Major Structure FireMajor Structure Fire
A fire that spreads beyond its point of origin and its direct exposures causing serious injuries, deaths and/or imposing severe economic losses to the community as a result of private, business and/or industrial property that is damaged or destroyed.
Fires are the most prevalent of all hazardous events. These can be started by natural or man-made causes. Residential or single building fires kill more people in the U.S. each year than all natural disasters combined. Figures released by the U.S. Fire Administration in 1978 indicate that one of the greatest threats to human life from fire tends to occur in rural communities like Poland. The New England State with the highest death rate from fire is Maine with a rate of 42 deaths per million.
The following are predominant factors in reviewing the history of major structure fires in Poland for the past 100 years:
Most structures were constructed of wood
Structures in close proximity to each other with no fire breaks
Poor water supply
Poor fire fighting capabilities
Impassable roads
July 1975 Poland Spring House
The incidence of structure fires substantially increased during the high heating months of November through March. Increased use of alternate energy sources, especially wood, because of the oil embargo of 1973, is another reason for high risk of fire during the heating season.
A structure fire occurs spontaneously with little time for protective measures to be carried out.
Depending on the size of the structure or structures involved, fires may last from minutes to several hours. Very rarely do fire events span more than 24 hours, except in cases of conflagration.
A fire's impact is localized but the given area or structure cannot be determined until a fire occurs. Certain area's of some communities can be identified as being at higher risk because of high fire load, and the proximity of structures to one another.
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Copyright 2002, Wayne Cotterly
Revised: 10/21/2002