Suburban Slums

FossilMedic points us to a new trend:

Christopher Leinberger paints an uncomfortable picture of the near future in the March issue of The Atlantic. Imagine suburban McMansion communities as the next slums. His article will eventually show up at http://www.theatlantic.com/ when they post the March issue

Leinberger quotes Virginia Tech’s Metropolitan Institute director Arthur C. Nelson when describing an anticipated surplus of 22 million large lot homes (single family dwellings built on a sixth of an acre or larger) by 2025. That represents 40% of the large lot homes in existence today.

Long before the subprime loan crisis, there was a demographic shift with people moving back into the cities and away from suburbia. Urban communities with walkable urban centers and public transportation still command premium pricing while many McMansion owners find that they are upside down, with loans that exceed the shrinking value of the house.

There are two issues of this trend that affects the fire service: overcrowding homes and an increased chance of a catastrophic structural failure early in a structure fire incident.

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OVERCROWDING

In the metropolitan Washington area, the affluent urban counties noticed conversion of thirty-year old single family homes into multiple family dwellings. Some are as simple as a “granny basement.” Others expand the dwelling by filling in the carport and pushing out the rear wall to create a functional duplex. In other cases, the old home was torn down and a new home, two to three times as large, was built in its place.

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The less affluent communities took a direct path. When a three bedroom and two bath single family dwelling was sold or became a rental, the family of two adults and three kids were replaced by a community of ten adults and six kids. Empty McMansions within commute range of the University of Maryland were converted into a boarding house or group home for students. Some communities enforce “quality of life” regulations that affect the parking of vehicles and the outside appearance of the front of the homes.

All of this means at 3 am you will not know that the two story colonial with smoke coming from the basement windows may have more occupants needing rescue than found at a garden apartment with the same amount of smoke showing.

HUGE AND FLIMSY STRUCTURE

Leinberger points out that the inner city neighborhoods that began to decline in the 1960s consisted of sturdily built, turn-of-the-century row houses, tough enough to withstand being broken up into apartments, and requiring little upkeep. He contrasts that with the quality of McMansion structures. Plywood floors that break up and warp as the glue dries out, asphalt-shingle roofs that need replacing in ten years, structural integrity based on drywall because the thin wooden frames are too flimsy to hold the house up.

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One of the issues brought up in the investigation following Technician Kyle Wilson’s April 2007 line-of-duty death was that the home was a 6120 square foot Type V building with lightweight structural components. NFPA 1710 calls for a minimum initial force of 17 firefighters to handle a 2000 square foot, two story single family dwelling with no basement or exposures. A structure three times as large, with a basement, probably needs more resources at the start of the event.

Wilson’s mayday was issued six minutes after the arrival of the first arriving company. The assumption was that the occupants were still in the house. Components of the house collapsed as the primary search was underway. This link takes you to more information: http://firegeezer.com/2008/01/27/virginia-lodd-report-released/

If there are McMansions in your district, maybe it is time to preplan them as you would a large commercial building. These may be the high hazard life safety target hazards in your first alarm district. You may want to revisit LightRock’s Burning Through Exurbia column: http://firegeezer.com/2007/11/01/burning-through-exurbia/ , Building Codes and Fire Safety: http://firegeezer.com/2007/09/13/building-codes-and-fire-safety/ , and Rural Living: http://firegeezer.com/2007/08/30/rural-living/