Electrical Fire Causes Half Million in Damages to Calistoga Inn Term Paper

Introduction

Fires are real and a constant threat in places of every kind. They not only cause costly damage to facilities and equipment but also cause numerous injuries and deaths. The Calistoga Inn located at 1250 Lincoln Avenue suffered a blaze on August 28 2012.

The fire began at 3:13 am and it took fire fighter nearly twenty minutes to bring the fire under control. Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, evidence has it that the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction in one of the bathroom appliances. Eric Goose, a guest at the hotel that night, reported that he had seen a glow from the bathroom that triggered him to go to all the guest rooms alerting the other guests of the looming danger (Scully, 2012, p. 4).

This paper explores the Calistoga Inn fire highlighting the specific sections of the 29 CFR 1910.164 and 29 CFR 1910. 165 that were neglected by the Calistoga Inn administration, the specific hazards that were faced by the employees and quests at the Inn as well as the corrective actions that the administration needs to consider in preventing a similar occurrence in the future.

General fire prevention and control

Fire prevention entails avoiding it completely. The four main requirements for a fire to occur are heat, oxygen, fuel, and a self-sustaining chemical reaction (Jones, 2008, p. 6). The self-sustaining chemical reaction propagates the action of the three components. According to Schroll, “fuel is anything that will burn” and “heat comes in the form of an ignition” (2001, p.26). Almost all places have not only fuel but also heat sources. Therefore, the essence of fire prevention is to keep all types of fuel separated from heat and heat separated from fuels.

Fire control can be achieved by using either automatic systems or the manual efforts of the people within the affected area e.g. employees or the fire department of a facility. For a long period, automatic systems have proved to be the best in controlling as well as extinguishing fires. If properly installed, automatic fire control systems are able to control the fire during its early stages-while the fire is still small.

It is noteworthy that to achieve such efficiency, they must be properly designed, installed and maintained. Research has shown that they provide the best defense against fires (Schroll, 2001, p. 27). On the other hand, manual fire control is risky to the people involved. Careful consideration is essential in determining the involvement of the facility’s personnel in manual fire fighting. Additionally, the use of portable fire extinguishers may pose a great threat to the lives of the personnel.

There are three main types of defense against fire. The most effective and safe involves the use of engineering controls. These do not require human intervention for their functionality when required.

They are the most reliable not only in handling but also in prevention and protection issues. However, they are not a perfect method since there are certain aspects that may interfere with their functionality either accidentally or intentionally. The second type of fire controls is the administrative controls. They require human involvement thus tend to be less reliable.

They include policies, procedures, work practices and rules. They also include all forms of training geared towards equipping people with the knowledge on how to control fires. It is advisable that institutions and recreational facilities embrace administrative controls. Personal protective equipment is also essential in one’s defense against fire. They prevent injury during fire incidences. It is the least effective as far as the methods for handling hazards are concerned.

OSHA has set up regulations that require all employers to control and extinguish fires that break out in their premises. They have the responsibility of planning for the safe evacuation of the premises in the event of a fire. The fire safety requirements are contained in two subparts of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards-29 CFR Subparts L and E (Anonymous, 2004, p. 7).

Subpart L outlines the equipment that one must have in place as far as dealing with fires is concerned. They include fire detection systems, fire alarm systems and in-house fire brigades. Additionally, the premises must have fire suppression equipment such as fixed extinguishment systems, portable fire extinguishers, as well as standpipe and hose systems. Subpart E focuses on the emergency exit routes. It deals with emergency action plans and fire prevention plans.

The preparedness of the Inn to fire incidences as evidenced by the blaze

The management of the Inn had not taken proper measures as far as electrical fire break out is concerned. As aforementioned, one of the guests in the Inn during the time when the fire broke out took the responsibility of informing the others about the looming danger. It is evident that the efforts of Mr. Gose prevented all the tragic outcomes that the fire would have had to all the guests as well as the employees who were present in the Inn at that night.

The report also asserted that the Inn was only equipped with smoke alarms, which are not designed to alert people on the break out of electrical fires. This was a violation of the OSHA requirements according to 29 CFR 1910. 165. OSHA requires employers to establish effective alarming systems to alert all the occupants of their facility in case of an emergency. The most common type of standard electrical alarm system is audible alarms.

As far as the Calistoga blaze is concerned, one can also conclude that if the Inn had installed fire alarms, then they were either not sensitive enough or they were not properly functioning. OSHA requires that fire alarm systems must be maintained in good working conditions at all times.

It also requires that incase the alarm system is out of service, the employer must have alternative or rather backup systems such as employee runners. The Inn did not have fire detection systems. As provided in the OSHA requirements in 29 CFR 1910. 164, all employers should not only install but also properly maintain automatic fire detection systems in all their facilities. The lack of fire detection systems in the Inn is evidenced by the fact that only one guest noted the electrical fault in one of the bathrooms.

Hazards faced by the employees

Although no one was injured during the Calistoga Inn fire, the employees faced some consequences. The facility was closed for the facility to be repaired. During that period, almost all the employees remained at home-a drastic change of one’s routine and they may not be comfortable with it.

Additionally, not all of the Inn’s seventy employees will be compensated during the time they are forced to be out of work. The insurance company stated that it would only cover the salaries of the ‘key employees’ but they have not yet established who is a ‘key’ employee (Scully, 2012, p.18). Most of the employees also panicked during the incidence an aspect that presents serious health issues to them such as a heart attack.

The corrective actions that the Inn should adopt

It should provide adequate number of fire detectors and space the around the restaurant as well as the brewery. This will serve effectively in warning the employees and guests in the facility of any incipient fires.

The management body of the Inn must ensure that all the installed fire detectors are functional at all times. The only time that they may not be expected to be operational is during repairs and maintenance. Additionally, they should test and adjust all the fire detectors in the facility to maintain reliability and the systems proper operational condition.

Detectors also need to be prevented from corrosion especially when installed in areas that are prone to high humidity that promotes corrosion. Research has shown that some of the components may be destroyed during an alarm or test. This requires that the employer should have spare components to ensure that the systems are operational at all times. The Inn also requires an effective set of alarm systems.

It must be a distinctive as well as recognizable to all the employees. Just like the fire detection systems, it should be properly maintained to ensure that it is operational at all times. As far as the employees are concerned, the Inn’s management body should define who their ‘key employees’. This will prevent any confusion between the Inn and the insurance body in compensating the employees.

The employer needs to come up with a fire prevention plan. It requires them to have procedures for regular inspection as well as the maintenance of safeguards installed on heat producing equipment. This helps in preventing the accidental ignition of combustible materials. An effective and reliable fire prevention plan must start by zeroing in on the particular fire hazards of the work place.

This calls for employees to look closely at the different parts of the facility in question and examine each of the specific work areas, fixtures, processes and operations to uncover all the hazards (Jones, 2008, p. 38). The management body must also look into the possible electrical hazards.

Electrical hazards are usually overlooked as a prime source of fires yet they are the most dangerous sources of fire. Some of the electrical aspects that can lead to fires include overloaded circuits, damaged wiring, defective switches and outlets among others. Inadequate machine and equipment maintenance present a threat as far as the break out of electrical fires is concerned. This is due to the inability to detect any electrical problems and system defects, which can lead to fires.

Conclusion

This paper had discussed in detail the Calistoga Inn fire highlighting the specific sections of the 29 CFR 1910.164 and 29 CFR 1910. 165 that were neglected by the Calistoga Inn administration, the specific hazards that were faced by the employees and guests at the Inn as well as the corrective actions that the administration needs to consider in preventing a similar occurrence in the future.

The Inn did not have any fire detection system in place since one of the guests alerted all the people in the facility of a fire break out. Owing to this, the Inn’s management body should strongly consider the installation of fire detection and alarm systems.

References

Anonymous. (2004). Fire Prevention: Good planning Saves Lives and Property. Safety Compliance Letter, 2446, 7.

Jones, A. M. (2008). Fire Protection Systems. NY: Cengage Learning.

Schroll, C. (2001). Fire Safety Essentials. Occupational Health and Safety, 70(11), 26-32.

Scully, S. (2012). Electrical Malfunction Blamed for Calistoga Inn Blaze. Web.