Citrus Heights, CA

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

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FIRE INVESTIGATORS ARE INCOMPETANT OR DISHONEST

When an airplane crashes the investigation is thorough and nearly always the cause is discovered. This produces corrections. Therefore air travel is very safe. Fire investigations are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Therefore the United States has one of the highest fire death rates in the world, if not the highest. Here's how an agency of the federal government describes 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', 13th Edition, Federal Emergency Management Agency Page 1, Oct 2004

I will provide one example of investigative incompetence that is so beyond belief that the only explanation appears to be dishonesty. I have many more tales of incompetency and corruption to report as provided on www.Firecrusade.com and ww.AmericasHolocaust.org.

Building codes require that rooms be separated from each other by structural fire ratings of ½ hour or one hour in the following occupancies: hotels, motels, nursing homes, hospitals and similar buildings. The intent is when a fire occurs within one unit it will be contained within that one unit for at least a half hour, in some cases an hour. This will limit fire spread to only one unit (usually one room) in a compartmented building. Therefore, when the firefighters arrive; theoretically they will have only a one room fire to control.

In multifamily buildings a fire that originates within one apartment (home) must not spread to adjoining units for one or two hours depending on the code. In a multi story building, especially a high rise, a fire that initiates on one floor must not spread to a floor above or below for at least two hours. Further, an exit path, including a stairway, must remain tenable for exiting, usually for at least one hour; but definitely long enough for safe exiting. These have been fire and building code requirement for many decades.

The building owner pays for the code required "fireproof construction". The required plan reviews and inspections by the fire department personnel during the construction stages also are costly. The costs of "fire-safe" construction and the fire bureaucrats "expertise" may equal a third of the total cost of the building. During the life of the building these initial costs are multiplied by mortgage payments and interest and property taxes on the added building valuation. These added costs are passed on to the tenants over the life of the building. So "fire safety" for a building has become an astronomical cost to the public, not counting the price paid for the fire services. Yes, safety is important; but what portion of the building fire safety costs actually is wasted money? And is the safety real or a con job?

The number of fires in apartment houses, motels, hotels, and like buildings where the fire within one (fireproofed) unit has spread to two or three or even a dozen or two, is numbered in the tens of thousands, perhaps even the hundreds of thousands. Too often the "fireproofing" performs like oil soaked cardboard. The "fireproof" structural ratings by UL would be hilarious except they have been so deadly. The guarantee that a fire within one unit in a "fire-compartmented" building will contain the fire is about equal to the guarantee that the slot machine will make you wealthy.

So, here are the questions of the day for fire inspectors, plan reviewers and fire chiefs. When you arrive at an apartment building and ten separate apartments are already burning; why can't you figure out that the UL fire resistance certifications are taken out of the Mother Goose book? Is that a deafening silence I hear from you? So, I have to ask you "fire experts" two more questions: First, are you protecting UL or are you protecting the people? FEMA says that the destruction by fire is greater than the losses due to all natural disasters. Second question, Can you figure out why?

Richard M. Patton,

Fire Protection Engineer

Richard M Patton

President

Crusade Against Fire Deaths, Inc.

Citrus Heights, CA

916-721-7700