Building Height, etc--AFG related question...

[CaptainReb22 MembersZone Subscriber Find all posts View Profile Close CaptainReb22]

On the AFG, when writing for a truck, it asks how many buildings in your area are over 4 stories tall. My question is this: does the building have to be 40 feet from the ground to the top of the building (at a minimum) for it to fall in this category, OR can square footage (uninterrupted) come into play?

Example: I have a department that covers 6 million square feet of industrial space, the largest being 3 1/2 million square feet of uninterrupted plant area (in other words, you can drive around it, but there's no way to access the middle of it without getting on the roof or walking through the middle). Some of these industries are 40 feet high (although only a couple of them are).

So if I were to answer the question WITHOUT taking into account the square footage, at the most I could put 3 buildings are 4 stories or more. Do they allow for the "height" question to include considerations for large amounts of uninterrupted, covered space?


The department I am mentioning has no access to an aerial of ANY KIND (closest one is twenty minutes away). They are the FIRST-IN company to over 6 million square feet of major industrial plants. It would be a helluva difficult situation if a fire broke out in one of these buildings and all they have are some pumpers with deck guns.........

Thanks in advance for your response.

[BC79er Forum Member Find all posts View Profile Close BC79er]

Not quite following. Do they have access to an aerial or not? Says no access then you have one 20 minutes out. That's a normal VFD mutual aid arrival time in most parts of the country, longer in some areas with paid coming in.

But to answer the real question, no square footage doesn't count. That's an ISO/NFPA argument to be used in the narrative but doesn't help the building count.