I'm the chief of a small urban community in northwest New Jersey. 48% of our dwelling units are owned by absentee landlords. Many of our once beautiful victorian homes, have been converted into mutli-family dwellings, most have been done over the last 30 years. The problem is that most of these have had no building permits taken out, and many of these now have attic spaces which are now bedrooms. Most of these have small windows, and very few have the air conditioners that give away their location.
On Sunday July 13th we ran another building fire incident where people were sleeping on four floors. (Basement, 1st, 2nd, and attic) The fire resulted from a 6 year old juvenile firesetter on the first floor. Fortunately all of the nine occupants were out upon our arrival. The attic space being used as a nursery. The attic windows were small, and the steps to the attic were very narrow with little head room. Rescue would have been extremely difficult at best in this balloon construction dwelling. Any suggestions on victim removal in these conditions would be welcomed.
On Sunday July 13th we ran another building fire incident where people were sleeping on four floors. (Basement, 1st, 2nd, and attic) The fire resulted from a 6 year old juvenile firesetter on the first floor. Fortunately all of the nine occupants were out upon our arrival. The attic space being used as a nursery. The attic windows were small, and the steps to the attic were very narrow with little head room. Rescue would have been extremely difficult at best in this balloon construction dwelling. Any suggestions on victim removal in these conditions would be welcomed.
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