In a message dated 2/16/2011 9:51:18 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
I am sorry to tell you that two people didn't survive the fire. Three people are in the hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. I saw two of them and they both were removed from the building unconscious. They didn't look good. Are you saying that two people died? Here's what just appeared on the Inquirer's website: Two hurt in fire at facility for disabled in W. Philly Inquirer Staff Report A fire broke out in a transitional living facility for the disabled in West Philadelphia this morning, sending a man and woman to the hospital, officials said. At least three other people were displaced by the blaze at Transition to Independent Living at 4536 Spruce Street, a Fire Department spokesman said. The conditions of the two people taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania were not immediately known, but medics reported the man's vital signs were unstable when they took him there. The cause of the fire, which was reported at 7:38 a.m. and declared under control at 8:07 a.m., is under investigation. One of the residents told me the fire started from a resident smoking in bed. >From way back, when the city's current fire code went into effect, I recall that research I did indicated that smoking in bed or falling asleep on upholstered furniture while smoking were the biggest causes of fatalities in residential fires. The victims tend to die of causes related to smoke inhalation before the fire is discovered by anyone else. This is one of the reasons the Fire Code requires that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors be installed close to the entrances to sleeping areas -- just outside bedrooms, presumably where they can not only be heard inside but also elsewhere in a house or apartment. In view of the uproar over the Windemere fire involving loss of personal property and some pets (and my apparently unpopular view that people wanting to go into the building were taking bone-headed chances), I'd like to add that there are light years of distance between these losses and death or serious injury. The experts will tell you that, if you're ever in a fire situation, sure -- grab what you can, including your pets, but keep your priorities in order -- prime among these priorities being to get out safely and do what you can to assist others in doing so. If, indeed, lives were lost at 45th & Spruce this morning, think about the perspective this puts onto the Windemere fire -- in a much larger and more complex structure -- where everyone got out safely. By the way -- there's such a thing as renters' insurance and it's rather inexpensive. (The folks who are initiating the class action lawsuit against the owners of the Windemere for loss of property might think about whether their case is sunk in advance by the fact that they didn't take the precaution themselves to buy this coverage.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alan Krigman KRF Management, ICON/Information Concepts Inc 211 S 45th St, Philadelphia PA 19104-2918 215-349-6500, fax 215-349-6502 [email protected] or [email protected]
