cockloft

Eventually, the wood of the cockloft itself flashed over.

But by day's end, officials said they believed it started in the cockloft on the water-side of the terminal.

In addition, the cockloft is full of struts and supports for the ceiling panels.

Department officials said the careless use of smoking materials in the cockloft probably caused the blaze, although the case remains open.

He said the fire had begun on the top floor of 202 Huron and spread rapidly through a common cockloft connecting the buildings.

The fire apparently erupted in the upper floor of the terminal on the water side, known as the cockloft, which was usually unoccupied.

Moreover, it was unclear why what witnesses called a seemingly small fire in the cockloft had abruptly become a major conflagration.

Suddenly, a fire in the cockloft, the space between the ceiling and the roof, caused the ceiling to collapse.

There is also a metal spiral staircase that leads from the offices on the ground floor, through the main terminal to the cockloft, he said.

"Most of them are quite old, and there'll be a cockloft between the ceiling and the roof board that extends over several shops.

Often the partition walls extend only up to the ceiling, so the fire'll spread through the cockloft, right down the block."

The fire then swept down through ventilation grates in the second floor corridor as it flashed through the cockloft above the classrooms.

Quickly spreading to the cockloft, which acted like a horizontal chimney, the fire affected all 75 apartments and forced pajama-clad residents onto the street.

Dozens of crack vials were found in what was left of the cockloft, Chief Stickevers said.

He chafed at allegations that the homeless had caused the fire, maintaining that few homeless people ever ventured into the cockloft.

He said the building's cockloft did not meet current building codes and the structure did not have sprinklers or other antifire devices.

He added that he had heard birds in the space above his apartment, leading him to believe there were holes big enough for them to enter the cockloft.

The power of the water cannons punched out panels in the facade, enabling the firefighters to play water directly on flames in the cockloft.

Environmental officials said that asbestos insulation tumbling from the burning cockloft apparently contaminated the huge waiting room and the clothing and equipment of scores of firefighters.

The fire spread so quickly because the two-story houses were connected across a common cockloft, a ventilation space between the ceiling and the roof, Lieutenant Ganun said.

The fire spread to the cockloft of that building, Chief Kubler said, and then jumped to the row of three-story residential buildings on either side of it.

He had been asked at what point he perceived the danger for the five firefighters, who were inside the garage trying to put out a fire in a 12-foot cockloft above them.

It also began sending superheated air and gasses into an open pipe chase near the source of the fire that went up to the cockloft above the second floor classrooms (below).

After the fire was brought under control, in about an hour, investigators traced its origin to the bottom of a shaft, used to dry wet hoses, that runs up the building to the cockloft.