"one thought is what ignition sources are in the area of the lumber storage, and if there is one if you have a pile of lumber what is the likely hood that it will catch on fire and continue to burn in the manner it is stored."
Oh man do not go down that road, unless your crystal ball is real good and you can predict when and where the fire will start. All it takes is some nut with a lighter and you will have one uncontrolled fire. Private warehouses are bad enough now we invite the general public, and all the nuts that we have living with us to a building with a huge fire load, it is a wonder more of these big box stores do not burn more often.
I use the NFPA 13 solid shelving rule,< then 20 sq. ft , not required, 20-64 sq. ft 1 level on in-rack sprinklers, more then 64 sq. ft. in racks sprinklers required at all levels. Most I see are greater then 64 sq. ft.,and yes I do not see in-racks at all. Only place I see in-racks in Big Box stores are the paint isles, that is before the store manager gets the bright idea to move the paint to a different aisle, and of course the in-racks are never moved.
Really makes you wonder what the TVA guys are doing since I usually see tons of ESFR obstructions too. When I look at these buildings I just tell the underwriter just figure it as a nonsprinkered building, since 6 months after the store opens nothing is the same place and between the banners, new lighting and everything else I see, the fie protection systems have little hope in controlling a fire.
I am usually very popular with our underwriting folks. But then again I have my profit sharing to think about and the many shares of stock I own with the company. These young kids are with us for a few years and move on and can care less what they put on the books. I really piss then off when I evaluate the fire protection unacceptable, then it has to get kicked up to a higher level, which means they can not write the business the way they wanted and have to follow the book. Oh the insurance works so much fun.
