Previous fire at exact site of proposed Belmar Park West!
Belmar Park West (BPW) is the huge 411 unit apartment complex proposed at 777 S Yarrow Street in Lakewood, Colorado within the habitat zone of Belmar Park. Their proposal also includes garage parking for 542 vehicles.
Belmar Park West Proposed 542 Car Garage – Fire Concerns:
- Millions of vehicles have unrepaired ‘park outside’ recalls and pose a risk of structure fires when parked in a garage.
- Sprinklers can not extinguish a car fire and the local fire department has a 17+ minute total response time.
- The garage could eventually have over 100 high voltage EV charging stations which creates additional fire risks.
- An electric vehicle fire can require 20,000 gallons of water and can rekindle up to a week later.
- Some electric vehicle fires cannot be extinguished and must be allowed to slowly burn themselves out!
- The BPW garage is not free-standing. Parking spaces are on the same floors and close to the residential units.
- There is minimal snow storage area which could greatly hinder snow removal near the garage vehicle exits.
- The garage vehicle exits connect to private roadways that may be icy or have deep snow in winter due to the inadequate snow storage problem.
Simulation of a fire truck stuck in deep snow
Consumer Affairs estimates there were 5.8 million unrepaired vehicles facing ‘park outside’ recalls in the US as of December 2023 due to fire risk primarily from brake system defects. These vehicles may catch fire even when parked and the ignition is turned off.
There have been at least 159 ‘park outside’ or ‘do not drive’ recalls covering 11.5 million vehicles! Consumer Affairs estimates at least 1 in every 100 vehicles on the road still have an unrepaired ‘park outside’ recall.
They also state:
“It is a fact that the average family car of today, including growing numbers of ‘Sports Utility’ vehicles (SUV’s) and ‘people carriers’, have significant percentages of plastics and other combustibles in their construction. In short, modern cars can burn very quickly producing much larger and hotter fires than was previously considered possible.
However, for many years it was assumed unlikely that a fire could spread from one parked car to another, but this can no longer be relied on to be the case.” end quote
As vehicles become larger and wider, parking spaces have also become smaller and operators are using stacker systems. The result is that separation between vehicles becomes smaller, and fire spread between vehicles is more likely.
Will Belmar Park West management track which vehicles have unrepaired ‘park outside’ recalls?
Why wouldn’t they track that for everyone’s safety and to protect their building?
After all, they will likely be charging an extra $100-200 per month to park one vehicle in the garage. So they will have a database of who parks in there. It is trivial to look up if a specific vehicle has outstanding recalls.
Click to check your vehicle now! So checking which vehicles should be parked outside is easy to do.
Given these considerations, if anyone were harmed due to a garage fire at BPW due to a vehicle that should have been parked outside, the building owner could be liable. So let’s hope they track who should not be allowed to park in the garage.
Because if they don’t track it and if 1 in every 100 vehicles has an unrepaired ‘park outside’ spontaneous fire recall, there could be several such vehicles parked in the garage every night while people are sleeping!
Don’t forget the parking garage at BPW is not free-standing. The parking stalls and the residential units are in the same building on each floor and in close proximity to each other which is actually a convenience feature for residents under normal use. But if one or more vehicles catch on fire, that close proximity could be problematic.
GenRe Insurance observes: “A free-standing garage has the advantage that if a fire occurs, it (and the associated smoke and heat) does not spread so easily to other buildings.
However, in the case of garage systems that are part of larger buildings, fire, smoke, and combustion by-products enter parts of the building above the garage through hollow cavities, elevator shafts, stairwells, and utility areas more easily.
This creates a significant safety hazard and greater potential for damage.”
Considering the significant safety hazard of the Belmar Park West garage design because it is not free-standing, residents need to be extra diligent to verify safe exit routes exist from their apartment or other locations in the building in the event of a fire emergency.
Have you ever seen a car fire? One day in Boulder, Colorado I pulled up to a stop light near Baseline Road. There was an empty vehicle in the next lane and a small puff of smoke rising. By the time the light turned green a few minutes later, the car was totally involved in smoke and flames and the fire department had not yet responded. This was before cell phones, so I couldn’t call them. The only option was to get out of there quickly. By the time I found a payphone, the fire department was responding. As noted, modern vehicles burn even faster.
How common are car park fires? Very common. GenRe Insurance reports 1,858 commercial parking garage fires occurred each year in the United States from 2014-2018.
EV Charging Stations Increase Fire Risk
The parking garage at Belmar Park West will also have several Level II or higher EV charging stations with expansion capability to over 100 charging stations. Charging facilities in car parks introduce potential ignition sources and risk of overcharging, increasing the probability of having a fire event in a car park.
Electric vehicle fires can also be very tricky to put out:
“You need to have copious amounts of water, 20,000 gallons. Even then, once you put it out, it can rekindle and restart 24, 72 hours or a week later.”
Tesla car fire on S Parker Road could not be extinguished and was allowed to burn itself out!
Luckily, the 542 car capacity parking garage at Belmar Park West is designed to include fire suppression sprinklers.
But just how effective are these sprinklers at putting out parking garage car fires?
Garage sprinkler systems are not capable of extinguishing a car fire. They only help control the spread!
What can cause fire sprinklers to malfunction? Answer: Frozen pipes, corrosion, inadequate water supply, damaged components, and lack of maintenance!
Considering the graffiti, broken windows, and the recent fire in the Irongate building at the 777 S Yarrow St site of Belmar Park West, vandalism should probably be added to the list.
Previous structure fire at exact site of proposed apartment complex!
The Response Time Problem
When the fire suppression sprinklers are activated, the fire department is alerted to respond and fully extinguish the fire. So we can relax since the fire department will arrive in a few minutes, right? Not necessarily.
Since sprinklers only limit the spread of the fire, response time from the fire department is key.
“However, new information provided by LAFD and FDNY suggests that response times may continue to climb for both fire calls and medical emergencies. An LAFD paramedic explains:
“Our staffing levels have decreased over the years. Our call volume has more than doubled. We’re running around 2,000 calls a day from about 1,000 when I first started. Our number of fire stations has not increased.” “It happens every day,” he said. “You guys don’t ever hear about it. We don’t go public with it, but it’s on a constant basis. Our average response time should be anywhere from three to four minutes; 10 minutes, you’re lucky. Fifteen is common, and 20 is going to be the norm.” end quote
How does Lakewood stack up with regard to emergency response?
West Metro Fire Rescue has a total response time (p.8-9) target for moderate risk fire suppression emergencies of 10:24 (10 minutes and 24 seconds). In 2022 (the most recent year reported), their average total response time was 17:09.
Average fire department response time in Lakewood is over 17 minutes!
That is 17 minutes you could be sleeping while a car is on fire in the enclosed garage area outside your front door! And if you do wake up in time, the garage could be smoky if you attempt to exit the building.
We hope owners of Belmar Park West will insure that vehicles with unrepaired ‘park outside’ or ‘do not drive’ recalls will park outside.
If the project is built, future residents should raise the issue with the building management and monitor which vehicles are parked near their apartments.
Wherever you live, have a fire exit plan and make certain everyone in the household is aware of the details. Check your fire extinguishers. If applicable, park your vehicle(s) outside. Consider a fire escape ladder.
