fire deaths can be eliminated in america

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    FIRES DEATHS CAN BE ELIMINATED IN AMERICA

    PART A-THE FIRE PROBLEM EXPLAINED

    1. THE AMERICAN FIRE DEVESTATION

    How bad is the fire devastation in America? Heres how the federal government sees it:The U.S. fire problem, on a per capita basis, is one of the worst in the industrial world.

    To put this in context, the annual losses from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and

    other natural disasters combined in the United States average just a fraction of those from

    fires.Fire in the United States, 13thEdition,Federal Emergency Management Agency Page 1, Oct 2004

    2. NEARLY ALL FIRE DEATHS IN BUILDINGS OCCUR IN HOMES

    About 95 percent of all fire deaths due to building fires occur within homes. The home is wherethe fire kills. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that about 80 percent of thefire deaths occur in homes, but the NFPA includes non-building fires such as automobile crasheswhere fires occur. The intent of this report is to explain how buildingfire deaths can be virtually

    eliminated. However, whether fire occurs in a home or any other building type, there are easysolutions to the fire deaths. What is encouraging about these solutions is that they do not cost, theysave money as well as lives. Fire generates more than 300 billion dollars a year in sales andexpenditures which have created a conglomeration of special interests that are determined to preventrevisions in the corrupted fire regulatory programs in America. Within this report I will define andexplain the near 100 percent certain solutions to fire in a step by step fashion, so clearly that I amsure that a 5th grade student will be fully able to understand all of it. The 5th grade student will haveno problem understanding the fire solutions because the student is not profiting from fire.

    3. FIRE KILLS BEFORE THE FIREFIGHTERS ARRIVEWithin built up areas where fire stations are numerous it is quite common for fire officials to

    advise the public that the response time to a fire is 5 minutes or less. But that is a meaninglessnumber. The time that counts is the time from the appearance of the first small flame, to discovery ofthe fire by an occupant, to the call to 911, to the relay of the information to the nearby fire station, towaking the sleeping firefighters (sometimes), to the drive to the area of the involved building (withpossible traffic delays), to the hook up of the pumper to the hydrant, to the layout and charging of thehose lines, to the safe entry of the building behind the heat killing fog and only then the search forsurvivors. The FREE BURN TIMEfrom the first small flame until firefighters wearing masksactually enter the burning building (behind the heat killing water fog blanket) may be anywhere fromten minutes to more than a half hour. A flaming type fire will frequently kill in less than 5 minutes.Why so many home occupants are killed by fires is because a fire will kill in much less time than thetime required for the firefighters to initiate a rescue of those within. The fundamental reality of the

    high fire death rate in America is this: It is impossible for firefighters in a remotes station,

    whether near or miles away, to provide reasonable life protection to the occupants of buildingsbecause the fast (flaming) fire can kill before the firefighters arrive.

    Despite organized and well disseminated lies to the contrary, it is the hot fl aming fi re(not theslow smoldering fi re)that causes nearly all the fire deaths and injuries. Because sprinklers wouldeventually reduce the need for the great proliferation of fire stations the high level and

    influential fire officials within the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) cooperated

    with business organizations to prevent the installation of sprinklers in nearly all buildings. Thecodes enforced by fire departments are created by the NFPA. The businesses that profit from fire

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    dominate the code making committees. There are profits to be made behind ever code enforced byfire inspectors.

    A BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY, NO. 1:

    IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR FIREFIGHTERS TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE FIRE LIFE

    SAFETY PROTECTION TO HOME OCCUPANTS BECAUSE FIRE KILLS FASTER

    THAN THE FIRE TRUCKS TRAVEL

    PART B-WHY FIRE IS SO QUICKLY DEADLY

    1. THE THERMODYNAMICS OF FIRE

    Nearly all combustible materials in common usage are resistant to ignition and to burning.Firewood that is burned in the fireplace is resistant to burning. It will not ignite until some ignitionsource, a match first igniting crumbled up paper for example, heats the wood to its ignitiontemperature. Even after the wood is ignited, it requires several logs mutually exposing each other tosustain the combustion. If one ignited log is removed from the fireplace and held separately by thetongs, the heat created dissipates to the atmosphere, the temperature of the log falls below its ignition

    temperature and the flames go out. In order for combustibles to burn, first heat must be applied andthen an environment that supports combustion must prevail. Most combustibles and flammables withinbuildings must be heated in excess of 500 degrees F. to be ignited. Reduce the temperature of the

    fires environment and fire ceases to exist.

    2. ROOM FLASHOVER

    There is a phenomenon called flashover that was never considered when planning solutions tofire until I realized its significance, began to publicize its importance and explained how it could betamed. When a small fire starts, say in a waste basket set beside a sofa in the living room, the firebegins to grow in size and heat production. The hot combustion gases rise, strike the ceiling and spreadin all directions. It does not take long before the temperature across the ceiling of the room of fire

    origin is heated to approximately one thousand degrees (fires can create temperatures in excess of 2000degrees F.). At a temperature of about a thousand degrees radiant energy from above is heating allcombustibles below to their auto-ignition temperatures. Then, suddenly, all of the combustiblematerials within the fire room will flash into one huge total room fire. It is the same situation as ayoung girl standing too close to a raging fire in the fireplace with the radiant energy igniting her dress;except a thousand times more energy is suddenly released by a room flashover. The problem is thatwithin less than five minutes a tiny fire in one room can grow to create a condition where everycombustible object in that room is simultaneously burning. And, until that incredibly destructivecondition called flashoveroccurs, occupants in rooms other than the fire room may be completelyunaware that a fire exists.

    3. THE POST-FLASHOVER FIRE IN THE HOMEWhen room flashover in a home occurs, every combustible thing within that room has flashed

    into flames. As air (or any gas) is heated it expands. Thus, the moment flashover occurs there is aninstantaneously over-pressurecondition within the fire room that forces the super hot and deadlycombustion gases out of the fire room into other areas. Thus, moments after flashover happens, superhot combustion gases are flowing rapidly across other rooms and most likely down the bedroomcorridor. The overpressure can be so great that a grown man being hit by the tidal wave of movinggases could be knocked off his feet. The incomplete combustion due to the sudden inadequacy ofoxygen will cause the gray smoke to turn jet black. Visibility will drop to near zero. When a parent in

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    the master bedroom opens the bedroom door to reach the childrens rooms, the heat could be so intenseas to ignite the hair on his/her head and any flimsy night time clothing. Reaching the childrensbedroom will likely be impossible. Because so many combustibles are burning simultaneously thecombustion gases will be rich in carbon monoxide and other toxic gases and near devoid of lifesustaining oxygen. Once flashover occurs the possibility of survival will drop rapidly. And, whenflashover occurs, a call to 911 may not even have been made. If anyone escapes it may be with terrible

    burns. Children will be least likely to escape. Now consider the plight of a person sleeping in anapartment six stories above the ground when flashover occurs in the living room. Access to the onlyexit door will be through the living room. The window is not a desirable secondary when it is 6 floorsabove ground.

    A BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY, NO. 2

    WHEN THE FIRST FIREFIGHTERS ARRIVE AT THE THE BURNING HOME, THOSE

    WHO ARE STILL INSIDE LIKELY WILL BE COMING OUT HORIZONTALLY.

    PART C-THE ULTIMATE CURE TO FIRE LOSSES

    1. FIRES NEMESISFire has an enemy. It is water. And there are two conditions that make water the unbeatable

    enemy of fire. First, water must be applied to the fire early, before the fire can create a largeenvironment of super heated combustion gases. Fire is like a tiger cub, when small it cannot kill but itis easily killed. When it becomes large it is deadly and difficult to control. The second condition that isdeadly to fire is fog, meaning a fine water spray that completely envelops the fire. To continue to burn,combustibles must remain at temperatures well above 500 degrees F. But water turns to steam atslightly above 200 degrees. Heat absorption due to water vaporizing into steam will suck the heat outof a fire like magic. When water is applied as a spray (fog), the ability of the millions of small waterdroplets to kill fire is astounding. Each drop of water presents a surface area that absorbs heat. A largenumber of small drops have a greater cooling effect than a smaller number of large drops. Hence, a

    nozzle that creates a fine spray is especially deadly to fire. Apply water spray before any fire withina building grows large and deadly; that is all that is needed to eliminate the U.S. fire problem.

    2. THE NEAR 100 PERCENT SOLUTION TO FIRE

    The fire sprinkler system is extremely close to a one hundred percent solution to the fireproblem. In 1959 T. Seddon Duke, the President of Star Sprinkler Corporation published an article inthe Forum magazine reporting the electrically supervised fire sprinkler system was 99.98 percentreliable at controlling the early fire. This data was developed over a 25 year period by a major centralstation alarm company. And surprisingly, that close-to-perfect reliability was achieved with a slow tooperate, inadequately engineered sprinkler system designed to meet an antiquated NFPA code. (A copyof Mr. Dukes report is available on www.Americasholocaust.org. ) Harry Marryatte, an Australian

    fire protection engineer, wrote a book dated 1971 that was revised and republished in 1988. The title ofthe 1988 book is FIRE, A CENTURY OF AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER PROTECTION INAUSTRALI A AND NEW ZEAL AND 1886-1986The data over a 100 year period revealed that only 11 firedeaths had occurred within sprinkler protected buildings. That was slightly more than one fire death ina sprinkler protected building every ten years. The conclusion is that fires and fire deaths can benear 100 percent eliminated by installing fire sprinklers.However, as of 1959 the sprinkler designstandard that had been created in 1896 had been maintained for more than 60 years with almost noimprovements. The standard had been locked into a format that made the installation of sprinklersystems within homes impossible and extremely difficult and costly for compartmented buildings.

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    Hence, close to 100 percent of the buildings where people assembled and were at risk to fire weredevoid of fire protection. My research proved many times over, the basic design of sprinklers

    could be modernized with the result that an improved system could be marketed with cost

    savings as great as 90 percent, thus making sprinklers cost effective for all building types

    including homes.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 3A FIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEM IS EXTREMELY CLOSE TO A 100 PERCENT SOLUTION

    (CONFIRMED AS 99.87 PERCENT RELIABLE) TO FIRE LOSSES AND FIRE DEATHS IN

    BUILDINGS.

    PART D-THE FIRE PROFITEERS

    1. HOW THE FIRE INSURANCE INDUSTRY PROFITED FROM FIRES

    The fire insurers were allowed to price fix based on the belief that if an insurance companywent bankrupt it would do damage to the public. Thus insurers created rating bureaus to price fix (set

    rates) for property types, etc. This allowed the underwriters, using the law of large numbers (alsoknown as the law of averages) to set the rates and therefore the amount of money passing through thesystem from all insured to those who suffered losses. Lets assume that the retention was set at 50percent; that is 50 percent of the monies received would go to pay losses and 50 percent would beretained to cover overhead and profits. Now it is easy to see that if the underwriters could calculatethe losses and set the rates accordingly, 50 percent of every dollar taken in could be retained. Thus,the greater the sum of the losses (with appropriately set rates) the greater the cash flow through thesystem. Therefore, with accurate underwriting, a high level of losses produced an enormous cashflow into the system and the retentions and the profits were maximized. Thus, incredibly high fire

    losses in America produced incredibly high profits for the fire insurers. Allowing a near 100

    percent solution to fire to be modernized and become cost effective for every building would be

    the equivalent to chopping down the insurers money tree.

    2. GUARANTEEING THE CONTINUITY OF THE FIRE HOLOCAUSTDuring 1895 the a group of New England fire insurance companies created the National Fire

    Protection Association (NFPA) to create fire codes for their industry. The primary problem was thatthe fire sprinkler system was so effective that it would virtually eliminate serious fires in this nation.Many of the insurers would end up bankrupt. So, during 1896 the NFPA created its first code, a firesprinkler code that was written to prevent the installation of sprinklers in small buildings andcompartmented buildings (apartments, hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, schools, high rises, etc.). Theregulations, requiring iron pipe in sizes from 4 inch diameter to 8 inch, plus thousands of gallons perminute water supplies, produced a code controlled sprinkler system that could be economically

    justified only in very large high hazard industrial properties. The very large industrial properties haddollar loss potentials so great that the insurers needed them to be protected. It was the same conceptas the manager of a casino setting a betting limit to prevent a loss too large to cover.

    Small properties and compartmented buildings (only one area of the compartmented buildingwould normally burn) did not need protection from an insurance viewpoint. Thus, a solution to firethat was later proven to be a 99.87 percent guarantee that no fire becomes large, was barred fromnearly all buildings by a code produced by the NFPA.

    During the late 1950s I began my research into properly engineered fire sprinkler systems.

    Soon I was able to apply sound hydraulic engineering principles to develop the technology to

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    reduce sprinkler costs by up to 90 percent while actually creating a more reliable system. TheNFPA, the insurers and others realized that allowing affordably protection (that could virtuallyeliminate losses) would do damage to all who profited from fire.

    3. FIRE CODES DENIED SPRINKLERS FOR PROTECTING LIVES

    Lets pause here and seriously evaluate what has so far been revealed about the fire problem in

    America. The data confirmed that sprinklers, when monitored by a central station, controlled theearly fire 99.87 percent of the time. Thus, sprinklers had the capability to virtually eliminate seriousfires within buildings. The feds say that fire causes more damage than floods, hurricanes, tornadoes,earthquakes and other natural disasters combined. Yet for 60 years, prior to the Seddon Duke report,this near absolute solution to fire had been available but not installed in near100 percent of thebuilding types where lives were at greatest risk. I am speaking of hotels, motels, hospitals, nursinghomes, apartments, single family dwellings, high rises, schools, restaurants, night clubs, bars,institutional buildings and similar properties. So, as fires raged in America for 60 years andchildren burned by the thousands, the NFPA codes (enforced by local fire departments) kept

    close to 100 percent of the buildings where lives were most at risk, devoid of fire control

    systems.I began my lifes work of changing fire technology to protect those unprotected buildings

    during the late 1950s.

    4. THE KEY TO THE SOLUTION OF THE FIRE HOLOCAUSTAccording to FEMA the fire problem within the United States is more horrific than floods,

    hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters combined. And, here and now I say thatthe fire problem has easy to apply solutions and the solutions will not cost money but will save money.So, why are not the solutions applied and the fire losses virtually eliminated? There are two sides to thefire problem. They are:

    1. Those who are the victims and suffer the losses.2. Those who profit or otherwise benefit from fire.

    The reason why the fire losses were not nearly eliminated years ago is because those who profit from

    fire or otherwise benefit from fire (fire services) would not allow the cures to be applied. That is thefundamental reason for nearly all fire losses involving buildings. Yes, I agree, this claim (that nearlyall fi re losses involving bui ldings are caused by those who benefi t f rom fi re) is not easy to believe.Fully read this report and you will believe it.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 4

    THE NATIONAL FIRE CODES ARE WRITTEN, NOT TO ELIMINATE FIRE,

    BUT RATHER TO MAXIMIZE THE PROFITS FROM FIRE.

    PART E-HOW I DEVELOPED ENGINEERED FIRE SPRINKLERSYSTEMS

    1. RESEARCH PROGRAMS FOR SEAGRAM DISTILLERSI was hired by Seagram Distillers in New York City during 1954 as a fire protection engineer

    because the insurers had created regulations that prevented the installation of sprinkler systems in thelarge rack houses (barreled whiskey in storage). Due to the absence of sprinklers and the extremelyhigh value of the stored whiskey, the insurance rates were extremely high. After I researched theinsurers fire regulations and showed how unfair they were, I was named the research director for theentire distilling industry.

    During the next 12 years we conducted live fire testing of modern hydraulically engineeredprotective systems. Probably the largest inside a building fire tests ever conducted were run within a

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    50 foot high whiskey warehouse in Owings Mill, Maryland. Our research produced more reliablesprinkler systems at dramatically reduced prices. Further, our research proved we could safely shiftaway from the enormously costly fireproof warehouses (heavy reinforced concrete warehouseswith 6 barrel high storage per floor as had been promoted by insurers). The fireproof warehouseswere costing about $36.00 per stored barrel. Based on my research we shifted to 12 barrel highstorage in low cost warehousing but with full sprinkler protection at far lower insurance rates. My

    advanced sprinkler designs were proven effective to cover 12 barrel high storage under a layout ofsprinklers (vs. the insurers required 6 barrel high limit under a sprinkler layout). The reason why theinsurers made 6 barrel high storage the maximum allowed is because they ran their tests in a low roofbuilding where only 6 barrels high would fit. The allowed area of coverage per sprinklers wasdoubled by my research and the demanded water supplies were reduced by much more than half.Millions of dollars were saved.

    My research into building construction and protection also opened up major changes in barrelhandling methods and labor costs. Barrel lifting equipment was developed for the new 12 barrel highbarreled whiskey storage buildings. Finally, Seagram created a captive insurance company in theBahamas bypassing the American insurance system. I personally wrote the all-risk insuranceagreement to be presented to the Lloyds of London insurers. I also wrote a master plan fire safety

    program report for approval by Lloyds. I made two trips to Lloyds of London plus several meetingswith American reinsurance brokers to gain approvals for both our fire protection methods and ourreinsurance agreement. Then, all fire insurance premiums for Seagram worldwide went to the captivein the Bahamas where, because of the tax rates in the U. S., one dollar was worth two in Nassau.Insurance became a profit making operation rather than a loser.

    2. HOW INSURERS PREVENTED SPRINKLER ENGINEERING PROGRESSDuring the years I had opportunities to actually test the quality of fire sprinkler system design

    in America, I produced engineering breakthroughs that could have revolutionized fire protection inthis country. However, the insurance industry made every effort to diminish and hide theadvancements. The insurers had sprinkler design control via the NFPA codes and they were not

    going to allow the changes that would reduce their profits. So, while I produced some major gains forthe distilling industry and especially Seagram, the advancements were being confined to the oneindustry. My work on high piled combustible storage in cardboard cartons is an example.

    Factory Mutual and other insurers had considered 21 foot high bottled whiskey in cardboardcartons to be extremely hazardous storage and had recommended the sprinkler design be at a densityof 0.45 gpm over 9000 square feet. With hydraulic balancing this added up to 4,450 gallons perminute for the sprinkler system alone (not counting fire department hose streams). Also, FM andother insurers required that trained brigades be included because their testing indicated sprinklerscould not completely extinguish high piled combustible storage. Hose streams by in-plant brigadeswould be needed to finalize the extinguishment. I designed protection that was tested in the FM Testfacility in Norwood, Massachusetts. The 21 foot high storage was controlled with but 4 open

    sprinklers discharging a total of 190 gpm. This was a shock to the insurance engineers. My conceptwas to not design for low density over extremely large areas but rather to design for a moreconcentrated and fully adequate density directly over the earl y fi re. Control that early fire and9000 square feet of sprinklers would never open, I claimed (and proved).

    My test, Test No. 3, controlled the fire in the 21 foot high piles with only four sprinklersopening (see FMRC Ser. No. 17792, dated June 1970- F ir e Protection Requir ements for H ighPall etized storage of Cased Disti l led Spir i ts,by R. M. Newman). The wetting of the piles did resultin collapse of the pile after about 15 minutes. But, after collapse, the residual fire was slowly beingreduced as the water was diluting the alcohol to a proof too low to burn. This very limited fire

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    provided more than ample time for a brigade to apply hose stream water to the fire to extinguish it.About a dozen men stood nearby for the entire burn time without masks and without any discomfit,thus complete extinguishment by hose stream would not have been difficult. And, even without hosestream use the fire appeared ready to go out.

    Suddenly, the FM engineer in charge realized that the fire was getting close to beingextinguished without any hose streams employed. And this was occurring with only four sprinklers

    operating. So he shouted to the man at the control valve in the corner of the test facility to shut thevalve and stop the water flow. It was a Seagram paid for test so I hollered to keep the valve open.The confused FM guy did so. Then the angry FM test manager started running toward the riserscreaming for the valve to be shut and I ran beside him yelling for the opposite. When the testmanager reached the man at the valve he angrily barked out some threats and the valve was promptlyclosed. Clearly, the top engineer at FM did not want four sprinklers to actually extinguish a fire that,by FM standards could open up to 9000 square feet of sprinklers and still require the use of hosestreams for control.

    When finally the FM report was issued engineer R. M. Newman of FM made the followingcomments concerning Test No. 3: Fire Control, Impossible to Conclude, recovery of pil e igni tedwas extremely high, extent of fi re spread questionable, Operation of more sprinklers could

    resul t i n better diluti on of spir its and also for pre-wetting to prevent spread to exposed pil es.Rather than using this test to justify reduced criteria for installing protection, FM diminished

    the significance of the test results. The primary complaint of Mr. Newman seemed to be that notenough sprinklers opened. And, of course, by stopping the sprinkler flow before completeextinguishment occurred, the FM engineers could cast doubt on my system designs.

    At one of the Seagram storage facilities, insurers had demanded a one million gallon reservoirfor fire protection. FM had been imposing incredibly complex and costly fire regulations on theirclients for decades. Obviously, FM did not wish for their clients to believe the FM engineering, andinsurance engineering in general, was in any way deficient. So, my research into sprinkler design andmany other facets of fire technology were constantly being diminished by both the insurers and theNFPA. The cruelty underlying all these deceptions was that every year thousands of people were

    being killed and injured by fires while clearly there were ways to near eliminate the out-of-controlfires.

    3. ENGINEERING INCOMPETENCY ON A MASSIVE SCALE

    For many years I attempted to convince insurance engineers and fire protection engineers thatthe extra hazard sprinklers system designs criteria was a formula for disaster. The criteria of designproduced often very weak systems fed by water supplies far greater than the amount of water thatwould actually be applied to the early fire. The high hazard system often had an 8 inch size riser andan 8 inch feed main which could deliver 2000 gpm or more. However, the systems were dead endedin one inch steel pipe notorious for being subject to corrosion. The plumbing industry had shifted tocopper to avoid the corrosion problem. Thus, although the pipe near the riser could float a ship out of

    the warehouse, the pipe toward the ends of the branch lines might deliver less than 1/10th of thatwater onto the early fire (and almost none if highly corroded). On top of that The NFPA codegenerally keyed to 7 pounds per square inch at the sprinkler orifice, a pitifully low pressure. And,Underwriters Laboratories required the design of the sprinkler to be such that nearly all the water isconcentrated close to the sprinkler with very weak density 8 feet distant. I could think of no way

    that a system could be designed cost more while using water less effeciently. I considered it to

    be engineering by Ouija board.

    Many times I warned that the high hazard properties protected with seemingly fantasticallystrong water supplies could burn for lack of engineering competency. The burning of the Safeway

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    Grocery Warehouse in Richmond, California on July 11, 1988 proved my warnings to be valid. Thebuilding was one giant open area of a half million square feet (about 10 football fields in size).Merchandise in combustible cartons was stored within racks and on pallets three high. The ceilingheights were up to 27 feet.

    The building had 14 sprinkler risers and 13 of them were sized 8 inch diameter. They were fedby a 10 inch underground loop and a 250,000 gallon gravity tank. A UL listed fire pump delivered

    1500 gpm to the 10 inch loop At 125 psi. The sprinklers were inch orifice sized (a standard butabsolutely stupid orifice size for this warehouse) with 120 square feet coverage per head. Thesprinkler temperature rating was a low 165 degrees F, a temperature that encouraged the fast openingof too many sprinklers. The building had roof level draft stop curtains and automatic vents. Byunderwriter standards this building was loaded with code defined fire protection.

    Reportedly, the fire started at the top of three pallets high paper storage in cartons near thecenter of the warehouse. An automatic alarm was received by the Richmond fire department at 10:02PM on a Monday evening. Since all sprinklers were electronically monitored presumably the alarmwas received immediately after the first sprinkler opened. The first fire truck entered the plant 9minutes later. However, by the time the first fire engine passed through the entrance four sprinklersystems (of the 14) had already operated (as confirmed by the ADT Central station company that

    monitored the systems). Thus probably 500 to 1000 sprinklers were flowing before the first fire truckarrived. The opening of at least 500 sprinklers represented a total failure of the entire fireprotection system before the first fire engine arrived at trhe plant. The water supply had beenoverwhelmed before the first fire hose was put in use. This was the end result of what I longconsidered to be engineering of such stupidity (or corruption) as to be almost beyond comprehension.

    4. THE TRUTH IS NOT DESIREDThe loss of the Safeway warehouse resulted in a major financial blow to the City of Richmond.

    The fire chief had some explaining to do for the city officials and the public. The chief called anumber of fire engineers into a meeting and pleaded with us to investigate the causes of theenormous disaster and to explain what had happened. I gained copies of the sprinkler system

    drawings and hydraulically calculated how much of the enormous water supply would actually bedelivered, via the piping, to the early fire. I calculated that when four sprinklers were open above thefire approximately 216 gallons per minute would be flowing at approximately 0.44 gpm per squarefoot, quite inadequate. An early density of 1.0 or greater would have been easy to design forwhile simultaneously reducing the costs of the systems by at least 75 percent. The sprinkler

    system design was so wrong that the designers should have been convicted of criminal fraud. The loss was completely predictable. In fact I had been predicting this type loss for years. But theinsurance engineers and the professional fire engineers had been ridiculing my concerns.

    Within my report I made this statement, which was directed at the insurance companies, not thefire chief: The root cause (of the loss) was not so much ignorance or unplanned for error s. I twas, to a large degree, a matter of willful intent to subvert better technology. Of course, I was the

    only fire engineered at the time who would dare publish the truth about the NFPA/Insurance industrysprinkler codes. I sent the report to the chief believing I had defined the basic causes for the loss ashe had requested. Several days later, when I telephoned the chief to ask him if he had read the reporthis assistant came to the phone and said, The chief is furious about that report of yours, he wonttalk to you.Sometimes the truth is not what is desired.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 5

    THOSE WHO PROFIT FROM FIRE, INCLUDING THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION

    ASSOCIATION AND UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES, AND THE FIRE INSURANCE

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    INDUSTRY HAVE INTENTIONALY CREATED REGULATIONS TO SEVERELY LIMIT

    THE INSTALLATION OF SPRINKLERS IN BUILDINGS.

    PART F-DEVELOPING LIFE SAFETY SOLUTIONS

    1. WHY I LEFT SEAGRAMI left Seagram partly because, after the fire protection and insurance problems of Seagram were

    solved and they had a captive insurance company in the Bahamas (that was actually creating profitsbased on avoidance of taxes), Seagram did not want other firms following suit. The insurancebrokers were convincing management that if I continued to be proving that the American insurancecompanies were not applying sensible fire solutions, the publicity might draw the attention of thefeds. The IRSs interpretation of the legality of the transfer of insurance monies from New York viaMontreal to the Bahamas (where taxes were nil) had not been established by prior legal cases.Seagram did not want others to follow our paths which eventually would have gained the attention ofthe IRS. So, to a significant degree my explorations into fire technology with the support of Seagrammanagement were ended. The second and main reason was because I believed I could bring about

    major changes in fire technology that would eventually save many lives.

    2. THE CREATION OF THE LIFE SAFETY SYSTEMI left Seagram with the idea that it was wrong for thousand of fire deaths to be happening each

    year when, in reality, there were practical solutions that were being denied the public. Eventually Ireceived funding from the Copper Development Association (CDA) to develop a modernizedsprinkler system for protecting human life within buildings. Despite the past cooperation between theNFPA and the fire insurers to restrict the advancement of sprinkler technology, I believed that no onecould oppose the creation of a system specifically intended to protect human life. So I asked forcooperation from the NFPA. Mr. Charles Morgan, President of the NFPA, helped me to put together

    a committee including a representative of just about every important government and privateorganization involved with fire safety in this country. It was agreed that if I conducted the researchand fire testing, to be witnessed by the created committee of nation fire experts, and if the committeeagreed that the system was valid, the NFPA would adopt it to become a national code. I conductedthe research and the testing and wrote a performance oriented code. The code was moderately revisedand adopted by the committee. After final testing in the Pioneer Hotel in Tucson, Arizona, the LifeSafety System code (as I named it) was uniformly adopted by the committee.

    So, it was now time for Mr. Morgan of the NFPA to keep his word and move the code into theNFPA system of codes. I did not realize it at the time, but as the code was being voted into existenceat the Pioneer Hotel in Tucson, the site of the final tests, Charles Morgan was organizing oppositionto the code. An elaborate strategy was hatched to kill the Life safety Code. But, due to my tenacity

    and considerable help from the honest fire officials, it took the NFPA and the others (who put moneyabove the lives of children) many years to completely kill the technology developed.

    3. SPRINKLER COST REDUCTIONS OF 90 PERCENT POSSIBLE

    On this web site (TheWorldFireSafetyFoundation.org ) I have posted a documentary storyexplaining how I designed a properly engineered a sprinkler system for a 1.2 million square footmedical center in Kansas City, Kansas. This system was hydraulically engineered rather thanconforming to the corrupted sprinkler codes of the NFPA. It was installed at approximately one tenththe cost of a standard NFPA design system. The installed cost was 35 cents a square foot vs. $2.88

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    a square foot for the NFPA code designed system (to be installed in the basement only, which wastypical at that time). Both designs had been put out for bids. My design was analyzed by the StateArchitect of Kansas and appropriate state and private professional engineers. It was found to be ofsound design. Because the medical center was to be completely sprinklered (very unusual at thetime) the fire resistance ratings were reduced by one hour thus saving more than $5 million inconstruction costs. An investment in a properly engineered protection system, costing less than

    500 thousand dollars produced a reduction in construction costs exceeding $5 million. This wasbut one of the ways by which properly engineered fire control systems would save money, not

    cost money.

    4. MUCH OPPOSITION TO THE LIFE SAFETY SYSTEM

    Despite the best efforts of the NFPA and its allies to kill the Life Safety Sprinkler System andprevent any organization from approving it, I gained approvals from two national building codeorganizations. The LSS standard code was legally adopted into the Basic Building code covering muchof the United States. The Ohio Building Code adopted the LSS code verbatim. I was advised that theSouthern Standard Building Code would honor it.

    While there were some who embraced the idea that building types that had never previously

    been sprinkler protected (except rarely) should be protected, there was an abundance of opposition.As an example, The State Fire Marshal of Nevada, Dan Quinan, attempted to get the MGM GrandHotel in Las Vegas protected with the LSS. He assumed that by allowing inexpensive protection theowners and builders would be receptive. But the Las Vegas fire officials were friendly with thecasino operators and apparently had reasons to keep the fire marshal out of the equation. So, DanQuinan, the state fire marshal of Nevada, was ordered to stay out of Las Vegas, the major city inNevada. Dan Quinan was not the most popular fire official to begin with. Previously he had testedthe ionization type so called smoke detectors in a school and found out they would not detect thesmoke. There was an accepted method of testing smoke detectors with a spray can. The spray cancreated the right stuff (billions of near atomic sized particles) to make the phony smoke detectorssound. Quinan ignited a fire inside the school in a garbage can and created realsmoke. The detectors

    would not detect real smoke. So that was a black mark against Quinan to begin with. Fire officialswere not supposed to test the smoke detectors with real smoke.

    For a state fire marshal to be ordered to not enter the biggest city in the state was unusual to saythe least. But then a concerned fire engineer reported to him that the fireproofing contractor was notfireproofing much of the steel in the MGM Grand Hotel. This represented a major endangerment tothe building in case of fire. A hot fire can cause unprotected structural steel to fail sometimes in aslittle as ten minutes. So, despite orders to stay away, he forced a correction of the fireproofing. Later,when an old hotel with very inadequate exits was being refurbished and restored to use in anothercity, Dan Quinan again recommended that sprinklers be installed to compensate for inadequate exits.This time he was removed from office. This illustrates one of the ways that the fire establishmentkeeps the corruption under wraps.

    During 1980 that huge MGM hotel in Las Vegas, claimed to be the largest hotel in the world,suffered one of the most devastation high rise fires of all time. The fire killed 85 people. But of evenmore significance, over 5000 occupants above the casino floor were trapped until the enormous (nonsprinklered) casino fire was finally controlled. Stairways are often smoke filled and useless as exitsand the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) cut a deal with the elevator industry to takeelevators out of service (preventing them to be used as exits). When an alarm sounds for any reasonthe elevators are dropped automatically to the ground floor, making them available only to the firefighters. This leaves all those endangered above the fire devoid of any reliable exit from the building.Before control occurred most of the deaths were occurring on the top floors as toxic gases were

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    rising via elevator and stairway shafts. The fire had been so intense and so large that control had beenvery much in doubt. At one point the firefighters had to evacuate the building to regroup beforereentering. If the fireproofing had not been properly applied, collapse of the casino roof would havebeen likely with horrendous results. It would have been a near certainty, if structural collapse hadoccurred that many firefighters would have died. The fire control operations would have beendisrupted and probably the 5000 trapped above would have died. I believe that the actions of Dan

    Quinan to force the proper fireproofing of the structural steel in the MGM saved the lives of thosewho had been trapped above. But for his efforts his career was destroyed.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 6

    THE AMERICAN FIRE CLUB AS I CALL IT HAS WAYS TO DESTROY THOSE WHO

    WOULD SERIOUSLY REDUCE FIRES AND FIRE DEATHS. AND THEY HAVE NO

    QUALMS ABOUT USING THEIR POWERS EVEN THOUGH THOUSNDS OF CHILDREN

    ARE KILLED AND INJURED EACH YEAR DUE TO THEIR CRIMINAL ACTS.

    PART G- PRACTICAL AUTOMATIC FIRE CONTROL NOT ALLOWED IN HOMES

    1. MY EXPERIENCE WITH RESIDENTIAL SPRINKLERSI promoted residential sprinklers for many years before they were permitted and Ive been

    referred to as the father of residential sprinklers. I claimed that if there is enough water in the hometo take a shower there is enough to extinguish the early fire. But for years I have been attacked by theexperts of the fire field for promoting this idea. One of the things I researched was smaller orificesprinklers at higher pressure than the NFPA code calls for. The NFPA code set 7 psi (a horribly lowpressure) at the orifice of a half inch sprinkler as the standard. This produced a very weak - largedrop spray. Nearly all the water discharged ran off as slightly heated water. I tested small orificesprinklers at 20 psi and higher, producing small drops that were converted into steam and providedfar better cooling. I found that 5 gpm or 7 gpm at higher pressure (at the orifice of a or 5/16th inchsprinkler) would provide better fire control than the standard sprinkler at standard pressure.

    This confirmed that a residence could be protected with the amount of water that a shower uses.But, the NFPA and its allies set out to kill the idea that a normal water line to a home would providethe quantity of water needed for protection. Prior to the 1980 NFPA annual convention a testprogram was run under the NFPA Research banner and the tests were rigged to prove that theminimum amount of water needed for a home sprinkler system was 40 gpm. Thus the NFPA setcriteria to dramatically overprice the residential sprinklers and therefore severely restrict theinstallations. Again, as a designer of hydraulically valid sprinkler systems, I was proven to bewrong with deliberately falsified fire tests and blatant performance lies.

    2. ONE FIRE OFFICIALS REACTION TO RESIDENTIAL SPRINKLERSSome fire officials, especially in California, welcomed the installation of affordable sprinkler

    systems within their jurisdictions. But the great majority of officials opposed low cost sprinklers. Myexperience with the fire marshal in Rancho Cordova illustrates the problem. The purchaser of a homeunder construction hired me to design and install a system during the construction stage. When Iapproached the Rancho Cordova fire marshal with my drawings and calculations he refused to lookat them and told me that there was no code requiring sprinklers. So why install them, He asked.

    Despite his disinterest I proceeded to install the system assuming that a lack of regulationsrequiring protection did not mean the system could not be installed. The system was completed to thepoint where the wallboard could be installed covering all pipe. The day before the sheathing was tobe installed a red tag was put on my system halting any further work on the home. When I asked why

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    the system was red tagged, I was told it did not meet code. But you dont have a sprinkler code, Ireplied. Thats it he said, Since we dont have a code your system is not code complying. Itrequired great persistence and about a month of battling the bureaucrats to finally get the red tagremoved. By then the protected home was far behind schedule and the builder was furious. Themessage had been delivered: You are not going to install any more residential sprinklers in myarea.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 7

    THE AMERICAN HOME PRODUCES NEARLY ALL FIRE DEATH. HOWEVER, HOME

    FIRES ALSO PRODUCES ENORMOUS BENEFITS FOR THOSE WHO PROFIT FROM

    FIRE. THAT IS WHY AFFORDABLE AND RELIABLE SOLUTIONS TO THE HOME FIRE

    PROBLEM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

    PART G-A FEW EXAMPLES OF SPRINKLER FRAUD

    1. MAKING SURE THOSE RESTAURANTS BURNED

    Restaurants were one of the cash cows for the insurers. Restaurants had a very high burn rate

    and therefore they could be subjected to very high insurance premiums. For example, a restaurantwith buildings and contents valued at one million dollars might have a $100 thousand dollar annualpremium for the property damage and business interruption cover, which could drop to less than $20thousand if sprinklered. But what was really profitable was when a restaurant was located withinamotel or hotel. The sky high restaurant rate could then be applied to the entire building. Although theseating areas of a restaurant were obviously light hazard and the kitchens were near devoid ofcombustibles; the NFPA Sprinkler code classed them as ordinary hazard. This unjustifiedclassification allowed even more excessive water demands to be applied. By pricing sprinklersbeyond reason the restaurants could be kept devoid of protection and therefore very high premiumscould be maintained. Restaurants devoid of sprinklers were money in the bank for insurers,especially when they were in rural areas where the water supply and the fire department

    classifications could be classed as weakby NFPA standards

    2. RURAL RESTUARANTS AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT POLLICIES

    This is a situation I sometimes ran into when offering to sprinkler a restaurant with a life safetysprinkler system designed to proper hydraulic engineering criteria. It was historically proven that onaverage only 1.2 sprinklers opened due to fires in light hazard buildings. Further, based on Australiandata (the most complete by far) a 10 gpm flow per sprinkler would control the fires (thus even a 20gpm water supply for an electrically monitored fire sprinkler system would reduce serious restaurantfires by at least 90 percent. So, when I created the LSS code and set 80 gpm as the criteria forprotecting life at risk type buildings (NFPA classed light hazard) a very substantial safety factor

    was included. But, the NFPA/fire insurance regulations had a different objective than reducingrestaurant fires.

    Assume a restaurant is located in a rural area without a nearby fire department and also servedby a weak water supply as per the NFPA code. A 6 inch street main that supplied perhaps 700gpm at 50 psi pressure would be very weak by underwriting standards. Therefore, the restaurantwould be subjected to an outrageously high insurance rate, which would be profitable to the insurersand devastating to the restaurant owner. But, this so called weak water supply would be extremelygenerous as far as the hydraulic engineering would be concerned. The probable number of opensprinklers would be two. An 80 gpm would be extremely generous from a practical viewpoint.

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    Further, with the supply as stated above, designing a system to deliver an enormously generous 250gallons a minute (enough to virtually flood the building) would be easy engineering.

    Clearly, a so called weak water supply of 700 gpm should be able to reduce the insurancerate of a rural restaurant by up to 80 percent. So, if engineering honesty and a desire to protectrestaurants were the goals, practical systems would have been allowed and the insurance reductionwould probably completely pay for the system within two to four years. Thereafter, the restaurant

    owner would be able to put the savings in the bank for his/her retirement. But this not what the FireClub desired.

    Every time I ran into a situation like this, where the water supply was weak as defined byinsurers and fire department inspectors, I was denied the right to install a system. The insurance man,of course, would demand more water. But, if I installed the system there was an independentinsurance company that had evaluated my system criteria for better than rating bureau rates. So, Iwould then go to the local fire department to attempt to get plans approved. The fire inspector wouldtell me that the water demand for hose streams would be say 2000 gpm and the main only supplied700 gpm. Therefore the main did not have enough water for sprinklers.

    The hose stream demand of 2000 gpm must be included in the sprinkler design, the fire marshal

    would insist. I would then say that if the sprinkler controlled the fire, which was close to 100 percentassured, when you firefighters arrived all you would need is the water tank on your truck. Becausethe fire, if not completely out, would be confined to one small concealed area and all that wpould beneeded to control the residual was perhaps 25 gpm from the small hose (booster) line taking waterfrom the tank on the truck. With sprinklers in the restaurant the building likely would be totallyinvolved youre your men arrived, so the 2000 gpm might be justified for a non-protected building.So, for the sake of the owner and the tax rolls, please approve the sprinkler system. But, the fireinspector would not allow a sprinkler system to replace the hose demand. With his own insurancebroker trying to sabotage the sprinkler installation and the fire chief demanding that a new and largerwater main be installed, the restaurant owner would not be able to protect his property.

    Because the restaurant would remain non-protected, the owner would stand a real risk of losing

    of the restaurant because, when the remote firefighters finally arrived the building would be totallyinvolved. Few restaurant owners realized it, but when a total loss occurred the insurance payoutwould be very inadequate in relation to the enormous cost of rebuilding a destroyed business. Thecustomers, the staff and the reputation would be lost. Ive seen data indicating that 9 out of 10 smallbusinesses that suffer a major loss are never able to rebuild the business because its like starting newagain.

    The reality is that a business owner that has a very high fire insurance rate could pay the insurermany times the total value of the building and contents over a 30 year period. And then, when thebuilding burns the owner likely will end up bankrupt. So, after the enormous payout over many yearsthe end result is a bankrupt person at a late time in life. However, if the owner installed a properlypriced sprinkler system to begin with, over those 30 years the savings might well have accumulated

    to more than a million dollars.The basic intent of the NFPA sprinkler codes is to ensure that the millions of dollars in

    premiums over the life of a business accumulate to the insurer, not to the retirement of the

    owners of the business.

    3. HOW TO KEEP THE LIFE AT RISK TYPE BUILDINGSBURNINGTheoretically only one room within a motel will burn at a time. The construction codes require

    that the floor, the ceiling (or floor and ceiling system as one unit) be so designed with fireproofingthat a fire within any room will not spread to any other room for at least hour, sometimes one hour.

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    Therefore, as I proved years ago, when determining how much water would be needed for a sprinklersystem, only one room maximum would be burning when sprinklers first opened until firefightersarrive. In fact, I ran tests with wood cribs fires set against 1/8th inch wood paneling on wood studwalls (without any gypsum board fireproofing) to test whether such flimsy combustible walls wouldlimit sprinkler operation to one room. It did with only one sprinkler operating.

    However, the NFPA code dated 1969 set the minimum water supply for a compartmented light

    hazard property at 500 to 750 gpm, not counting additional hose stream water as may be determinedby a fire official. Further, assuming the hotel room included small closed areas such as a closet andbath, the sprinkler in the small room was required to flow the same as a sprinkler in the large room.If the large where the beds were located was 16 by 16 feet or more in size at least four sprinklerswould be required all presumably flowing the required 15 gpm.

    I developed and tested design criteria for compartmented life at risk type buildings based onhydraulically calculated systems using small copper pipe gridded to provide multiple path flows.With these calculations I could design for most horizontal pipe to be only one inch sized and, atmost, 1-1/4 size. This was like a magical solution to sprinkler design that would allow plumbers andeven a good handyman mechanic to install sprinklers at a fraction of the cost of the NFPA design.The demand for these affordable and more reliable systems was increasing.

    As part of the strategy to defeat the LSS the NFPA code committees were building some of myinnovations into the NFPA codes. Then there would be much publicity relative the NFPA systemsadvanced designs. The idea was for the NFPA to rake credit for any advancement and, to thegreatest extent possible, to warn contactors etc. that the LSS was unnecessary and dangerous. But,whenever an advancement that I created was built into the NFPA code there were hookers thatlargely defeated any potential cost savings.

    As an example, by designing for sprinklers in only one room maximum to operate and containthe fire to that one room, I was able to dramatically reduce pipe sizing and costs. But, when Ihydraulic calculate the LSS for compartmented properties such as hotels, motels, hospitals, etc Icalculated for one room to be burning only. There was no way that fire would spread room to roomwhen sprinklers were installed. However, when this advancement I developed for the LSS was built

    into the NFPA code they created regulations that forced the designer to calculate for sprinklerswithin as many as 8 separate rooms (sized 16 by 26 feet or 416 square feet in this example) tooperate at the same time. That could include 7 sprinklers per room (possibly more) with sprinklers inas many as 8 rooms flowing simultaneously. That could include up to about 50 sprinklers alltheoretically flowing water at the same time. Of course, those who were being conned by the NFPAcode advocates would say that the advances that I created were created by the NFPA and they wouldnot explain that my hydraulics would be based on sprinklers in one room maximum whereas theNFPA code could be interpreted to require as many as 50 sprinklers flowing simultaneously. Thosewho profited from fire realized that if practical protective systems were allowed, the fire losses couldbe reduced to near zero and the profits and perks would be reduced. So the NFPA led the efforts tomaintain a high burn rate in America.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 8

    THE NFPA AND THOSE WHO PROFITED FROM FIRE INTENTIONALLY PREVENTED

    FIRE SPRINKLER SYSTEMS FROM BEING ECONOMICALLY FEASABLE FOR

    PROTECTING HUMAN LIFE IN BUILDINGS BECAUSE THE FIRE DEATHS JUSTIFIED

    THE ENORMOUS EXPENDITURES FOR THE INADEQUATE FIRE PROTECTION.

    PART H-KILL THE EARLY FIRE BEFORE IT KILLS

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    1. A SECOND NEAR 100 PERCENT SOLUTION TO FIRE

    A solution to fire that will be nearly as reliable, perhaps fully as reliable as sprinkler protection,is an honestfire detection system plus an easy to use small hose with fog nozzle. The standardautomatic sprinkler (for the Life at Risk type properties) distributes perhaps 15 gallons per minute(gpm) of water spray over 225 square foot of floor area. The early fire may occupy perhaps only onesquare foot of floor area. Therefore, only a small percent of the discharged water from a sprinkler

    actually lands on the fire. Yet, because of the incredible fire suppression capability of water spray thesprinkler is near 100 percent guaranteed to control that early fire. In event a reliable fire detectionsystem was installed, the reliable early warning would provide adequate time for an occupant to use asmall hose with fog nozzle against that fire. The fog nozzle would apply near 100 percent of thewater directly onto that still small fire. And, a fog nozzle would deliver the water in a finer spraywhich greatly magnifies the waters fire controlcapability. Thus, an honest fire detection system

    coupled with the best fire control tool known to man would reduce fire deaths by probably 95

    percent, perhaps closer to 100 percent.

    2. WATER FOG WILL NOT CONDUCT ELECTRICITY

    A few words need also be said regarding the use of small hose and fog nozzles. The firefightersare provided with large fog nozzles for 1-1/2 inch sized hose (and 2-1/2 inch) that are UnderwritersLaboratories listed as being safe for use on electrical apparatus fires, including transformer banksthat involve voltages of more than 100 thousand. Because there are air gaps between the tiny dropsfrom a spray nozzle, an electric current cannot pass back along the water spray to the person holdingthe nozzle. However, to prevent the use of a small fog nozzle in a home, the people have beenwarned that using water spray on 110 volts could be deadly.

    3. THE EARLY USE OF WATER ON A FIRE IS DISCOURAGEDWilliam Shakespeare knew it centuries ago. He said, A little fire is quickly trodden out,

    which, being suffered, rivers cannot quench. Yes, indeed, when a fire is still small and harmlessone gallon of water as a spray, perhaps even less, can do the job. But by the time the fire trucksarrive the needed water may be into the hundreds of thousands of gallons. And dont forget theambulance. Do not think the fire officials are unaware of the time lines and growth rates of fire.There is much to suggest that the burn rate is much greater in America than in less developednations. The reason would be that in the more primitive nations governments are not teaching thecitizens to never put water on the early fire.

    4. HIGH PRICED HOSE STATIONS USELESS FOR CONTROLLING FIRESIn office buildings, schools, hospitals, apartment houses and similar compartmented properties,

    hose stations are installed costing many thousands of dollars. But, that hose (which is professional

    firefighter sized) is very dangerous for the untrained person to use. It must be fully removed from therack and then one person will turn on the valve as another is holding the nozzle end of the extendedhose line. When the high pressure water reaches the open nozzle the reaction could tear the nozzlefrom the users grip and the flailing hose could then swing the nozzle with potential killing force.Nearly always two trained firefighters or more are at the business end of a 1-1/2 inch hose line.

    Thus, installing too large hose to be used by a non professional is like handing a can of beerand the keys to a high powered automobile to a twelve year old boy. Fortunately, buildingoccupants seemingly realize the danger, so the hose provided is rarely used. Fire fighters will not useit as after remaining in non use for years it may burst. They carry their own tested hose. So, why is

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    hose that cannot be used by the occupants installed in buildings to be used by the occupants? First,the useless hose stations are mandated by code because those who make and sell the hose, thecabinets and the standpipes make a fortune by doing so. Secondly, it is sold in a size that cannot beeffectively used by the building occupants because the IAFC does not want the public

    terminating the fires before the remote firefighters arrive.It is all about preventing effective firecontrol systems from being installed in buildings.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 9

    WATER SPRAY APPLIED TO INCIPIENT FIRES WITH A SMALL HOSE AND FOG

    NOZZEL WILL TERMINATE THE EARLY FIRE BEFORE IT GROWS LARGE AND

    KILLS. BUT THOSE WHO BENEFIT FROM FIRE HAVE DENIED IT TO THE PUBLIC.

    PART I- THE SMOKE DETECTOR FRAUD

    1. THE SLOW SMOKEY FIRE

    There is a type of fire that will create almost no heat but, given time, will create thick smokeand an adequacy of combustion gases that can slowly intoxicate a sleeping person. An example is a

    smoldering fire in a sofa where a cigarette has been carelessly dropped before going to bed. Often butnot always, the time required for the smoldering fire to create a potentially lethal level of carbonmonoxide will be an hour or more. Then it may be another hour or more before death actually occurs.The smoldering fire is a very slow killer. During the daytime when the occupants are awake, thegrowing haze and the odor will alert the occupants long before conditions become deadly. Becauseabout half of all fire deaths in homes occur during non sleeping hours and because a fire death due to asmoldering fire is very rare during daylight hours, this proves that most fire deaths are caused byflaming fires, not smoldering fires. However, at night when sleeping the senses are turned off and thesmell and reduced visibility may not awaken a sleeping person. Therefore, as the gases grow moreconcentrated from a smoldering fire at night, the chances of a sleeping person waking up with a clearhead diminishes. What makes the smoldering fire even more dangerous is that it may morph into a

    flaming fire. If those sleeping have been breathing a serious concentration of carbon monoxide for awhile and then the fire changes to a fast spreading flaming fire, the impaired person will be illequipped mentally to escape.

    2. PROMOTING THE PHONY SMOKE DETECTOR

    As stated above, a reliable fire detection system combined with a small hose (not professionalfire fighter sized) equipped with a fog nozzle would dramatically reduce fire losses and fire deaths inAmerica. Early in my career (early 1960s), before I accomplished enough to finally turn the FireClub against me, I was named the chairman of four sectional committees of the NFPA. These codesdealt with fire detection and alarm systems for commercial and industrial properties. There was nosprinkler code or fire detection code defining proper built-in protection for homes. Very close to

    100 percent of all homes were without any fire detectors. By 1966 I had a code developed to define acomplete and reliable fire detection system for homes that, if fully implemented, also had thepotential to near eliminate fire deaths. I created the code and had it up for adoption at the 1966 NFPAconvention so rapidly that it was up for vote before opposition to it was adequately organized. Therewas a determined last minute effort at the convention to kill it but it passed and became a nationalcode.

    The Fire Club, which consists of the many organizations and businesses that benefit from fire,decided they would not allow reliable fire detection systems within homes. So, in time, fire testswere rigged and falsified to prove that the most reliable fire detector (heat detector) for saving lives

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    would be prohibited for sale in homes. The heat detector was the trigger for the sprinkler system so ithad been proven to be near 100 percent reliable for warning of the most deadly type fire, the flamingfire. So, to remove the heat detector from the home fire detection system code, fire tests weredeliberately rigged to prove the device would not operate until the smoke killed the occupants.

    During the Dunes Tests of the 1970s, out of 76 fire tests, every test but one was deliberatelyrigged to prove the heat detector was defective. There was only one test where a heat detector

    actually was installed in the fire room during a test where the temperature at the ceiling went above200 degrees F. within ten minutes of ignition. What the corrupt researchers actually proved is that ifyou remove the heat detector from the fire room before you conduct a realistic fire test, no heatdetector will operate. So, I ask, what type of engineering do we have in the fire game when tests aredeliberately falsified to prevent life saving protection from being installed in homes?

    By rigging the fire tests to justify deleting the one really reliable fire detector from the code,the NFPA, UL and the manufacturers of a defective (so called) smoke detector manipulated thatdeadly device into at least 80 million homes.

    3. SELLING PHONY SMOKE DETECTORS EQUATES TO MASS MURDER

    Within the last 5 years finally there have been actual fire testing of the ionization (so called

    smoke detector) device in an honest way and it has been proven conclusively to be defective and akiller. In fact, a court of law has determined the device to be defectively designed and a causeof fire deaths (see details of the legal decision on www.TheWorldFireSafetyFoundation.org ).This same web site contains videos of fire tests that show fire test rooms filled with thick smoke andthe firefighters wearing breathing apparatus wondering why the ionization devices will not detect thesmoke. The marketing of these devices (based on performance lies and deliberately falsified firetests) should clearly qualify as a criminal operation and therefore a felony. Deaths as a result of afelony can be classed as murder. I have calculated, based on available loss data, that about 75,000fire deaths and more than 300,000 serious injuries have occurred in homes protected with thedefective smoke detector.

    4. A NEW AND EQUALLY DEADLY STRATEGYOver the past five years, finally the defective nature of the phony smoke detector has been

    proven to the degree that the cover-up is melting. The so called fire experts have finally beenforced to admit the ionization device is killing people in homes. So, Club Fire has shifted gears anddevised a way to continue to keep the burn rate and the fire death rates high. The new strategy is towed the phony smoke detector with a real smoke detector, the photoelectric type. And, of course, thecombination is intended to continue to substitute for the really reliable fire detector, the heat detector.

    The problem to those who want fire safety rather than fire profits is that the new strategy willbe even more deadly than the old policy. Because the ionization device false alarms excessively theoccupants will still be disabling the combination device. And, because the ionization device and thetrue smoke detector are not reliable for warning of the most dangerous fire type, the flaming fire,

    kids will continue to burn by the hundreds.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 10

    THE FORCED SELLING OF PHONY SMOKE DETECTORS INTO 80 TO 90 MILLION U.S.

    HOMES HAS BEEN AMERICAS DEADLIEST FRAUDTO DATE.

    PART J- CODE CORRUPTION HAS BEEN PROLONGED AND DEADLY

    As reported above, a fire sprinkler system, when electronically monitored by a central stationhas produced a 99.87 reliability of fire control and a record of near zero fire deaths. And, I have

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    designed protective systems with up to a 90 percent cost reduction vs. the NFPA design. Thesehydraulically engineered systems using non corrosive pipe and calculated to deliver a strongerdensity over the early fire are more reliable the cook book systems of NFPA. But the NFPA andpowerful organizations that profit from fire were determined to prevent the marketing of affordablesprinklers for homes. By denying affordable protective sprinkler system to protect lives in homes,beginning as far back as 1896, the NFPA has caused many thousands of fire deaths that should have

    been prevented.This wanton disregard for human life became apparent again when back in 1976 we created a

    new standard for fire detection systems in homes, NFPA 74. We created it and pushed it through toadoption before those opposed it got their act together. But, in time fire tests were rigged to provea phony smoke detector was the desired detector and the fire detector that had been proven as reliablefor more than a hundred years was cast out. Aside from the corruption relative the fire sprinklersystem, the rigging of the fire tests and the corrupting of the fire detection system code resulted in anestimated 75,000 fire deaths. Is there any level of corruption that is worse putting phony smokedetectors to protect the children? As I will mention later, there were other codes and otherprotective systems that have been corrupted as well. The corruption was wide spread and the resultswere very deadly.

    The media and the public have had no problem understanding that those within a policedepartment can be corrupted. Almost every day some segment of the media is accusing members ofthe U.S. Congress and even the president of being dishonest, or at least incompetent. While I am notone to dispute corruption elsewhere, but there seems to an invisible barrier that prevents anyquestioning of the competence and/or the integrity of those who create and enforce the fire codes.Laws created by Congress can be challenged. But it appears that the fire codes and the fire regulatorypolicies are sacrosanct.

    The reality is that that engineers, scientists and highly educated scholars are not what the fireservices are made of. During 50 years of fire engineering I have met and talked to many thousands offire department officials. The number of those who actually knew anything at all about fire detectors(except for the lies put out by the manufacturers and the disinformation emanating from the NFPA)

    could be counted on the fingers of two hands. Ask almost any local fire official about smokedetectors and you are fed the story line created and promoted by those who make and sell them. Thetruth is that the ionization device that is now installed in at least 80 million U.S. homes is anabomination and a killer of children. The smoke detector fraud no doubt is the deadliest fraud everpulled off within the United States. During 1978 the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC)tested the device in real homes with real fires and discovered they were defective to the point where afailure rate of 50 to 80 percent was predicted. Then they buried the report. Then, from the top down,for all of the following years, the IAFC high level officials have disseminated performance lies aboutthe device to help sell it to unsuspecting consumers. And, when the deaths occur because a brandnew so called smoke detector with fresh battery has failed to warn, the cover-up operation goes intohigh gear. The parents of the children who died are blamed because the standard explanation is, the

    battery was dead or missing. It is the blame it on the victim methodology.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 11

    THE AMERICAN FIRE CODES AND REGULATORY POLICIES WERE DEVELOPED AND

    SET IN STONE DURING A PERIOD EXCEEDING ONE HUNDRED YEARS. THEREFORE,

    CORRECTIONS WILL NOT BE EASY.

    PART K- WHY ITS MURDER

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    1. WHERE PROTECTION DENIAL EQUATED TO MASS MURDER

    There were building types that remained devoid of sprinkler protection that so justifiedprotection that: criminal acts that barred protection should be classed as murder. The installation ofproper sprinkler protection within buildings where large numbers of people gathered, such asrestaurants, night clubs, dance halls, theatres, assembly halls and similar places of assembly wasessential. It was equally corrupt to deny practical protection to places where large numbers of people

    slept such as motels, hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, dormitories and apartments.It also represented an extreme disregard for human life to prevent affordable protection for

    buildings where a fire could readily block the exits and prevent escape. The high rise building is aperfect example. Almost without exception, stairways within high rise buildings become smokefilled. When a stairway door is opened on an upper floor at the same time as a door is opened on thefire floor, a powerful updraft that will suck the smoke into the stairwell. In contrast, because theelevator car blocks the opening when that elevator is at the fire floor, elevator shafts can bemaintained smoke free during a fire.

    But the fire officials cut a deal with the elevator companies to prevent them from being used asexit systems during a fire. Elevator controls are set to automatically drop all elevators to the groundfloor the moment a fire alarm occurs. The elevator industry wanted to avoid any legal liability during

    a fire so the industry told the fire chiefs that all elevators could be turned over to the firefightersduring a fire. The IAFC liked the idea.

    There is only one little problem with that elevator solution. It is the stairways nearly alwaysbecome untenable and are very dangerous and slow exit system. And, of course, the elevators are nolonger available for exiting the building. The elevator industry avoided any responsibility to makethe elevators safe for exiting during a fire. The fire officials got sole use of the elevators. And theoccupants above the fire got shafted.

    One of the prime examples of those trapped above the fire being unable to escape was thedestruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. Those trapped above the firefloors went down only when the buildings did too.

    5. EXAMPLES OF WHAT SHOULD BE CLASSED AS MASS MURDERBy the 1890s the ability of sprinklers to control an early fire was already well established. Its

    ability to virtually eliminate serious fires was so well proven that the insurers created a code makingorganization (NFPA) to prevent further development of the sprinkler technology and to deny it tonearly all buildings. The insurers would not have blocked the development of sprinklers if they werenot abundantly aware of its ability to virtually eliminate serious fires. If the fire is controlled whensmall people do not die. So, it seems to me that one must be a psychopath, or a first cousin thereof, todeliberately block the use of sprinklers to protect lives.

    Note the way that technology has routinely advanced in this country as illustrated by aircraft,automobiles, computers, electronics, plastics, and virtually all the sciences. Yet, from 1896 until wellinto the 1960s there was close to zero advancement in sprinkler design. And, when I developed

    advanced sprinkler systems the fire establishment worked overtime to suppress the better technology. The lack of advancement in fire safety was no accident; it was planned and executed withutmost determination. To deny proper protection to the public: field fire tests were falsified,performance claims were lies, laboratory fire tests were rigged to provide the desired data, the truecauses of fire deaths were covered up, honest test reports were buried, phony smoke detectors weresold into at least 80 million homes and many grew wealthy as the children burned. These dishonestacts were felonies. Felonies that result in loss of life are murder.

    It is a certainty that if the corruption within the fire field had not become the norm, fire scienceadvancements would have evolved, just as improvements evolved in all other areas of commerce.

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    The preventing of solutions to fire was the result of criminal activity by the regulators, especiallyincluding the NFPA and UL. That is why I say the deaths listed below were in reality murders.These fires and many, many more are the legacy of the NFPA, Underwriters Laboratories and allothers who cooperated with the crimes to profit from or benefit from the fire losses: 1940, RhythmClub, Natchez, MS.-207dead; 1929, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH-125dead; 1949, St. AnthonyHospital, Ellingham, IL-74dead; 1950, Mercy Hospital, Davenport, IA-41dead; 1942, 1946,

    Winecoff Hotel, Atlanta, GA- 119dead; 1957, Katie Jane Nursing Home, Warrenton, MO-72dead;1963, Golden Age Nursing home, Fitchville Township, OH- 63dead; 1930, Ohio State Penitentiary,Columbus, OH- 320dead; 1942, Cocoanut Grove night club, Boston, MA-492dead; 1908, LakeviewGrammar school, Collinwood, OH-175dead; 1923, Cleveland School, Beulah, SC-77dead; 1937,1958, Our Lady of Angels School, Chicago, IL-95dead; 1963, Rhodes Opera House, Boyertown,PA-170dead; 1977, Beverly Hills Supper Club, Southgate, KY-162dead; 1986, Columbus, OH,Harmer House Nursing Home-28dead; Dupont Plaza Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico-98dead; MGMGrand Hotel, Las Vegas, NV-85dead.

    BASIC TRUTH OF FIRE TECHNOLOGY NO. 12

    THE DELIBERATE DENIAL OF FIRE SAFETY TO BUSINESSES AND TO THE PUBLIC

    MEETS THE LEGALLY DEFINED CRITERIA FOR MURDER.

    PART L-THE SOLUTION

    1. Reveal the Dishonesty:The first necessary step toward eliminating fire deaths is to realize thefire codes and the regulatory system are founded on a hundred years of profit making. Theremust be exposure of the dishonesty so that the correct solutions can be brought forth. Thecurrent exposures relative the phony smoke detector is a start.

    2. Provide The Truth to the Public Via The Internet:There is a beginning. The World FireSafety Foundation and the Fire Crusade have created web sites that clearly warn the publicrelative the dangers of the ionization device. But, there are many other problems with the firecodes and the regulatory systems that need to be improved.

    3. Create a Coalition of Fire Victims: The regulatory system has been able to cover-up thecorruption within and shift the blame for the fires and fire deaths to others. There is a need forthose who have lost loved ones to fire to first learn why the deaths are occurring. Then thosewho have been betrayed and suffered must cooperate to reveal the problems and demandcorrections.

    4. Recognize Available Water Sprinklers For Homes:The recognition of available watersprinkler systems is essential. If there is enough water to take a shower there is adequate water

    for a sprinkler system to contain the fire (if not fully extinguishing it). This will allow safeexiting and prevent major fire losses. The California Residential Sprinkler Code created by theState Fire Marshal of California and Richard Patton should be reborn.

    5. Create an Independent (not NFPA) Life Safety System Code: Patton researched, developed,codified and gained national certifications for a modernized fire sprinkler system (LSS). Manywere installed at enormous savings. However, extreme pressure and illegal activities by thosewho opposed affordable sprinklers finally destroyed Pattons business (three times). But, thesavings and the protection validity were proven in many ways. Nearly all Life at Risk typeproperties can be protected with 50 to 80 gpm, low cost pumps if necessary. Economical plastic

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    and copper pipe have temperature ratings equal to or greater than steel (with mechanical joints).The corruption and criminal actions that have destroyed the marketing of better protection atlower costs must be defeated.

    6. Do Not Pay 10 Times Too High For a UL Label: Where a pump is needed to increase thepressure of a LSS, it should be a high quality commercial centrifugal pump which will be farmore reliable than the enormously large and too complex UL officialfire pumps.

    7. Correct The Long Promoted Fire Safety Lies:for more than 100 years those who profitedfrom fire created truths about fire safety that became accepted knowledge within the fireestablishment. As Hitler said, Tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. Some of thecommonly accepted lies are discussed in the report above. There needs to be an honest andintelligent fire organization that will gradually replace the lies with the truths.

    8. A Recall of the Ionization Device is Essential: To gain a maximum share of the market forfire detectors in a home the manufacturers advertised false performance claims in the NFPAF ire Journaland elsewhere for 12 years. Further, the manufacturers cooperated in thefalsification of fire tests at Underwriters Laboratories and the falsification of field tests. Thesewere criminal activities that caused thousands of fire deaths. It is extremely unlikely that thepeople will remove the phony smoke detectors and replace them with honest ones so long as

    the phony ones are allowed to remain. Government must demand a recall and a replacementwith honest detectors.

    9. Recognize the Marketing, Installing and Certifying of a Deadly Device as a Crime:Because the ionization type detector false alarms so often the occupants of a home frequentlydisable it. Then when a fire occurs there is no warning. Hence false alarms kill. Therefore,when batteries are removed due to false alarming, the manufacturers, the installers and thosewho approved the device must all be held accountable. Recognize the ionization type (phony)smoke detector as an endangerment to life in homes and elsewhere. Deaths due to smokedetector failures must be classed as homicides because the marketing, advertising andcertifying were all of a criminal nature.

    10.Within the Building Protection is Essential: The Federal Government played an importantrole in deceiving the public and in selling phony smoke detectors into at least 80 millionhomes. Therefore, government must play a role in correcting many years of defrauding andendangering the public. Tax breaks and promotional programs are necessary to encourage allnew homes to be sprinkler protected during the construction stage (with available watersystems) and for all existing homes to be protected with a complete and reliable fire warningsystem.

    11.Reduce The Tax Valuation on a Building For Protection Installations: When a firesprinkler system, a fire detection system or other fire safety system is installed in a home orbusiness the probability that the public fire department will be needed is reduced. But, byadding a safety system to the property the assessed value of the property is increased. Thereforethe property tax is increased. That is wrong. The price paid for a protective system should be

    multiplied by three and that is the amount that the assessed value of the property should bereduced.

    12.Install Small User Friendly Fire Hose and Fog Nozzle in All buildings: A high percentageof fires are discovered early. But they are not extinguished promptly because the fire controlequipment is non- existent or inadequate. One gallon or more of water delivered by a fognozzle will control nearly all fires if discovered early. Fire extinguishers are not nearly aseffective as a fog nozzle and most people do not know how to operate extinguishers. Everybuilding should be equipped with proper sized hose and fog nozzle.

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    13.Fire Department Personnel Should hold classes in Fire Control: Rather than promoting thewrong type of fire control devices for early fire control the fire departments should conducttraining sessions in the use of small hose with fog nozzle.

    14.A Special Type of Fire Hose in the Home is Desirable: Assume a small hose and spraynozzle is installed in the laundry room of a home and the home contains an honest and reliablefire detection system. The probability of the fire being killed before it becomes a danger is

    therefore very high. However, some fires can be deep seated smoldering fires. Because of thesurface tension of normal water, the spray may not penetrate to extinguish the deep seated fire.However, it would be an easy addition to the hose connection to include a jar containing anadditive to reduce the surface tension. The water would then penetrate and suppress the deepseated fire.

    15.Housing Complex Fire Solution:Developers of large tracts of housing should create a masterplan protection system. This will include monitored sprinkler or fire detection systems with asignal going to a volunteer fire department within the complex. One or more small fire trucks(Jeep size) should be available containing a small (booster) hose line and a water tank for fastresponse. This would be homeowners protecting themselves. Tax credits are necessary as thiswill reduce the need for some public fire stations.

    16.Professional Engineering is Needed: The codes created by the NFPA with the help of thebusinesses that profit from fire have prevented real engineering and innovation. Fire fightersare usually high school graduates at most. The fire department leadership almost always comesup through the ranks. The fire departments are well staffed for firefighting duties. However,there is a need for professional engineering, building construction expertise and innovation.Unfortunately, nearly all the fire protection engineers within the Society of Fire ProtectionEngineers (SFPE) are fearful of deviating from the codes to apply real engineering solutions.Therefore, I suggest the mechanical (including hydraulics) and electrical engineering societiesorganize code making teams to create performanceoriented protection codes that will allowreal engineering to be applied to the fire problems.

    17.Proper Flame Spread Ratings are Essential:For more than 60 years that I know of the flamespread and fire resistance ratings of UL have been a problem. One of my earliest campaignsagainst the status quo involved the marketing of many millions of square feet of highlycombustible ceiling boards to the do-it-yourself home owner. This sheathing burned likecardboard, created a flashover condition almost instantaneously, and killed people beyondcounting. Both UL and the NFPA had ignored this problem until I exposed it. The 25 foot longtunnel test at UL does not begin to predict how a material will actually burn within largeareas. Note the flashover condition at the MGM Grand Hotel when the fire spread along theceiling so rapidly it actually chased the fire fighters out of the casino. They regrouped andfinally gained control, thus saving the lives of 5000 people trapped above the fire. The Stationnightclub fire is another example of the public purchasing dangerous materials while beingcompletely unaware of the danger. The owners of that nightclub that innocently purchased the

    dangerous sheathing were convicted of crimes, but the certifiers and the fire inspectors whoshould have known of the danger were never punished.

    18. Fire Resistance Ratings must be Made Honest: In theory, every apartment in an apartmenthouse and every room in a hospital, nursing home, motel or hotel is a code complying-firerated enclosure. The building codes say the ability of any one compartment to contain a fire(prevent spread to another room) will be a half hour (sometimes one hour). The building codesrely on the UL testing of fire resistance of walls, floor and ceiling systems, fire doors, etc. Yet,almost every week a fire occurs within one unit of a multi unit fire rated complex, and the firehas spread to two or more apartments (or rooms) even before the first fire truck has arrived.

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    Often a large building is mostly or completely destroyed due to rapid fire spread in buildingswhere, by code, fire would be limited to one unit. Phony fire ratings have cost many thousandsof lives and must be corrected.

    19.High Rise Buildings Need Reliable Elevator Exits: I consider the deal made between the fireofficials and the elevator industry to be one of the worst betrayals of the public by the fireservices. Stairways in high rises nearly always become blocked with smoke. When a door is

    opened at th