Dade County Building Code (1935)

fire-zones

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descriptionGeographic zones in Miami enforcing specific building construction standards based on fire risk.

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Fire Zones

fire-zones are specific geographic areas within the city-of-miami designated to enforce varying levels of building construction standards based on fire risk. This concept is a central component of the 1935-miami-dade-building-code.

Overview

The code divides the city into three distinct Fire Zones: 1, 2, and 3 (p. 5). These zones are supplemented by four Fire Zone Maps (p. 5). The primary purpose of these zones is to outline special requirements for construction, ensuring that buildings in higher-risk areas adhere to stricter safety protocols (p. 5).

The boundaries of these zones are defined by exhaustive legal descriptions tracing major thoroughfares and subdivision lines. For instance, Fire Zone No. 1 extends through areas like Miami Shores, Biscayne Shores, and along federal-highway (p. 85). It covers neighborhoods such as Bay Ridge, Plaza Federal, and El Portal, moving south through little-river and North Bayshore areas (p. 86). The zone includes sections along ne-2nd-avenue, north-miami-avenue, and nw-2nd-avenue, encompassing subdivisions like wynwood-park, Princess Park, and Buena Vista Heights (p. 87–90). It also covers areas around nw-7th-avenue, sw-17th-avenue, and sw-27th-avenue, extending into coconut-grove and coral-gables borders (p. 90–95). Specific loops and extensions are defined for SW 2nd Avenue, south-miami-avenue, and west-flagler-street (p. 95–99).

In 1941, Ordinance No. 2471 significantly expanded Fire Zone No. 1 to include additional areas on the outskirts of the downtown district to prevent the erection of new frame structures and reduce fire danger (p. 341). This expansion incorporated areas bounded by Northwest Twentieth Street and Northwest Fourteenth Avenue, extending through greenwood-park, north-highland, highland-park, and spring-garden-subdivisions (p. 341–342). The expanded zone also includes tracts along the seybold-canal and miami-river, covering subdivisions such as west-bay-side, bay-view-addition, rural-home, west-edgewater, park-place, pomelo-park, halcyon-heights, flagler-park, western-boulevard-tract, west-broadmoor, youngs-addition, central-addition-buena-vista, princess-park, wyndwood-park, prices-addition-to-st-james-park, st-james-park, northern-boulevard-tract, and washington-park (p. 342–344).

Further expanding these protections, ordinance-no-3970, adopted in April 1950, amended Section 1601 of the Building Code to add another significant area to Fire Zone No. 1 (p. 345). This addition, recommended by the city-planning-board-of-miami in December 1949, extends the zone boundaries from the intersection of Northeast Thirteenth Street and ne-2nd-avenue northward along ne-2nd-avenue to Northeast Twentieth Street (p. 345). The boundary then traces west through subdivisions including west-bay-side, bay-view-addition, rural-home, ridgeview, west-edgewater, park-place, pomelo-park, halcyon-heights, flagler-park, western-boulevard-tract, and west-broadmoor (p. 345–346). The zone continues north along the F.E.C. Railroad property line to Northeast Thirty-sixth Street, then east along ne-2nd-avenue to Northeast Thirty-seventh Street, and finally east to the biscayne-bay harbor line, closing the loop back to Northeast Thirteenth Street (p. 346).

Fire Zone No. 2 is defined in sections covering NE 35th Terrace, NE 54th Street, and areas around little-river and buena-vista-heights (p. 102–104). It includes specific tracts along south-bayshore-drive between sw-17th-avenue and sw-27th-avenue (p. 104). In 1941, Ordinance No. 2568 expanded the Secondary Fire Zone (Zone 2) to include additional areas in Coconut Grove, specifically prohibiting the erection of new frame structures in these newly included tracts (p. 322-323).

Requirements by Zone

  • Fire Zone 1: Properties in this zone must refer to Section 1602 for specific restrictions (p. 5). This zone appears to have the most stringent requirements. Section 1602 mandates that no building or structure of Type V Construction shall be erected, constructed in, or moved into, removed from one lot to another, raised, altered, or added to in Fire Zone No. 1 (p. 104). Major alterations to existing buildings in Zone 1 trigger specific compliance mandates (p. 18). Moving buildings within Zone 1 also requires compliance with Section 1602 (p. 23). Additionally, awnings, canopies, and stationary awnings must have metal frames when erected within Fire Zone No. 1 (p. 316). Motor vehicles are prohibited from being sheltered by these structures in the First and Second Fire Zones (p. 316). The 1941 and 1950 expansions aimed to further reduce fire danger by preventing new frame structures in these added areas (p. 341, p. 345).
  • Fire Zone 2: Properties in this zone must refer to Section 1603 for restrictions (p. 5). Moving buildings in Zone 2 must comply with the requirements of Section 1603 (p. 23). Like Zone 1, awnings, stationary awnings, and canopies in Fire Zone No. 2 must have metal frames (p. 316).
  • Fire Zone 3: Restrictions for this zone are outlined in Section 1604 (p. 8).

Application

When determining permitted uses and construction types, builders must first check the Zoning Map and then refer to the specific Fire Zone their property occupies (p. 5). This step is crucial before classifying the building’s occupancy and selecting the appropriate construction type (e.g., Frame, Ordinary Masonry, Fireproof) (p. 5). Fire Zone classification also dictates specific requirements for exterior structures, such as the mandatory use of metal frames for awnings in Zones 1 and 2 (p. 316).

Sources

See also: 1935-Miami-Dade-Building-Code_p105_124

See also: 1935-Miami-Dade-Building-Code_p125_144

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