Human-Caused Hazards

Figure 33. Winter Weather Disaster Declarations in Southington and Hartford County

Year Winter Weather Event

Disaster #

1978 Blizzard & Snowstorm 3060 1993 Severe Winds & Blizzard, Record Snowfall 3098 1996 Blizzard of 96 1092 2003 Snow 3176 2004 Snow 3192 2005 Record Snow 3200 2006 Snow 3266 2013 Severe Winter Storm 3361 2013 Severe Winter Storm & Snowstorm 4103

All weather events that occur in New England do not become significant in the damage or harm to the area they affect. Weather events do contribute to the number of emergency incidents, hospital visits, and demands on governmental services. Weather events have potential to interrupt transportation circulation, communication systems, community events, and business revenue.

Fire department planning efforts should continue to focus on this list from the Emergency Operations Plan to remain proficient in weather-related operations. Proficiency in common occurrences leads to adaptability and success in more rarely experienced emergency situations.

Human-Caused Hazards

Technological or human-caused hazards result from accidents or failures of systems and structures; or the actions of people - either accidental or intentional. Intentional actions are always deliberate; however, the intent may differ (e.g., a deliberate action may be planned, careless, reckless, or with the intent to cause harm). In careless or reckless acts, or those that are poorly planned and or executed, the outcome may have unintended consequences.

Community Land Use Regulations

As permitted by Connecticut General Statutes, specifically Chapter 126, the Town of Southington adopted and enacted land use regulations to divide the land within the town into zones according to land use and building regulations. These rules provide guidance for decisions for development that may occur in certain areas, and likewise prohibited areas for certain types of development. Regulations that create these development zones are referred to as zoning regulations for development.

An important component in development plans are the historical considerations given to the structure development and construction. Set-backs, distance between structures, types of building materials, utility and water availability, and fire protection, detection, and suppression system requirements are all important factors in development within a community.

Hazardous Substances and Processes

As of 1986, the Federal Emergency Planning Community Right-to-Know Act requires businesses that possess or maintain hazardous chemicals that exceed established thresholds to complete a Tier II Hazardous Chemical Inventory Report. The Environmental Protection Agency requires these occupancies to submit annual Tier II reports to local fire departments, Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC), and State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs) to enable planning for the response and mitigation of any potential spills or accidents. Additionally, the reporting facilities must submit the designated emergency point of contact.

Housing Type and Density

Studying a community’s housing features reveals numerous risk indicators that provide insight into areas where prevention programs alter risk factors within the community. Data involving occupancy rates, infrastructure age, property value, and ownership status of households provides valuable clues to needed prevention efforts. From this insight, planers discover the effects where less maintenance and repairs are performed on low valued, vacant, or rental properties than higher value categories. Owner-occupied homes are maintained more often as owners are seeking to maintain or improve property values.

Figure 34. Ownership Distribution in Southington

Renter Occupied, 16.2% Vacant, 3.5%

Owner-Occupied, 80.3%

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the top five causes of fatal fires, which account for 90% of fire deaths, are cooking, heating, electrical, intentional, and smoking. These types of fires occur in all residential types, warranting the need for a foundational fire safety campaign that incorporates educational information and messages for homeowners and renters alike.

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0% 71.2% Figure 35. Types of Residential Occupancies

6.1% 9.4%

Single Family Town House Small Apartment Complex 10.7%

Apartment Complex 2.6%

Mobile Home

Home heating risk is higher in the colder months, as many homes are heated with natural gas, fuel oil, propane, or wood stoves which increases risk for carbon monoxide poisoning compared to all-electric homes. Fire safety programs regarding carbon monoxide poisoning prevention and the use of a carbon monoxide alarm would benefit many residents.

Reducing fire fatalities and injuries in the home should be the main goal of any fire prevention program. Statistics show that smoke alarms improve human survivability in residential fires by at least 50%. NFPA’s best practice for smoke alarm replacement is 10 years from the date of manufacture. In addition, emphasis should be given to homes that were built when there were fewer life safety code requires for smoke alarms, electrical receptacles, and electrical panels. Incorporating a smoke alarm installation program with a home fire safety inspection by targeting homes which are 10 years or older can substantially reduce risk from fire and fire-related hazards.

Figure 36. Age of Home Distribution in Southington

Housing Age Distribution

11.1% 12.2%

33.2%

43.5%

2000 or Newer 1970 - 1999 1940 - 1969 1939 or Older

Fire suppression systems (fire sprinklers) are proven life-saving devices, with more than 125 years of empirical data serving to document their effectiveness. In the United States, however, fire sprinkler systems remain elusive in residential properties, especially in one-and two-family dwellings. Informational campaigns for historical house renovation and for new construction certainly help to curtail this elusiveness.

Figure 37. Single Family Home Value Distribution Southington

$0 to $53,000

$53,001 to $107,000

$107,001 to $213,000

$213,001 to $320,000

$320,001 to $428,000

$428,001 to $534,000

$534,001 to $801,000

$801,001 to $1,068,000

$1,068,001 and up

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

A 2008 study prepared for the Centers for Disease Control9 of lithium battery-powered smoke alarms installed in 1998–2001 in five states investigated whether these alarms were present and operational eight to ten years later. This study found that at least one of the installed alarms was still present and functional in only 38 percent of the homes visited. Slightly more than one-third (37%) of the installed alarms had been removed, one-third (33%) were present and operational, and slightly less than one-third (30%) were present but not operational.

Transportation

Southington is located along exits 28 through 32 of Interstate 84, exit 4 off Interstate 691, and is bisected by Connecticut Route 10. 10 Other major transportation routes include Routes 10, 120, 177, 229, 322, and 364. Although no longer served by a railroad, the Town is part of the CTFastrak bus rapid transit system providing bus services to Hartford and Waterbury.

9 Evaluation of the “10-Year” Smoke Alarm Project (nchharchive.org) 10 Town of Southington

The effects of the pandemic COVID-19 stretched much farther than health problems, as the unemployment figure across the U.S. and the World spiked at record rates. From January 2000 to December 2017 Southington’s unemployment rate fell below the state and national rate each month. The employment level in Southington does correspond to risks managed by local governments, including fire departments. As residents commute to work, traffic congestion slows and even alters emergency response routes and times. Often, fire department incident call volume is highest during the morning and evening worker commute.

Residents of Southington experienced a mean travel time to work of 32.2 minutes (2014 -2018). Large numbers of resident’s commute to workplaces in Southington, and many additional residents commute to neighboring communities. The following figure depicts the destination for residents for employment.

Figure 38. Southington Citizen’s Employment Destination

Large Square Footage Buildings

Large square footage buildings include warehouses, shopping malls, industrial complexes, and similar sized buildings. Large square footage buildings provide additional challenges to emergency responders over buildings more routinely found within a jurisdiction. Because of the larger size, additional personnel and larger volumes of water compound the effect on the emergency response system.

In addition to extra firefighting personnel for handling larger and additional hose lines, firefighters must also advance hose lines further than in smaller sized buildings. Also, other positions become necessary when fighting fires in these large buildings. Examples of additional crews needed for large facilities include safety hose lines and rapid intervention crews (RIC), multiple water supply points, responder rehabilitation, medical stand-by, and personnel refilling air supply cylinders.

Because large square footage facilities require extended search and rescue times, occupant safety is also at greater risk. These structures rely on fire protection systems to extinguish and/or stop the fire from progressing past the area or room of origin. Negative economic impacts follow an emergency incident of this magnitude.