This chapter shall govern the manufacture, storage and handling of lumber, wood products and wood waste material.
Lumber and wood waste materials shall be stored and handled in accordance with this chapter. Facilities used for such purposes shall be designed, installed, operated and maintained in accordance with this chapter.
The manufacture of lumber, including plywood and other manufactured wood sheets, from trees and other natural wood materials, is prohibited, except as approved by the commissioner.
Terms used in this chapter and defined in FC202 shall have the meanings set forth therein.
Open yards required by the construction codes, including the Building Code, shall be maintained around buildings and other structures in which lumber and wood waste are stored and handled.
Indoor installations that generate combustible dust shall be provided with explosion protection and other combustible dust mitigation measures in accordance with FC Chapter 22 and the construction codes.
Lumber yards, woodworking facilities and other locations at which lumber is cut or otherwise processed and/or wood waste materials generated, shall be cleaned at the end of each workday, to collect and remove from the premises sawdust and other waste materials.
Protection shall be provided from ignition sources in accordance with FC Chapter 3 and FC 2803.5.1 through 2803.5.3.
Wood chips and other wood waste materials shall be stored and handled in accordance with this section.
Storage areas shall be level and on solid ground or other all-weather surface. Storage areas shall be thoroughly cleaned before transferring wood products to the area.
Piles shall not exceed 25 feet (7620 mm) in height, 150 feet (45 720 mm) in width and 250 feet (76 200 mm) in length.
Exception: The commissioner may authorize increased pile sizes provided that adequate fire safety is ensured by installing additional fire protection in accordance with FC Chapter 9 and the construction codes, including the Building Code. The increase shall be based upon the capabilities of the system installed.
Piles shall be separated from adjacent piles by approved fire apparatus access roads.
The storage of wood chips or other wood waste materials, the accumulation and handling of combustible materials, the control of vegetation and the disposal of combustible waste shall comply with the requirements of FC Chapter 3.
Piles of wood chips or other wood waste materials shall be monitored by an approved means to measure internal temperatures within the piles. Internal pile temperatures shall be measured and recorded weekly.
The commissioner may require that a yard hydrant system and/or monitor nozzles connected to a fixed water supply be installed upon the premises where the facility arrangement, pile arrangement, pile heights, number of piles or total volume of piles would hamper the effectiveness of hose streams to control or extinguish a fire. Portable fire extinguishers in compliance with the requirements of FC906 and with a minimum rating of 4-A:60-B:C shall be readily available throughout the premises.
Finished lumber products shall be stored in accordance with this section.
Outdoor lumber storage shall be arranged to form stable piles with a maximum height of 20 feet (6096 mm). Piles shall not exceed 150,000 cubic feet (4248 m3) in volume.
Fire apparatus access roads in accordance with FC503 and the construction codes, including the Building Code, shall be located so that a maximum grid system unit of 50 feet by 150 feet (15 240 mm by 45 720 mm) is established.
Permanent outdoor lumber storage areas shall be surrounded with an approved fence.
The commissioner may require that the yard hydrant system specified in FC507.2.3 to include monitor nozzles connected to the fixed water supply where the facility arrangement, pile arrangement, pile heights, number of piles or total volume of piles would hamper the effectiveness of hose streams to control or extinguish a fire. Portable fire extinguishers shall be provided in accordance with FC906 for extra-high hazards and located so that the travel distance to the nearest portable fire extinguisher does not exceed 75 feet (22 860 mm).