This thread is on fire!!!!

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Wonder if fire retardant treated (FRT) was used in the framing of that project. At 6 stories tall and in a congested area, I would have to imagine it was.
 
X2 for RodRilla!!
 
Here's the Reddit thread that has a few videos and pictures as well:

Downtown fire livestream • r/raleigh

We're having to do damage control in our office this morning as we have a project near there and the general public, who have posted videos online, have been saying in some videos it was our job, even though ours is a few blocks further into downtown.

This is also one of the many reason we don't do wood structures!
 
The press conference is on WRAL.com. The Fire Chief does a great job of explaining the conditions and situation, as they know it.
 
Ironic how Building and Fire Codes in North Carolina appear to be more sympathetic to developers now who claim that regulations are too burdensome/not friendly to the businessman. I mean...we wouldn't want to burden the poor developer now would we!

Just note the part of the article where this building was wood construction and unprotected. Cost less to build wood construction.... Well, it did initially for this developer (but it might cost everyone a little more now when the insurance industry spreads the costs for this loss)

Monstrous fire destroys building in downtown Raleigh
 
McCracken said:
What are you supposed to build apartments out of?
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Metal framing like commercial buildings.

Jody Treadway said:
Wonder if fire retardant treated (FRT) was used in the framing of that project. At 6 stories tall and in a congested area, I would have to imagine it was.
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I heard one source that said it wasn't, and that they use some kind of fire retardant sheathing over the framing. I don't know, I only work on the commercial side so I am not familiar with wood framing jobs.
 
CasterTroy said:
Ironic how Building and Fire Codes in North Carolina appear to be more sympathetic to developers now who claim that regulations are too burdensome/not friendly to the businessman. I mean...we wouldn't want to burden the poor developer now would we!

Just note the part of the article where this building was wood construction and unprotected. Cost less to build wood construction.... Well, it did initially for this developer (but it might cost everyone a little more now when the insurance industry spreads the costs for this loss)

Monstrous fire destroys building in downtown Raleigh
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To be fair - the building was still under construction. A lot of the things that ultimately make it fire safe just hadn't been installed yet.

I'm curious though if this leads to people contemplating changes in the construction order of components. But it's not like you can put in the gypsum and sprinklers before the framing.
 
I saw a video from before the fire and the framing lumber was FRT treated. You can tell by the covers used while it was stored on site.

No, our yard in Raleigh didn't sell it to them.

Remember, the "R" stands for retardant, not fire proof. It'll still burn, just takes it longer.
 
Same has happened in Charlotte, before. With the EXPLOSION of High Rise Dwellings in Charlotte, I'm Surprised it hasn't again. You can't turn 360 degrees in Charlotte & Not see the side by side buildings. Concrete? No, just wood. May be fairly safe once completed. Construction is usually where the fire starts. As a former fireman, I'm startled by All this Construction!
 
Pretty unreal view of the whole ordeal including the crane collapse.


The fire and smoke was strong enough to even show up on local Doppler radar for a while during the incident. We have some good family friends in the tower crane business, sure hope that wasn't one of his units. I know he had one on a partially stickbuilt going up in Raleigh a few months back.
 
I heard from an unknown source that the crane operator had a lectric heater in the cab that apparently caught the cab and then hydraulic fluid on fire after he left it on when he came down for the day. Makes sense as the burning oil would quickly set anything it fell on, on fire w no way to stop it from raining down.
 
mommucked said:
I heard from an unknown source that the crane operator had a lectric heater in the cab that apparently caught the cab and then hydraulic fluid on fire after he left it on when he came down for the day. Makes sense as the burning oil would quickly set anything it fell on, on fire w no way to stop it from raining down.
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Not going to say that isn't what happened, but I have seen some pretty early pics and vids on facespace and the cab of the crane didn't appear to be burning. My bet is squatters trying to keep warm.

Duane
 
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