One Meridian Plaza was a high rise commercial building that housed offices in Philadelphia, United States. The 38 story building was designed by an architectural firm named Vincent Kling and Associates and it opened its doors to the public in 1972. On 23rd February 1991, a fierce fire broke out in the building on the 22nd floor. The cause of the fire was said to be the ignition of rags soaked in linseed oil (Penwell Corporation, 2011). The resulting fire spread to seven other floors in the building and raged on for hours. Three firefighters lost their lives trying to douse the flames while the ensuing monetary losses were estimated to be in the range of $100 million. Also, civil damage claims from the affected parties were estimated to be $4 billion. This paper explores the causes of the One Meridian Plaza fire incident with regard to the fire codes and fire protection systems.
During the fire incident at One Meridian Plaza, firefighters were unable to quench the flames because the standpipes in the building lacked enough pressure that would propel water to the 22nd floor. Also, the building suffered a power failure, which made operation difficult for the firefighters. At some point during the operation, the firefighters abandoned their efforts because they feared that the building would collapse. As a result, the fire progressed throughout the night and reached to the 30th floor, at which point the sprinklers kicked in and doused the flames (Penwell Corporation, 2011). After the fire, the building was vacated as its structural integrity came into question. Also, businesses adjacent to the building were moved. The city sued the owners of the building and as a result, it was demolished in 1999.
The fire’s rapid progress was partly due to poor fire protection design. For example, not all the floors in the building were equipped with sprinklers. According to (2013), the fire was able to rise from the 22nd floor to the 30th floor since there were no sprinklers on the floors in between. The sprinklers on the 30th floor, which were ten in number, were able to hold down the flames from progressing any further up the building. Therefore, if each floor had been fitted with sprinklers, the fire would not have spread past the 22nd floor as it would have been quickly doused and the building would have been saved.
Also, poor plumbing in the building played a part in the failure to contain the fore. The piping system had improperly fitted with pressure reducing valves, which reduced the pressure of water discharged from the standing pipe hose outlets (Patten, 2013). As a result, the firefighting hose pipes could not eject water at the pressure required to reach the 22nd floor. Hence, firefighters were forced to endanger their lives by dangling from neighboring buildings. If the plumbing had been done the right way with future firefighting applications in mind, the pressure reducers would have been fitted correctly and the firefighters would have been able to aim the hosed water jets at the 22nd floor.
In addition, the lack of proper fire codes led to the uncontrollable spread of the One Meridian Plaza fire. For example, back then, it was not mandatory for all floors in a building to have sprinklers (Patten, 2013). Also, the fire codes relied heavily on fire engines and fire fighters for protection. This hindsight led to the One Meridian Plaza catastrophe as no sprinklers were available on the 22nd floor to contain the fire. This weakness in firefighting codes led to the loss of three lives and millions of dollars. Also, the importance of robust firefighting systems and well defined fire codes was exhibited by the fact that ten sprinklers were able to put out a fire that had defeated a team of three hundred well trained firefighters.
The One Meridian Fire caused the loss of three lives and an approximate $100 million. The fire caused so much damage because of poor fire protection design and lack of proper building fire codes. The lack of enough pressure and the stand pipes meant that water could not be delivered to the 22nd floor. Also, the lack of sprinklers on most floors enabled the fire to braze through eight floors unabated. Though the fire was tragic and fatal, it lead to some changes in fire codes, such as the installation of sprinklers in each floor, which will help in fighting future fires.
References
Patten, Z. (2013). Looking Back at the Fire that Took 1 Meridian Plaza. Curbed. Vox Media. Retrieved from http://philly.curbed.com/2013/2/27/10269446/looking-back-at-the-fire- that-took-1-meridian-plaza
Penwell Corporation. (2011). One Meridian Plaza High Rise Fire: Twenty Years Ago. Retrieved from http://www.thecompanyofficer.com/2011/02/23/one-meridian-plaza- high-rise-fire- twenty-years-ago/#sthash.0oDP7CE9.dpuf
