Fire Service Enemies Think Only of Themselves
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From the Publishers Desk
The military has been continually reminded of the warning given by someone (probably by that fellow named Anon., who is quoted in so many footnotes) that you should “never underrate your enemy.” We were reminded of that historical advice by remarks made by Louis O. Giuffrida, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in a talk last June to the Second National Institute on Arson of the American Bar Association.
Giuffrida recounted causes of arson-forprofit, all of which you have read about in Fire Engineering except perhaps one. That one caught our eye in reading a transcript of the FEMA director’s talk. However despicable, it is an example of native ingenuity that adds to the fire problem.
Guiffrida mentioned strippers who enter a building that has just been renovated or partially renovated—and pour an accelerant down the pipe chases to start a fire. Fire fighters then do what has to be done to extinguish such a fire—they open up the pipe chases. The strippers later return to steal the plumbing fixtures along with the piping and wiring that has been exposed by the honest labor of fire fighters.
The FEMA director also cited buildings designated as landmarks as another target, of arsonists. Incidentally, an editorial in Fire Engineering last April called attention to this problem. Giuffrida reported that 13 historic buildings have been burned in the last two years in Massachusetts to provide justification for demolishing them so the land could be used for other purposes. He added that 16 vacant houses in the historic Franklin Square area of Baltimore were burned one day last January, and seven structures eligible for the National Register of Historical Places have been torched in Santa Ana, Calif.
From the office of California State Fire Marshal Philip C. Favro comes an appeal to fire officials in that state to report incidents in which home security devices have resulted in fire deaths or delayed rescues. Specifically, he is requesting information on double-keyed deadbolts on exit doors and security window grills that can’t be opened.
Last May, we asked Fire Engineering readers to respond to a few questions about the provision of emergency medical services. We now have the results of that survey. It showed that 73.5 percent of the nation’s fire departments provide EMS. As might be expected, the largest number of fire departments operate one or two ambulances.
