Clutter and Fire

Clutter and fire are a horrific combination, meeting in a heartbeat,  ferocious and deadly. That’s common knowledge in my profession, and I have two clients in mind when I speak of it. But facts published in the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, Aging Committee Majority Staff report “The Consequences of Clutter: How Hoarding Disorder Affects America’s Older Adults, First Responders, and Their Communities” make the terrifying possibilities even more real.

This is part of the testimony of Firefighter Adam Woods, San Francisco Fire Department (California)

Relevant Incident:
We responded to a fire in 2022 in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. The front
entrance of the two-story house was completely blocked by accumulated furniture and debris.
Rescue crews were forced to enter through the rear, downwind side of the house. All received
burns during entry. The search for possible victims was conducted by crawling over three to
five feet of debris piled throughout the house, leading to multiple cases of heat exhaustion.
The elderly residents were safely evacuated.

This is part of the testimony of Captain William J. Crews, Garland Fire
Department (Texas)

When the home is on fire, the difficulties are greatly amplified for responding crews. The primary
difficulty being the increased fire load inside the structure.
Search of the residence for any trapped residents is nearly impossible. In many cases we have
found a deceased resident in a hoarder home well after the fire is out and we have begun
digging out the home. Quite often the resident is found buried in the hoarded items that
collapsed as they tried to escape.

Many other generous and brave first responders testified in the report.

And the Springfield Missouri Fire Department submitted this video:

Side-by-Side Burn

Two fires are lit at the same time, one in a cluttered environment and one in an uncluttered environment. The “cluttered” fire rapidly spreads and gains intensity, while the uncluttered fire barely spreads at all.