BY FRANCIS L. BRANNIGAN, SFPE (FELLOW)
Editor's note: For further reference, consult Building Construction for the Fire Service, Third Edition (BCFS3). Page numbers, where applicable, are included after the caption.
The owner of this mill wanted to be protected from the elements when going to his office; therefore, the arch was removed and a wooden lintel was substituted. This was pointed out to me by Hagers-town, Maryland, firefighters. Time spent discussing the different types of wall collapses (which I consider immaterial) would be better spent teaching firefighters to survey "brick" walls for wooden lintels and leveling beams. The many collapse reports I have seen have not listed such walls as a factor in a fatal collapse, but logically it must have happened. (BCFS3, 158,168)
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