This video was created to help show firefighters the dangers of wood truss roof assemblies when they are exposed to fire. The video contains excerpts of tests burns that were conducted on a wood truss assembly and also a wood “stick built” roof assembly. The test burns were not scientific and are not intended to discredit trusses; they were conducted simply to help educate the fire service of the dangers that trusses pose if they are exposed to fire. Trusses have many good features. The …
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…or trust the internet. Your video fails to prove your point.
Thanks for posting it… this is one of the best (most educational) videos I’ve seen. Usually you only see something this good through experience… We had a close call the other night (Mar 28th); an Engine crew had JUST walked out of a fully involved residential after knockdown (because the attack line burst) when the whole garage collapsed behind them. Seconds litterally made the difference…
We had a few firefighters posted up on a near-by training structure watching,they said they saw no indication of an impending collapse; it was literally there one second and gone the next. You’re 100% correct; we only put 300 lbs spread out over the roof whereas 2 firefighters in full PPE with proper equipment can easily weigh more than 250 lbs.each. There’s a message here….Thanks for watching, commenting and realIzing the potential dangers; NEVER TRUST A TRUSS!!!DKW
It would be cool to see another view… maybe a top view (roof view) to see what it looks like right before the truss fails. Two firemen (plus gear) would weigh about 500lb., so it would fail even faster than 5 minutes if someone was up there venting…
Great job. Can I repost this and use it for training?
i build trusses for a living and to be honnest its pretty damn cool to see em burn … lmfaoooo
Yes,the tests were conducted by the Fire Science program at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY
FACT:trusses fail quickly and without warning in a fire. 29 firefighters died between 98-03 from truss failures. Firefighters have to operate anyplace on a roof so the roof must be able to support them anyplace. Was the test scientific; probably not; was it realistic; absolutely. If the side of the roof ahd been closed in the roof would have likely failed quicker due to the contained heat.
Excellent video showing how unstable and unreliable wood trusses are under fire conditions. Thank you for posting this
