Blaze Engulfs S.C. Furniture Warehouse, Killing 9 Firefighters

June 20, 2007

  • June 20, 2007 at 2:19 am
    Wally Russ says:
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    In the same way we need to re-evaluate the sensibility of a police officer engaging in a high speed chase with a minor offender, we need to look at how much we’re willing to risk having fireman charge into a burning building. The SC fire is a tragedy. The haunting question remains, what purpose did it serve?

    This was a furniture warehouse, upholstered furniture at that. Highly combustible, fast burning, no salvage value. Yes, two people were rescued. There was an “un-confirmed” report that others “may have been in the building”. This was not a residential building.

    The speed of the fire spreading was known to the firemen. The warehouse and its contents obviously weren’t going to be salvagable. Why did they risk their lives? There are some situations that common sense dictates you stay away from. This looks like one of them. Let it burn out.

    There was an article by an MSN writer that the PASS devices didn’t operate propertly. When a flaming roof caves in on nine men, no beeper is going to change the outcome.

  • June 20, 2007 at 4:19 am
    Firefighter in NJ says:
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    Sprinklers, correctly installed and maintained for the occupancy, save lives. Including firefighters’ lives. Remember that the next time your firm insures a furniture warehouse without in-rack sprinklers under solid shelving (or any storage facility without adequate sprinkler protection). If property insurance underwriters refused to cover inadequately protected risks, how many lives could be saved?



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