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## Times Tower Fire The Times Tower fire in New York City in 1961, where two firefighters died more than 20 floors above the fire. Attack crews on the fire floor will have a tremendously difficult time extinguishing the fire. Floors that are spacious and open at the ceiling level are often a maze...

## Times Tower Fire The Times Tower fire in New York City in 1961, where two firefighters died more than 20 floors above the fire. Attack crews on the fire floor will have a tremendously difficult time extinguishing the fire. Floors that are spacious and open at the ceiling level are often a maze of desks and partitions at the floor level. The hose stream may not be able to directly strike the seat of the fire when it is behind such obstructions. Naturally, the heat and smoke are unaffected by these dividers and have free access to the firefighters, baking them as they move in. The preferred hoseline for this situation is the 2 1/2-in. line with a 1 1/4-in. solid tip. This allows a high volume of water to be discharged at a distance, extinguishing the fire well ahead of the line with only a 50-psi nozzle pressure. This can be critical in high-rise buildings, since NFPA 14: Standard for the Installation of Standpipes and Hose Systems, 2016 edition, states that fire pumps are only required to discharge their capacity at 100 psi at the highest hose outlet, and this standard further limits pressures within a standpipe zone to a maximum of 175 psi. That is for new buildings; building built prior to 1993 allowed as little as 65 psi at the top floor outlet. Advancing a hoseline into large open plan office space is a difficult task. The floor level obstructions can hamper movement, but the danger of fire travel in the plenum space overhead can be deadly. The advancing hose team must be accompanied by truck personnel who monitor this plenum space by pulling the ceiling as the hose team advances. The nozzle team can assist this effort by sweeping the ceiling with the hose stream, blowing out the light tiles that are often present. Failure