# fire access road



## BSSTG (Jul 29, 2014)

Greetings,

2009 IFC states thusly

503.1.1 Buildings and facilities. Approved fire apparatus access roads shall be provided for every facility, building or portion of a building hereafter constructed or moved into or within the jurisdiction. The fire apparatus access road shall comply with the requirements of this section and shall extend to within 150 feet (45 720 mm) of all portions of the facility and all portions of the exterior walls of the first story of the building as measured by an approved route around the exterior of the building or facility.

Exception: The fire code official is authorized to increase the dimension of 150 feet (45 720 mm) where:1. The building is equipped throughout with an approved automatic sprinkler system installed in accordance with Section 903.3.1.1, 903.3.1.2 or 903.3.1.3.

The wording in this section confounds me. When the Code states that access roads shall extend to within 150' would the following be allowed?

Fire rd runs the full length of a strip center on the front side. Strip center is 200' long by 100' wide. Since the rear portions of the building are not farther than the 150' minimum required from the access road, it seems to me that this would be compliant. I feel relatively certain that this is the intent. Would you agree? It may sound like a silly question but we have an issue with a revised site plan (after plan approval) and it's a bit of a pain.

thanksabunch

BSSTG


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## north star (Jul 29, 2014)

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Regardless of the 150 ft. dimension,  if the fire department responds

on the front side of your Strip Center, can they reach all areas of the

roofs for fire fighting, ...water coverage, ...possible ingress, ...possibly

attentioning elec. meter disconnections, ...Siamese Connection,

...parking lot traffic management, ...other ?   :-o

*# # #*


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## north star (Jul 29, 2014)

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Also, while the 100' width may not seem all that long of a distance to

some,  ...it may be a whole other issue if you are the one on that

Apparatus ladder about 25 ft. - 35 ft. in the air, or even navigating

that roof on foot, ...in full gear, ...with a 2 in. - 3 in. hose full of water

dragging it around.

Just sayin', ...that rear access road might look pretty good by now!



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## north star (Jul 29, 2014)

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In the FWIW Dept., ...a lot of Strip Centers are designed and built to

look good, not necessarily to be functional & accessible by the

emergency responding community, nor truck drivers.   :banghd

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## cda (Jul 29, 2014)

""" of all portions of the facility """

 1. Some people go by your example.   I can walk from the front where the fire truck parks to through the building to the back, and it is not over 150.

2. I have been use to ,,, where you park the fire truck you must be able to stretch the hose to all portions of the exterior of the building, with out walking through the building....

So I would not approve your example


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## khsmith55 (Jul 29, 2014)

Agree with CDA’s item #2. On another note, in the 2009 IFC this requirement applies to one and two family (Section 102.5) dwellings also. Grrr.


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## mtlogcabin (Jul 29, 2014)

> as measured by an approved route around the exterior of the building or facility.


The answer is quite clear in the code

Not approved

A 20,000 sq ft mercantile should be sprinklered. Now from the left and right front corners you would need to drag the hose 200 ft to reach the entire length of the rear of the building. The exception permits the FO to approve the additional distance. Yes it can be approved however I would document the reason why


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## steveray (Jul 29, 2014)

Soooo.....you can't have a firewall longer than 150'? Wthout special approval? Because it is the exterior of the building...Or a building wider than 300?....Bad wording...


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## cda (Jul 29, 2014)

steveray said:
			
		

> Soooo.....you can't have a firewall longer than 150'? Wthout special approval? Because it is the exterior of the building...Or a building wider than 300?....Bad wording...


I think i understand your question

It is a matter how the section is interpreted


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## cda (Jul 30, 2014)

...........

View attachment 1082


150.pdf

150.pdf


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## FM William Burns (Jul 30, 2014)

We would not deviate from the 150' access unless building is sprinkled and we have a minimum of two sides.


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