Eighteen states have a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean, and almost 4,000 miles of the roughly 5,000 miles of U.S. ocean coastline is on the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. These statistics illustrate the potential for a hurricane’s striking this country. Residents have only a few choices when a hurricane approaches: get out of its way, seek refuge in a shelter, or ride it out at home. Regardless of their choice, many residents try to protect their property (commercial or residential) by covering all openings in the structure with some type of a hurricane shutter.
Headlines such as “Hurricane Shutters Were Factor in Florida House Fire That Killed Five” and even loss of life in Lehigh Acres ….. “One Woman Dies in fire do to Hurricane shutters” ………….these stories document the problems of hurricane shutters and fire issues.
Many articles were written urging property owners to remove shutters from properties when the storms passed and about the fire hazards posed by candles, oil lamps, camping lanterns, and portable gas stoves that were used because of a lack of electricity for weeks on end. Dangerous, improper wiring from generators contributed to the fire hazards. Some residents heeded the warnings; others did not. The firefighters dealt with the results. There were many fires in shuttered structures in the South.
But know what be good enough for the citizens to learn by, may not be good enough for the Fire Department.
Currently the Lehigh Acres Fire Department has three window blocked by hurricane shutters on station 102 in Homestead Rd.
If a fire would happen in that station there would significant issues of the following:
• increase the chance for flashover or backdraft. • make it difficult to determine the location of the seat of the fire. • fires are not able to self-vent out windows. • they create more intense heat conditions inside.
Homestead fire station is Lehigh Acres is the main station handling nearly 56% of the call load of the department. What would happen if the station had a fire? And Lehigh Acres fire fighters that would on duty would been trapped inside the station.
Where is the fire board’s liability to protect its employees and the community?
ok – just read this article again – now that I have stopped laughing, I would like to comment. I have the same shutters on my house and the insurance company does not recognize these as hurricane shutters, because they are not. They are meant to block the sun and create shade, and at best, during a storm, deflect flying debris. As for your comments about creating a backdraft or flashover, you should research the conditions for these phenomenon’s to occur. I recall past articles here where you or some of your readers could only comment on how the firefighters spend most of their time riding around, shopping, or out having lunch, leaving little time to worry about being trapped inside a burning fire station. Just one more comment, this type of shutter is so easily removed that it is more of a deterrent and inconvenience for firefighters than an immediate threat to life and property.
Dear JB,
If the firemen need to block the sun out so bad in that fire station there are things called curtains and tinting that are not safety issues such as those hurricane shutters.