Carson Bonner, Campus Carrier editor-in-chief
Wednesday afternoon, metal working on the roof of the new Morgan-Bailey Health Sciences caused a small fire, which was soon extinguished. According to an email statement from Assistant Vice President of Campus Safety and Land Management Gary Will, sparks from the metal work landed on insulation materials, resulting in the fire.
Protocol requires the Rome Floyd Fire Department to be called in the event of any kind of fire and they responded within minutes, according to Battalion Chief Greg Abbott.
“The fire was out on our arrival and our crew [overhauled the area] just to make sure that there’s not anything around it that’s still on fire or could catch on fire,” Abbott said. “First [fire department] group was probably on scene within four or five minutes.”
Overhauling is the process of searching for hidden fire extension on a fire scene, soon after the main fire has been extinguished. Assuming overhauling is not done, another fire could break out due to leftover materials or smoking remains.
A small fire occurred on the roof of the Morgan-Bailey Health Sciences building currently under construction on Wednesday. The fire, which was caused by sparks from metal works landing on insulation, did not cause any injuries or major damage.
“Once you actually have a fire, you take the charred areas and the smoldering areas and you move them out of the way,” Abbott said. “That takes a whole lot longer than putting the fire out.”
Construction site fires are fairly common, with fire departments responding to about 4,300 a year across the country, averaging about 13 fires a day. Common causes are sparks from tools, mishandling of flammable materials and poor cleaning or organization practices. Construction fires can be deadly, especially in cases where there is electrical equipment and insulation material actively on site.
The fire caused minimal to no damage and progress will not be delayed in the construction of the building.