How to Contain Fire in an Attic of a Manufactured Home

Attic fires can spread rapidly through the length of the building.

Attic fires may start with a lightning strike, electrical malfunction or through overheated exhaust from a fireplace or stove. In a manufactured home, attic fires have the potential to spread quickly because there is a significant amount of exposed wood and small, poorly ventilated spaces that trap the buildup of heat. Manufactured homes often have more wood in the attics than traditional homes, because of the modular method of construction. Homeowners should not attempt to put out such fires. The steps that follow are geared for properly trained and equipped firefighters.

Things You'll Need

• Self-contained breathing apparatus, or SCBA
• Thermal imaging camera
• Chainsaw
• Halligan bar
• Pike pole

Instructions

1. Evacuate the building and interview occupants or neighbors to determine if anyone is missing. Initiate search and rescue operations as ordered by the officer in charge. Saving lives is a primary mission over saving property.

2. Locate the seat of the fire. Attic fires can produce and trap lots of smoke, gases and heat, making the fire difficult to locate. Anyone entering the fire building must wear SCBA systems to avoid the inhalation of lethal gases and smoke. Fire may spread under the insulation commonly found in attics, so there may not be any visible flames. Use a thermal imaging camera to identify hot spots.

3. 

   Maintain radio contact with the officer in charge.

   Report findings to the officer in charge. He must know the situation in the attic before he can make a decision regarding a method of attack and ventilation.

4. Ventilate the roof with the chainsaw to prevent the horizontal spread of the fire. The timing of the ventilation is highly fact-specific and thus should be done only upon the order of the officer in charge. The roof crew should identify and confirm where the ventilation should be made, then cut away a section of the roof in the size and diameter as ordered. Hold the chainsaw at a shallow angle to avoid cutting any firefighters who are in the attic. Remove the cut roof panel with the Halligan bar, and avoid reaching into the freshly cut gap. Once the roof panel is pulled aside, the hot gases, smoke and fire will vent out vertically, and should prevent the horizontal spread of fire throughout the attic.

5. Hose the fire with a fog pattern. The direct water exposure and the consequent steam production will dramatically reduce the temperature, and rob the fire of the power to spread.

6. 

   Avoid falling roof debris as you overhaul inside the attic

   Use pike poles to pull away insulation and burned material to expose smoldering hot spots. The thermal imaging camera will identify specific areas that are dangerously hot. Continue overhauling the affected areas and applying water until the OIC determines that the fire is extinguished.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid using too much water. The goal is to save the structure from as much damage as possible, be it from fire or from water.

• Under no circumstances should a homeowner attempt to extinguish or contain an attic fire in his manufactured home. Attic fires will consume oxygen and release gases that will displace any remaining oxygen. This will cause the homeowner to pass out and die within minutes.

References

• Dixon Fire Department: Attic Fires
• The Warren Group: Controlling the Spread of Attic Fires
• U.S. Fire Administration: Attic Fires in Residential Buildings