Reno Vacation

Original publisher: [Emmitsburg, Md.]: U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, FEMA, U.S. Fire Administration, National Fire Data Center, [2008] OCLC Number: (OCoLC)277444549 Subject: Fires -- Casualties -- Nevada -- Reno. Excerpt: ... USFA-TR-164 / May 2008 9 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION The Mizpah Hotel was built in 1922 by the Ward Brothers, a general contracting firm. When it first opened, the hotel was named the Pincolini. The original hotel consisted of what is now referred to as the north wing or main building. Two subsequent additions doubled the size of the hotel. In 1925, the south wing and front façade connecting the north and south wings was added, followed in 1931 with the addition of the Annex at the rear of the north wing. At the time of the fire, the hotel was undergoing interior renovations, which included the installation of new carpet, and the 4 replacement of old furniture and mattresses acquired from the former Reno Hilton Hotel. When the north and south wings of the hotel were built, the city had not yet adopted a standard building code. It was not until the late 1920s that the City of Reno adopted a uniform building code. It is not known whether the later additions to the hotel met the city's building code requirements at that time, or what those requirements would have been. The city now uses the 2003 edition of the International Building Code ( IBC ). Under the city's current building code, the Mizpah Hotel would be classified as having a Type-III noncombustible construction. Buildings of this construction type usually have exterior walls of a noncombustible material. This type of building construction also is referred to as ordinary construc-tion, which is defined by the NFPA as a structure that has exterior walls, ( and structural members that are part of the exterior walls ) that are fabricated from noncombustible or limited combustible materials, such as brick or other masonry products. The interior structural members, including walls and column...