McMansions Kill

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Firefighters face added peril due to the size and lightweight construction of McMansions.

This story is about a fire that happened in Prince William County, Virginia, last April. The practice of the PWC Fire and Rescue Department has been to respond to calls with a three-person crew. That may not be enough. I am surprised that three people is the current standard. The Alexandria, Virginia, FD responds to calls with a lot more personnel than that.

Major fire department expenses add to Prince William's budget troubles

http://tinyurl.com/28xoqf

Major fire department expenses add to Prince William's budget troubles

Feb 2, 2008 3:00 AM by Dan Genz, The Examiner

Washington DC - Prince William County's response to the more than 250 recommendations that came out of an exhaustive analysis of the Fire and Rescue Department's first fatality adds an expensive new wrinkle to an already dismal budget forecast.

Adding an extra firefighter to every three-person unit - a key recommendation of the report - would add millions of dollars to the county budget at a time when supervisors already are grappling to close a $51 million deficit in a time of major losses in property values, a critical revenue source.

A detailed analysis of the fire that killed 24-year-old Kyle Wilson - the first line of duty death in the 41-year history of the Prince William County Fire and Rescue Department - partly blamed the region's sprawling homes built with lightweight materials, which present new challenges for daring rescues.

"We just aren't putting enough folks on the ground at the time the fire comes," County Executive Craig Gerhart said Friday.

"All of our standards are on the old 2,000-square-foot house," he said, but "We didn't build any homes that are 2,000 square feet."