When it comes to fire safety, "newer" doesn't necessarily mean safer. In fact, firefighters say the construction and materials of newer homes could actually make them more dangerous in the event of a fire.
"The construction material themselves, they're becoming smaller components that are smaller, but they historically can fail faster now," said Matthew Brown, the chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services.
Brown helped Channel 11 Anchor Gordon Loesch set up a demonstration at the Allegheny County fire academy in Alison Park. Inside a room, they placed typical furniture and electronics, including a lot of plastic, which firefighters think of as fuel.
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"All of those have a lot more toxicity to them. For the most part, all the plastics are 75 percent hydrocarbon, that's solid fuel," Brown said.
With firefighters in full gear on standby, the fire was set. Within a minute, the room was filled with smoke, and in two minutes, the fire was spreading to other furniture. It only took a couple of more minutes before the entire room was on fire.
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An analysis by Underwriters Laboratories found the materials used in newer homes contribute to faster-burning fires and more damage. Instead of plaster, new homes use gypsum board. Old growth wood has been replaced by engineered I-joists. Instead of wood frame windows and solid core doors, newer homes have vinyl framed windows and composite hollow core doors.
The same things that make a new home "green" and "energy efficient," like better insulation and air-tight seals, can also lead to faster flashovers. A flashover is the moment a room suddenly ignites from floor to ceiling.
Brown said that when firefighters arrive at a scene, as long as nobody is believed to be trapped inside, crews fall back on a "10-minute rule" for their own safety. That means they won't go inside a home that's been burning for 10 minutes. But Brown warns that time frame could be shrinking.
"There are so many potentials out there now that that 10 minute rule, while it applies, it's really off in the distance, there's all those other factors," said Brown.
Firefighters emphasize that if you're in a house and the fire alarm goes off, the best thing you can do is to get out of the house as quickly as possible.
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