Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation

of the World Trade Center Disaster

Status of Project #8: Fire Service

Technologies and Guidelines

September 17, 2003

J.R. Lawson, Project Leader

Building and Fire Research Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology

U.S. Department of Commerce

jlawson@nist.gov
Purpose

Build upon work already done by the Fire Depaof New York (FDNY) and McKinsey & Company (1) Documenting what happened during the respoby the fire service to the attacks on the World Tradup to the time of collapse of WTC 7(2) Identifying issues that need to be addressed in to practices, standards, and codes(3) Identifying alternative practices and/or technolomay address these issues(4) Identifying R&D needs that advance the safety service in responding to massive fires in tall buildin
Scope of Occupant Behavior, Evacuatio

Emergency Response Study

• Occupant behavior and evacuation technologies and practices for ta

• Decision-making and situation awareness• Time-constrained evacuation strategies (e.g., defend-in-place)• Role of floor wardens and fire safety directors• Issues concerning people with disabilities• Human factors issues and design of egress system

• Firefighting technologies and practices for tall buildings

• Means for emergency access, time to reach affected floors• Firefighting versus evacuation• Physical condition of firefighter under high-rise work conditions

• Command, control, and communication systems for emergency resp

• Location of incident command post; mobilization, staging, and deployment; log

training; pre-event planning

• Content and timing, among occupants and authorities, within and outside buildi

inter-group communications

• Observations of fire/smoke conditions, structural damage, water flow
Approach

y Document the emergency response on 9/11/01 

focus on evacuation and fire fighting

Desired Outcome

• Enhanced emergency response capabilities• Enhanced safety of first responders
Tasks

1. Data Collection (FDNY, NYPD, PANYNJ/PAPD)

y Documentsy Photographs and videosy Electronic data (audio communications)

2. Field Interviews (up to 175 - 225)

y FDNY* - fire fighters, EMS, officers (company & command)y NYPD* - police emergency service units, police aviation unit

command post officers

y PANYNJ/PAPD - officers, commanders, safety personnel, & 

personnel

y First responders on 9/11 who are now retired

3. Documentation and Analysis

y Detailed timeline of eventsy Visual representation of disaster sitey Analyze emergency response factors

* NIST and NYC are engaged in negotiations regarding these interv
Field Interviews with First Responders

1. Face-to-Face Interviews

• Interviews by contractor using generic intervie

protocol (75 - 100): document observed effec

• Interviews by NIST staff using investigative in

protocol (50 - 75): identify causal factors (why

2. Focus Group Interviews

• Interviews by contractor using generic focus g

protocol (10 focus groups of 5 each)
y Categories of information collection

1. Dispatch and arrival2. Entry3. Communications and encounters4. Building conditions5. Training and equipment6. Other

y Develop keyword searchable databasey Data analysis using the same computer-based tools a

Project #7

Contractor Conducted Interviews:Semi-structured generic protocol(Document observed effects or what)
NIST Conducted Interviews:

Investigative lead-following protocol(Identify causal factors or why)

y Targeted interviews of people with knowledge in the following ca

1. Operational policies and procedures2. Dispatch, deployment3. Communications4. Incident command, control, command posts, fire fighter health and 5. Emergency response equipment and technology6. Elevator operations in high-rise buildings7. High-rise building operations and procedures, fire fighting, search &

rescue before the towers fell, evacuation, roof operations and aviat

y Develop keyword searchable databasey Data analysis protocols

y Fire Fighter Line-of-Duty Death & Injury Investigation, IAFF;y NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations
Recreation and Analysis Approach

Review, Compare, and Analyze:

y Documentary datay Photographic datay Electronic datay Data from first-person interviews

Develop:

y Detailed timeline of eventsy Visual representation of disaster sitey Assessment of emergency response factors

Derive:

y Findingsy Conclusionsy Recommendations
Contact Information

• Survivors, families, and retired first responders may volunte

participate in the face-to-face interviews by contacting:

877-221-7828 (toll free)

• Alternatively, families of victims may volunteer to participat

face-to-face interviews via the following web site:

https://wtc.nist.gov/family

• Anonymous tip line: 888-804-7581 (toll free)• Mail address: NIST World Trade Center Investigation Team

100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8610Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8610

• E-mail: wtc@nist.gov• Facsimile: 301-975-6122• WTC web site: http://wtc.nist.gov