What happened at 62 Watts Street, New York in 1994?

On 28 March 1994 a fire broke out in an apartment at 62 Watts Street, New York. Tragically it would claim the lives of three members of the New York Fire Department (NYFD).

How did the Watts Street fire start?

It’s believed that the occupant of the apartment left at around 6:25pm. They had accidentally left a plastic bag on top of a hot gas stove which allowed the pilot light to ignite the bag which subsequently set alight bottles of alcohol, fuelling the fire further.

The fire spread to wood and other combustible loads with a fireplace flue in the living room providing a source of oxygen.

The fire had been burning for more than an hour in well-vented conditions which allowed for expansion until the smoke layer dropped to the opening of the fireplace, leaving large quantities of unburned fuel and gases.

The fire crews opened the door to the room allowing warm air and gases to be vented out. This allowed a replacement of ambient air supplying oxygen to the rich fuel, causing a combustible mixture reignition and flames speeding towards the door, engulfing the crew.

What can the industry learn from the Watts Street fire?

Following computational fluid dynamics modelling (CFD) analysis, the NYFD concluded that although they were well aware of such circumstances leading to conditions to sustain backdraft, more training was required to deal with conditions so as not to place firefighters in undue danger. The fire protective equipment was also inadequate for fighting such conditions.

In the past, similar incidents had occurred but went unreported due to little publicity and no injuries. The Watts Street fire led to better reporting management procedures.

The additional benefit for using CFD also allowed for greater understanding of such risks and mitigation measures required.