Asbestos delays fire investigation

PORTSMOUTH, Virginia - On the morning of December 20, Zion Baptist Church burned in a devastating fire. Church leaders vow to rebuild, but are looking for temporary quarters for the congregation of the 142 year old church. All of this, however, has been put on hold for the past weeks while the congregation and the insurance company waited to find out about asbestos in the debris of the burned church. Fire investigators were prevented from performing a thorough search and investigation of the debris because of concerns about asbestos. The concern echoes similar concerns in several other recent fires that destroyed public buildings. - In Gloucester, Massachusetts, fire investigators and recovery workers were delayed nearly a week in their efforts to find and recover the remains of 70 year old Robert Taylor, who died in a blaze that destroyed an apartment building. - In New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters raised concerns about their possible exposure to asbestos in fighting an epic blaze that destroyed six stores in the old Kresge building downtown. The city and the building owner are locked in a battle about the proper way to deal with asbestos abatement at the fire site. - In Schenectady, New York, the city faces indefinite delays in removing rubble after a fire destroyed the former Brandywine School while they wait for final results about the amount of asbestos remaining in the debris. - In Charleston, SC, the debris from a fire that killed nine firefighters in June is still not cleared. A spokesperson for the demolition company hired to clear the rubble says the delay is due to the discovery of asbestos in about 1,500 square feet of the store’s debris. Asbestos, one of the most widely used materials in the construction industry until the 1980s, is nearly ubiquitous in older buildings. Manufacturers added the fireproofing mineral to everything from textured ceiling paint and roofing tiles to floor adhesives. Unfortunately, asbestos carries a deadly payload. When materials that contain asbestos are broken up or destroyed, the resulting dust may contain high concentrations of asbestos fibers. Those fibers can be inhaled or swallowed and cause serious health problems as much as four decades after exposure. Among the diseases caused by asbestos fibers are lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer that has been definitively linked to asbestos exposure. The asbestos used in buildings during the last century does not, according to most experts, present an ongoing health threat to building occupants as long as the materials that contain the asbestos remain intact. When those materials become damaged, however, asbestos fibers can be released into the air, causing a health hazard. For that reason, federal law requires very strict guidelines for removal of asbestos before a building is demolished. The removal can be costly, and say some experts, many building owners simply abandon a building rather than pay for asbestos removal and demolition. In the case of a fire, though, the presence of asbestos presents a far more serious problem. It’s nearly impossible to determine how much asbestos is released into the air during a fire. Firefighters who enter a building or are close to the flames may be protected by their breathing apparatus, but there are concerns that those who fight from outside may be exposed to asbestos particles in the air. Of more concern, though, is the fact that the resulting debris and rubble after a fire contains asbestos. More and more often, the cleanup of debris and rubble after a fire is delayed while officials test for asbestos and review plans for removal of asbestos before the rest of the debris can be cleared. For the congregation of Zion Baptist Church, this means a long wait before they can begin rebuilding their community’s heart. In the meantime, the congregation continues to meet, holding services in a variety of halls and meeting places while they wait to learn the final cost of the fire that destroyed their home. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)