June 19, 2007
Nine Firefighters Die In Charleston Warehouse Fire
This is sad beyond belief. Before they died they rescued 4 civilians from the blaze.
"Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. "To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them."
"Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. "To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them."
Two employees in the building were rescued from the blaze, which broke out at about 7 p.m. Monday in the Sofa Super Store and warehouse, Riley said. Firefighters punched a hole through a wall of the warehouse to reach them.
Firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers saluted as the bodies were carried from the warehouse during the night.
"To lose nine is just a tragedy of immense proportions," Riley said. "To lose nine is just unbelievable."
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but Riley said arson was not suspected. He said the blaze apparently started in a storage area. He was unsure whether there were sprinklers in the building."More..
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(not sure I did this right the first time so will try again)
WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT THIS.
There are a couple of things we can do to help prevent tragedy like this from happening again in the future.
One is to contact Congress on two sprinkler bills, S. 582 and H.R. 1742. The next is to express your opinions to our chief sprinkler opponent, the concrete block lobby in Washington DC.
This tragedy points out the need to make sure that sprinklers are added to every new and existing large or public building. But the powerful concrete block lobby is opposing these efforts. They are afraid that adding sprinklers will cut into the need or the money to build with concrete block. So they challenge our efforts to change the building code to require more sprinklers. By minimizing or eliminating sprinklers, it leaves more construction money, and more need, for concrete block in the buildings.
They also had S. 582 and H.R. 1742, Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act of 2007, watered down. Those bills would make it more attractive financially to add sprinklers by giving builders faster tax depreciation for sprinklers. That’s the incentive and it is a good one. We need to push this idea as hard and as fast as we can. But the concrete block lobby insisted that the bill be limited only to existing construction, in other words, only to retrofit existing structures and totally exclude new buildings. Apparently their idea is that making sprinklers more feasible financially compared to concrete block would hurt their business in future construction.
1. We need to insist today that Congress reintroduce these bills and pass them without limiting them only to the retrofit of existing buildings. In the Senate, call Senators Gordon Smith, Jay Rockefeller, Jack Reed, and Mr. Lamar Alexander. In the House, Congressman Jim Langevin. Look up their contact info on the web, or call the Congress switchboard at (202) 225-3121.
2. We need to shame the concrete block lobby into stopping its efforts to limit the use of sprinklers just to benefit profits in the concrete block industry. Call your local concrete block producers and complain about what the concrete block association is doing. Also, I checked out the website for the concrete block association. The contact info appears below. The president is a Mark B. Hogan. Let ‘em know what you think about their codes efforts and their lobbying efforts to curtail the penetration of sprinklers to favor concrete block.
National Concrete Masonry Association
13750 Sunrise Valley Drive
Herndon, VA 20171-4662
Phone: 703.713.1900
Fax: 703.713.1910
Their lobbyist is William H. Plenge. It looks like his contact info is different.
410.867.9700
Cell: 240.463.0258
Concrete block don’t put out fires. Sprinklers and fire fighters do. We need Congress to get buildings in this country fully sprinklered. If that cuts into the profits for the concrete block industry, so be it. Our top priority must be to prevent tragedy and save the lives of our fire fighters, and that means sprinklers.
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WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT THIS.
There are a couple of things we can do to help prevent tragedy like this from happening again in the future.
One is to contact Congress on two sprinkler bills, S. 582 and H.R. 1742. The next is to express your opinions to our chief sprinkler opponent, the concrete block lobby in Washington DC.
This tragedy points out the need to make sure that sprinklers are added to every new and existing large or public building. But the powerful concrete block lobby is opposing these efforts. They are afraid that adding sprinklers will cut into the need or the money to build with concrete block. So they challenge our efforts to change the building code to require more sprinklers. By minimizing or eliminating sprinklers, it leaves more construction money, and more need, for concrete block in the buildings.
They also had S. 582 and H.R. 1742, Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act of 2007, watered down. Those bills would make it more attractive financially to add sprinklers by giving builders faster tax depreciation for sprinklers. That’s the incentive and it is a good one. We need to push this idea as hard and as fast as we can. But the concrete block lobby insisted that the bill be limited only to existing construction, in other words, only to retrofit existing structures and totally exclude new buildings. Apparently their idea is that making sprinklers more feasible financially compared to concrete block would hurt their business in future construction.
1. We need to insist today that Congress reintroduce these bills and pass them without limiting them only to the retrofit of existing buildings. In the Senate, call Senators Gordon Smith, Jay Rockefeller, Jack Reed, and Mr. Lamar Alexander. In the House, Congressman Jim Langevin. Look up their contact info on the web, or call the Congress switchboard at (202) 225-3121.
2. We need to shame the concrete block lobby into stopping its efforts to limit the use of sprinklers just to benefit profits in the concrete block industry. Call your local concrete block producers and complain about what the concrete block association is doing. Also, I checked out the website for the concrete block association. The contact info appears below. The president is a Mark B. Hogan. Let ‘em know what you think about their codes efforts and their lobbying efforts to curtail the penetration of sprinklers to favor concrete block.
National Concrete Masonry Association
13750 Sunrise Valley Drive
Herndon, VA 20171-4662
Phone: 703.713.1900
Fax: 703.713.1910
Their lobbyist is William H. Plenge. It looks like his contact info is different.
410.867.9700
Cell: 240.463.0258
Concrete block don’t put out fires. Sprinklers and fire fighters do. We need Congress to get buildings in this country fully sprinklered. If that cuts into the profits for the concrete block industry, so be it. Our top priority must be to prevent tragedy and save the lives of our fire fighters, and that means sprinklers.
# posted by 
: June 20, 2007 5:26 AM
: June 20, 2007 5:26 AM<< Home
