BY DOUG LEIHBACHER
Attic fires can result from defective chimney linings, pinched and arcing wiring, lightning strikes, human errors, or fire traveling vertically from below, especially in balloon-frame construction. These extending fires often go unnoticed until they become visible from the outside. As a result, attic fires are often well involved on arrival.
Attic spaces are either finished or unfinished. Finished attics provide additional living space, usually have dressed windows, and generally contain ordinary furnishings. Unfinished attics have heavy fire loading and unprotected structural members. Flooring covers only part of the floor area, usually in the center. Firefighters performing interior operations must be careful not to crawl past the edge of the flooring and fall between beams.
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