daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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When 'woke enviro' political agendas risks people's lives unnecessarily....
Three years ago, while much of the world hunkered down to wait out the COVID-19 pandemic, the B.C. government set its sights on the sky. It began planning how to fill urban horizons with more highrise living space and office towers using wood as the structural skeleton instead of traditional cement and steel. It was a lofty goal that's being emulated in cities around the world.
To do it, B.C. created the Office of Mass Timber Implementation (OMTI), the first government office in the world with a broad and powerful mandate to make it easier to build with mass timber — a catch-all term that encompasses a variety of engineered products made up of smaller pieces of wood often held together with adhesives.
But documents obtained by CBC News through an access to information request show the OMTI was so concerned about public discussion of so-called "tall wood" buildings — those higher than six storeys — that it barred municipalities from building them unless they guaranteed their local fire officials would be aligned with planning and building departments regarding any concerns they might have, including fire risks.
The note explains the policy was instituted to "preclude mixed messages about the advantages and trade-offs" of building with mass timber. But the OMTI appears to have been trying to muzzle any messages that didn't align with the ones it was putting out.
"This strategy was based on experience when B.C. increased the allowable height of wood construction from four to six storeys in 2009," the briefing note explained.
"In that case, media coverage featured some conflicting opinions about wood, perhaps even from staff within the same jurisdiction, with planning department staff welcoming a more affordable means of urban densification whereas fire departments were sharing concerns about fire risk," the document said.
Richmond, B.C.'s chief fire prevention officer told CBC News he was concerned their ladder trucks wouldn't be adequate. Two years later, the first six-storey wood frame housing project built under the new code burned to the ground while it was still under construction in Richmond. Firefighters were unable to put out the fire.
B.C. policy stifled fire safety concerns to promote mass timber highrises, documents show
Briefing note said cities needed 'organizational alignment' from fire officials to put up tall wood buildings
Three years ago, while much of the world hunkered down to wait out the COVID-19 pandemic, the B.C. government set its sights on the sky. It began planning how to fill urban horizons with more highrise living space and office towers using wood as the structural skeleton instead of traditional cement and steel. It was a lofty goal that's being emulated in cities around the world.
To do it, B.C. created the Office of Mass Timber Implementation (OMTI), the first government office in the world with a broad and powerful mandate to make it easier to build with mass timber — a catch-all term that encompasses a variety of engineered products made up of smaller pieces of wood often held together with adhesives.
But documents obtained by CBC News through an access to information request show the OMTI was so concerned about public discussion of so-called "tall wood" buildings — those higher than six storeys — that it barred municipalities from building them unless they guaranteed their local fire officials would be aligned with planning and building departments regarding any concerns they might have, including fire risks.
'Organizational alignment' policy
That policy is euphemistically referred to as "organizational alignment" in a briefing note written by a director of the OMTI in August 2020 for B.C.'s then-minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.The note explains the policy was instituted to "preclude mixed messages about the advantages and trade-offs" of building with mass timber. But the OMTI appears to have been trying to muzzle any messages that didn't align with the ones it was putting out.
"This strategy was based on experience when B.C. increased the allowable height of wood construction from four to six storeys in 2009," the briefing note explained.
"In that case, media coverage featured some conflicting opinions about wood, perhaps even from staff within the same jurisdiction, with planning department staff welcoming a more affordable means of urban densification whereas fire departments were sharing concerns about fire risk," the document said.
Fire officials shared concerns in 2009
Indeed, a number of news stories in 2009 featured fire officials in Victoria and elsewhere expressing concern that provincial building code changes at that time had been rushed without consideration for whether street water flows were sufficient to battle a six-storey mass timber building fire.Richmond, B.C.'s chief fire prevention officer told CBC News he was concerned their ladder trucks wouldn't be adequate. Two years later, the first six-storey wood frame housing project built under the new code burned to the ground while it was still under construction in Richmond. Firefighters were unable to put out the fire.
