Advanced Pre-Planning for Complex Properties
This program describes the importance of a comprehensive pre-incident plan for complex or unusual properties.
Lessons from a Line-of-Duty Death in a High Rise Commercial Building
445 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville, NC: “5th Floor Mayday! Hurry Up! Don’t Have Air on the 5th Floor!”
Experience the Biltmore Avenue LODD Incident
When the Asheville Fire Department responded to an automatic fire alarm at 445 Biltmore Avenue, they arrived to a working fire venting out the top floor windows and hundreds of healthcare workers and patients evacuating the building. Despite visible fire from the outside, mazeline conditions inside, water supply issues, and communication problems hampered the interior attack so severely that it was 30 minutes before anyone had eyes on the fire inside. Moments later, that unit — without water and disoriented — called a Mayday. The loss of Capt. Jeffrey C. Bowen changed the Asheville Fire Department in dozens of ways and revolutionized how they approach high rise fires. Click “Experience the Biltmore Avenue LODD Incident” to learn from their experience with a line-of-duty death in a high rise commercial building.
