Miami, Florida: Government Center Fire & Water Mitigation

THE PROBLEM

In September of 2015, a government building experienced a fire on the 15th floor of the property. The cause of the fire was an electrical appliance in one of the employee’s cubicles. The heat generated from the fire caused the fire sprinkler to discharge, resulting in thousands of gallons of water being dispersed throughout the building.

Fire sprinklers can cause substantial damage due to the volume of water they discharge during activation (up to 150GPM). It was critical to ensure that we dealt with the areas impacting operations quickly. The widespread impact affected the 15th, 14th, and 13th floors with not only water but a substantial odor related to the soot and smoke created by the fire. This created a unique challenge to not only ensure we prevented a potential microbial hazard, but also develop a strategy that we felt confident in. One that would ensure no malodors after our mitigation effort.

“Upon walking the property, it was evident to me that there was significant damage. I met with our client to discuss some of the challenges and develop a plan of action, we had a fair amount of work ahead of us but together we were able to accomplish our goals.”
― Jonathan Rodriguez, Project Manager

THE SOLUTION

• Les équipes FIRST ONSITE ont mobilisé et commencé à évaluer les dommages. Ils ont établi une portée définie des travaux comprenant le séchage des structures, la stabilisation du climat, la démolition sélective et les efforts de lutte contre les odeurs.
• Des défis ont été identifiés qui ajouteraient des complexités au projet, notamment :
  • Odeur importante sur plusieurs étages.
  • Mobilier intégré qui a créé des défis lors du retrait des tapis.
  • Coordination avec les membres de l'équipe afin de minimiser les interruptions de travail.
  • Communication quotidienne et briefings de travail avec le personnel de Miami Dade.

FIRST ONSITE teams worked around the clock to ensure we delivered on our strategic mitigation strategies at a competitive rate, maintaining a space that was functional.