Reminder to look out for Engineered wood products

http://www.wisn.com/video/17971947/

As firefighters put their lives on the line to save others, a common manufactured wood I-joist holding up floors in newer and remodeled homes can pose a deadly risk.

The beams are lightweight, strong and inexpensive to use but they have one very serious flaw.

Milwaukee fire Capt. Ted Stribling lay unconscious and badly injured inside a burning home one evening in May. The last thing he remembers was walking into the blaze in a home on Second and Meineke alongside fellow firefighter Tony Rueda. He has no memory of what happened next.

"Tony and I fell through the floor. Tony did not lose consciousness and he rescued me," Stribling said.

The floor beneath their feet gave way, sending the two firefighters crashing to the concrete basement below.

When pulled from the blaze, at first glance, firefighters thought Stribling was dead. But thanks to his colleague, both men escaped -- injured, but alive.

When Stribling returned to the scene days later, he noticed something alarming.

"And what I could see was these wafer thin I-beams made of composites of wood and glue," Stribling said.

The older home had been remodeled with newer manufactured wood I-joists, supporting the floor.

Following the blaze, 12 News went inside that home with a Milwaukee firefighter, and saw why those floor beams failed when the firefighters stepped on them.

"They're perfectly good contrstruction materials. They can make a fine home. The problem with them is, they burn really quickly," Stribling said.

They burn so quickly, in fact, that they have proven deadly for many firefighters.

A veteran firefighter was killed when the floor collapsed below him in a Green Bay home in 2006, trapping him inside the blaze.

The Department of Homeland Security report describes what happened last year when a Tennessee firefighter crashed through a hole in the floor of a burning home as follows:

"A firefighter who had been behind firefighter Shawn Daughetee reached down into the hole, but was unable to reach his hand. Firefighters made contact with him, but were unable to retrieve him. Firefighter Daughetee's remains were recovered after the fire was controlled."

The floor that failed was constructed with engineered lumber