower from the sprinkler system.

Published: December 5, 2006

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Clifford A. Hockley is the President of Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Services, one of the larger brokerage and property management companies in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Hockley holds an MBA Willamette University and a B.S. in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College. He is a Certified Property Manager and Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Services is an Accredited Management Organization (AMO) by the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). Mr.Hockley serves as member at large on the Portland IREM board. He has twice been named Certified Property Manager of the Year (2001 and 2003) by the Institute of Real Estate Management and is a frequent contributor to industry newsletters.