The announcement of a potentially 15-story apartment and hotel complex that’s expected to be built downtown brought along some concerns from residents in the local area. These concerns were primarily focused on the three to four-story parking garage that’s planned to be built under the residential complex, and residents worried whether the Owensboro Fire Department had the equipment and preparedness to handle the unique structure in the case of fire.
OFD Fire Chief Steve Mitchell put those worries to rest via the OFD Facebook page on Saturday, sharing an outline of his plans for the hotel and apartment building.
“I thought I would address those [concerns] more globally rather than one on one. Let me start with the two easy answers; Are there any OFD concerns? Absolutely not. Will it add to the OFD work load? Absolutely,” Mitchell wrote.
Mitchell told the Owensboro Times that OFD is being proactive in the planning process for a structure of that height, complete with an integrated parking garage.
“I guess there were concerns about whether the fire department could provide coverage for that kind of building. We thought we’d just put it out there,” Mitchell said of the social media post.
Any building that stands four or more stories tall is considered mid- or high-rise as a protection measure. OFD carries high-rise equipment on each fire apparatus, and the entire department trains regularly for high-rise procedures. Stand pipes will be built in or around the building, just so OFD can get higher levels than their ladder trucks can reach, if needed.
“Stand pipes will go up from the ground level to the top, including the parking garage, where we can use tie-ins to hook up to the stand poles,” Mitchell said. “Our ladder truck reaches the seventh–possibly the eighth story. A Life Safety Code kicks in at that point. It’s designed to keep the fire in check.”
Mitchell said the entire building will be equipped with a sprinkler system, as well as a smoke removal system.
“There’s a concrete separation between the parking garage and the residential part of the building. The parking garage will take up the first four or five floors,” Mitchell said. “The entire complex has a sprinkler system, including the parking garage. The smoke removal system separates the fire and smoke. No fire from the parking garage should ever reach the residential area above it.”
Each safety measure taken on the top-level floors will be designed so that potential fires and smoke won’t spread to the rest of the building.
What fire departments refer to as “compartments” are the individual apartment complexes or hotel rooms that are designed to retain the fire and smoke within the compartment it originated in, should a fire break out. That way, Mitchell explained, the fire won’t spread to other compartments within the building.
“The stairwells will be pressurized as well, so smoke can’t get in there,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said OFD would be involved in each and every step of the building’s planning and development so that any safety risks involving fires are professionally assessed. Moreover, OFD will be training onsite once the building is complete.
“We’ll train in it before it opens up. We’ll check all the lines and distance beforehand. The majority of high-rise fires are put out with extinguishers and sprinkler systems,” Mitchell said. “Obviously, it’s going to be a lot of work. We’re working with the developer, OMPC (Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission), the building division and OMU to work on the water system. When we knew downtown was going to grow, we upgraded the water system from RiverPark Center to where we knew development would be.”
Even with the extra training and planning requirements OFD will undergo in preparation for the high-rise building, Mitchell said his department welcomes the new development to downtown Owensboro.
“There are no concerns on our end,” Mitchell said. “I’d live on the top floor–it’s going to be completely safe.”
