Dogwood Fire

On a Monday evening, Fairfax County School Security received an alarm at Dogwood Elementary School for a possible intrusion. As this was a regular occurance related to a sensitive system being triggered by the rattling or shaking of an entrance by normal weather phenomena, the alarm was reset without any further investigation. Nine minutes later, the alarm was tripped again—this time a security officer and police officer were dispatched to the scene to investigate. Eight minutes following the dispatch of security and police, an officer arrived on scene to find that the building was on fire. During the time between the dispatch and arrival more alarms, intrusion and fault alarms for the fire alarm systems alerted.

The first officer to the scene notified his dispatcher that there was an active fire at the school. Fire units arrived to the scene at 22:40, twenty-three minutes after the initial intrusion alarm which sounded at 22:17. Additional support was called for, and arrived in a timely fashion. Police, fire, and medic units were at the incident, as well as additional support for the fire units including a canteen and gasoline truck for refueling of the engines. The fire department was also in contact with the public works department for controlling and regulation of the water needed in the area for suppression operations.

Communication and organization for the incident, as reported by the investigative report moved quickly and ran smoothly. All necessary supportive units and equipment were made available to the incident. From a management standpoint, it would seem that the incident was handled very effectively with regard to the various public services entities involved. Only one issue (other than structural concerns, which did meet requirements for the time-period in which the building was built) stands out for criticism—the disregard of the initial intrusion alarm.

The school had apparently made it a policy to disregard the first of a possible series of intrusion alarms sent from that building due to the nuisance associated with dispatching security and police to investigate for an alarm which could have been triggered by a strong wind. This policy contributed to the delay in response and could have played a key role in the spread of the fire throughout the structure.

Mirrored from Being Jeremiah Palmer.