FIRE SET BACK
It may be more difficult to promote higher wood-frame buildings following a fire in the Vancouver, B.C. suburb of Richmond late Tuesday that saw two six-storey wood-frame buildings burn to the ground.
The condominium development, called “the Remy” was still under construction and sprinkler systems and fire retardant materials had not yet been installed. The complex was a 188-unit project, which was to include 81 affordable housing units and a daycare.
The Remy would have been B.C.’s first wood-frame building over four storeys and was approved after the province changed the building codes in 2009. In the past, four storeys was the maximum height of wood-framed buildings due to fire risk and structural concerns. The move to six storey wood-frame buildings was part of a B.C. Wood First program aimed at stimulating the province’s timber industry.
According to a Vancouver Sun news story, fire department officials in the City of Richmond had expressed concern over the code change, worrying that their equipment would not be adequate when fighting fires in higher wood buildings. The newspaper said in 2009, Richmond Fire Rescue fire prevention officer Dave Clou wrote a report to city council warning that taller wood buildings “raise several concerns with the fire services community.”
In the report, Clou said the city’s 75-ft. ladder trucks would not be able to reach the height that would be allowed under the revised code. However, Tim Wilkinson, deputy chief of operations for the Richmond Fire Department told the Sun that the firefighters had the appropriate ladders necessary to fight this fire.
Officials from the city, fire department and the province quickly defended wood-frame construction, noting that they are safe.
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