Sue Lani Madsen: Pre-planning by fire departments makes the difference between a chance to rebuild and total loss

Everything went according to plan at the Cathedral of Notre Dame last week. Except for the part where a fire broke out.

It was a good day for the Paris Fire Brigade, though. They can count the cathedral as a save.

More than 1,000 thick oak beams supporting the roof and ceiling were each shaped from a single tree, estimated at 300 to 400 years old when they were harvested more than 800 years ago. It was an old growth forest fire 20 stories above the pavement.

While the flames and firefight were spectacular if heartbreaking to watch, pre-fire planning was key to saving much of the building. The Paris Fire Brigade had trained for this catastrophe. There was a plan for rescuing artifacts, a plan for bringing in fireboats on the River Seine for an inexhaustible water supply and a plan for using a high-tech robot and drones to augment hundreds of human firefighters.

Pre-fire planning is also a key piece of public safety strategy in Spokane County, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer confirmed on Friday. Pre-plans are shared between jurisdictions and available on mobile devices.

Firefighters at each city station are expected to be familiar with and aware of all the target hazards within their fire management area. Deputy fire marshals are responsible for inspecting publicly accessible buildings and updating the response plans when changes occur.

Church fires are notoriously challenging. Void spaces from multiple remodels and wood framing in barely accessible attics give fire time to smolder undetected. Candles are ubiquitous in many denominations. Wooden pews and other combustible furnishings increase the fuel load. High vaulted spaces allow heat to build up inside before flames are visible outside. And often there are no fire sprinkler systems.

The French government, which owns and manages the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris as a national treasure, had concluded the risk of retrofitting with modern fire detection and suppression systems outweighed the benefits. They will likely be recalculating as the restoration begins.

It’s a calculation local churches have to make as well. Fire sprinkler systems were not so common even in public schools well into the 1970s. Retrofitting a building isn’t required by the building code unless there is an extensive remodel or a change in use.

“Obviously, we would encourage every building to be sprinklered and fully alarmed, but we can’t legally require it,” said Megan Philips, Spokane fire marshal.

Dan Shier, lead designer with Inland Empire Fire Protection, pointed to another public benefit of automatic fire suppression systems.

“When a fire like this happens, a lot of pollution is released into the air and the ground,” Shier said.

Our conversation was about the runoff from Notre Dame’s lead roof into the adjacent river, but water from any structure fire carries with it toxins with the potential to contaminate ground water.

Threading pipes into barely accessible voids and concealing piping systems without disturbing historic finishes is daunting. Sometimes it takes a champion to push for change.

One parishioner at St. Aloysius Church on the Gonzaga University campus was concerned about a roof fire. That concern turned into a fire sprinkler retrofit design challenge for Glen Satre, an independent fire protection engineer. The primary concern was protecting the attic between the ornate ceiling and the roof above, the same place in which the Cathedral of Notre Dame’s forest fire took hold.

“With something the size of Notre Dame, it’s obviously an heroic undertaking, but you can achieve anything with enough money and enough commitment,” Satre said.

The people of St. Ann’s Catholic church in Bonners Ferry can empathize with the Parisians on their knees as they watched Notre Dame burn. Two years ago, St. Ann’s burned, a total loss. It was just a building, but the memories it held were priceless.

This year the congregants of St. Ann’s are celebrating Holy Week back in their own home for the first time since the fire. Father Carlos Perez is grateful.

“Thank God for the insurance and the many people in the states, people I don’t even know, who sent contributions in order that we may finish our building,” he said. “The Building Committee and myself worked very hard to do things right.”

And yes, the new building has a fire sprinkler system.