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What Is a Structure Fire?

C. Daw
C. Daw

The term structure fire relates to the effects of a fire on various types of construction, such as buildings, apartments, small homes, wooden houses, large commercial villas and shopping centers. These hazardous fires have different situations and magnitudes, and they are handled by different types of firefighting agencies, depending upon the nature of the damage and the location of the structure fire. These fire fighting agencies could include rescue teams, firefighting squads, and other related departments. Apart from the fiscal losses, there are other losses and damages that take place due to the structure fires and their hazards. The victims of these sorts of fires are often in extreme emergency conditions and need immediate and careful medical attention at times.

There are a few very important considerations which need to be kept in mind in case of any structure fire situations. The first and foremost thing is to save the lives of the seriously injured people and provide them emergency treatment as early as possible. Next, speed in dealing with the fire is imperative in order to minimize the loss of the construction. Contact the insurance company to receive coverage for any damages, and if one is not present contact a local service that can aid in boarding the building up, as well as helping with basic repairs and replacements of necessities. These are a few of the first steps that should be followed in the case of any structure fire emergency.

Structure fires may be started by a poorly maintained fireplace.
Structure fires may be started by a poorly maintained fireplace.

Wooden made buildings are more prone to a structure fire than the other construction types. Even when wood is used, it is possible to coat the building with a fire retardant that reduces the risk for a fire. These retardants can greatly slow the fire spreading process and give people sufficient time to manage it. There are other important considerations to save the wooden structures, such as installing a sprinkler system within the house and placing a complete ban of any kind of smoking activities near it.

Cigarettes that are left unattended can start a structure fire.
Cigarettes that are left unattended can start a structure fire.

In general, there are a number of different structures that have various susceptibility levels for a structure fire to occur. One of them is the non combustible construction, which uses materials such as steel and iron. The other type of construction is common is the basic brick and mortar construction, having mixed materials. There are few more types as well, such as the fire resistive structure and the complete wooden structures. But after all, each one of these buildings has some vulnerability to fire and should be constructed with good safety measures in mind.

Discussion Comments

Rotergirl

It's also a term to let firefighters know exactly what's going on at the call they're responding to. A "structure fire" means a building of some description is on fire, as opposed to a grass fire or a car fire, or a gas line on fire, for instance. Then, the dispatcher will usually follow up by letting the firefighters know whether it's a business or a residence.

You can usually tell how severe the fire is by how many fire units are called to the scene. I've listened to a lot of scanner traffic.

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    • Structure fires may be started by a poorly maintained fireplace.
      By: francisco
      Structure fires may be started by a poorly maintained fireplace.
    • Cigarettes that are left unattended can start a structure fire.
      By: Mr Korn Flakes
      Cigarettes that are left unattended can start a structure fire.
    • Wooden buildings are more prone to structure fires than other types of buildings.
      By: rmwood1
      Wooden buildings are more prone to structure fires than other types of buildings.