Posted on 03/20/2017 7:18:04 PM PDT by Mercat
The Avalon in NJ burned to the ground in 2015. It was completed and fully occupied. Once the fire got the the wood frame and i the walls, it was too late.
When I left work in Olathe today and saw the amount of smoke I thought ‘well that can’t be good.’ Smoke drifter as far as Springhill
My kids attended Osage Grade School - which is closed - and Broadmoor Junior High in mid to late 1970’s before we moved to Lenexa. Overland Park, as I recall, is a huge area. Haven’t been up there for years but remember 87th Street and Metcalfe area well. Didn’t see any address where the fire occurred but wondered if it was anywhere near there.
Nope.... south of 435 and I think west of alt 69. About 115th and Ballentine.
113th and Nieman road.
Thanks. All of that was farmland as I recall when we lived up there and 435 was relatively new. Son played baseball at the 3&2 park which was out in the middle of nowhere. Probably wouldn’t recognize it any more.
I saw this during a meeting at my office.
The conference room had a windows facing south (we’re in Corporate Woods on the 14th floor.)
It looked like an inferno from about a mile away.
Mark
There were certainly no heaters in operation today... The temperature was in the mid-80s today. Global warming and all that, it snowed less than a week ago.
Mark
Not really close.
Maybe a mile or so west of US-69 and College Blvd (110th St.)
Mark
Maybe a mile or so west of US-69 and College Blvd (110th St.)”
Ah, two street/highway names which come up in my memory bank. Thanks. When we moved to Lenexa, everything west of I-35 and 87th street was two lane and lots of hills. Remember having soooo much fun driving on them in the winter. The hill I remember the most was on Johnson Drive heading east just before you got to the Plaza. Being able to stop for the light at State Line was always iffy. Also remember the year Brush Creek flooded. We were sitting at the Plaza III having a dinner business meeting when a huge wall of water came crashing through the front window of the restaurant. Memories.
From August 2002 in San Jose, CA:
About 150 firefighters from a dozen agencies involved in this one. Property was a month from opening day.
There does appear to be a trend of apartments under construction going up in flames
I don’t think plywood is necessarily the problem. Today’s construction uses not plywood but resin and glue filled chipboard that burns like a son of a gun and melts when hot enough, causing building collapse.
The Challenges
However, lightweight construction materials haven’t emerged without their fair share of critics and skeptics. One of the biggest challenges engineers face when using these materials is fire resistance.
These concerns recently came to light in northern New Jersey when a fire destroyed a large apartment complex that was built with lightweight wood. Officials at the scene said that the fire was worsened because of the open truss-style roof and engineered wood designed to be lightweight.
“The horse is out of the barn on lightweight construction; it’s the state of the art in building today,” said John Wisniewski, chair of New Jersey’s Fire Safety Commission. “It would be impossible to mandate construction with non-lightweight material at this point in time. But we have the necessary augmentation to lightweight construction, and that is sprinkler systems.”
>>They build six story apartment building with large footprints, out of 2x4s and plywood, which will burn like gasoline once a fire gets started.
My city passed an ordinance requiring large multi family structures like this be steel and concrete construction because of this issue, among others.
gas water heaters
or this...I was thinking water heaters but I could see propane heaters as well.
Actually they were talking about the “older” houses burning first. When I first lived in Johnson County 95th and Metcalf was plowed ground. It is now built up to 135th street and beyond. We live a block from 103rd and Metcalf. I visit a 100 year old lady who grew up on a diary farm where our house is.
Check for ELFs. They love to arson new construction.
A whole lot further south than 135th. Try 159th and beyond.
Acetylene tanks
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