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The fire codes, as they have evolved in America, accomplish So, the first stage in the use of fire codes to maintain fire,
two things: First, they set a framework upon which has and to continue the profits, is to set the compartmentation
grown a truly enormous protected market, with prices artifi- "non solution" as the foundation of fire science; that is to
cially maintained far above a fair worth for value received. create a universally accepted area of expertise where the "non
Secondly, in the process of protecting the marketplace solution" to fire becomes the accepted "solution"; and where
created, the codes have gravitated toward allowing that which blind adherence to codes rather than engineering logic be-
poses no threat to the system, and prohibiting that which does comes the norm.
threaten the system, to the degree that the continuity of fire
loss is assured. WATER ISA DANGER TO THE FIRE
ESTABLISHMENT
The compartmentation concept, however, would not
FIRE CODES GUARANTEE FIRE suffice of itself. In the event a major reduction in fire ex-
Bluntly stated, the fire codes in America are no longer perience within the compartment occurred, this would then
oriented toward reducing fire (if indeed they ever were). Quite result in a major reduction in the market place. The dollar cash
the opposite, they protect the profits derived from the system flow would also drop as frequency or severity fell. So, along
by assuring that fire continues unabated in America; and that with subdivision of risk (concentration on the non solution)
year by year the "take" from fire grows. the system also needed guarantees that reduction in fire loss,
There is no place where this trend is more evident than in not occur within the compartment.
the "investigatory" process following each major fire. In- Therefore, the second key element in the fire code scheme
variably, there is a mad rush by the profiteers to get in on the for profits was to prevent available water from being effec-
creation of new fire code requirements to mandate their own tively used on the early fire. The reason this was necessary is
wares. And, within this maelstrom of fire investigations and that water is so plentiful (available in every building) and so
code writing, it becomes abundantly clear that the impetus is extremely effective in controlling the early fire, that fire
toward allowing in all regulations that will add to the profits, would all but disappear as a national problem if water were
but none of the systems that could actually reduce the losses. allowed to be used both early and effectively. The first five
minutes in a fire is what counts. The time factor eliminates the
fire department, and the water restrictions cripple the earlic
HOW IT IS DONE fire control effort.
But it is not easy to keep increasing the take from fire while Summarizing, the two basic factors built into the codes in
never reducing the enormity of fire. How is it done? There are order to guarantee the continuity of the business of fire were:
many ways in which it is done, and I have covered these ways 1. The compartmentation plan which allowed fire to
extensively in prior Patton Reports. But there are two basics continue unabated within the unit.
upon which the entire system is dependent. One is subdivision 2. Code prohibitions on the use of water to prevent its
of risk as the alternate to fire suppression. The other is to effective use on the early fire.
prevent water from being effectively applied to the incipient
fire. FIRE SPRINKLER CODE CONTROLS
Subdivision of risk may also be termed compartmentation; In many newsletters I have detailed the enormous and me-
or in its most refined form, the "fireproof" building. All are ticulous pains taken by the NFPA to obstruct and prevent the
the same concept. Assume there is a city of wood frame evolution of low cost and effective fire sprinkler systems, or
houses, side by side, block by block. If one burns, they could life safety systems as I coined the term, so that there is no
all burn; and this level of fire which is called a conflegration is need to elaborate further here.
unacceptable for a variety of reasons, including that con-
flegrations put insurance companies out of business. CONTROLLING METHODS OF WATER USAGE
Now, take the same city, but between each row house put a With the means to prevent automatic early fire control with
fire wall, from ground up, parapeted above the wood roof. water thwarted, that left manual fire control with water
Now the conflegration problem has been solved, the entire city another distinct danger to the system. The system, the NFPA,
does not burn, only a single house burns at a time. Note, and the fire testing laboratories rose to the occasion again,
however, this "solution" in no way !educes fire frequency however, and successfully thwarted the effective use of water
within any one unit. Similarly, multi-story buildings are manually on an early fire. How? By "standardizing" the code
"compartmented" floor by floor with concrete slabs and approved ways of using water into impractical methods.
enclosed shafts. (But toxic fire gases do not "compartment"). One of the two code and laboratory methods (of using
Within the framework of the compartmentation "solution" water) allowed is the water base fire extinguisher, which emits
the fire insurance system is protected because fire continues at a pencil lead thick stream of water for 50 seconds, and which
a random but predictable rate, but the "break the bank" loss is about as effective as a biologically administered stream. The
does not occur. water base fire extinguisher would be a farce if it were not alsc
Within the framework of the fireproof (compartmented) an enormous human tragedy.
building an enormous market for fire related products has The other allowed method of water use is the 11/2 inch
evolved, and since fire continuity on a unit by unit, or floor by racked hose, which requires two trained firemen to handle,
floor basis, is assured, the market growth for the products is and which is not only useless but very dangerous in the handk
assured. of the amateur who is most likely to discover the fire.
-4-
Let's run through this once again. By and large it was 2. The orientation of the fire codes so that available water
usually near impossible to market "non approved" fire pro- is seldom applied effectively to the early fire, either
tection equipment. The manual application of water to the automatically or manually.
early fire was thwarted by making the "standard" and
"approved" equipment for such use too small to be effective By such methods the very codes that presumably prevent or
(extinguisher) or too big to be able to be used by a non trained reduce fire in reality guarantee fire continuity.
fire fighter (the 1 1/2 inch hose). The measure of the power of
the system is that a truly effective water application tool
(garden size hose and spray nozzle) is almost never used
against fire because fire prevention training and built-in THE GRANDEST FRAUD IN THE HISTORY
equipment follows closely the "code approved" concepts. The OF MAN
codes have amazingly resulted in water rarely being applied
effectively to the early fire (before fire department arrival). Our fire code system is not a cure to fire, it is a guarantor
The exception has been those large industrial type properties of fire and a preserver of the fire marketplace. In truth this
where fire sprinkler systems became practical under the code. code system may well be the most elaborate, complex, and
With their enormous powers of advertising, promotion, and profitable fraud ever conceived of by the mind of man. The
influence, the NFPA and its friends have thus removed water net "take" from the code fraud system over these many years
as an effective tool in controlling the early fire. may be more than one thousand billion dollars (one trillion
dollars) and the cost may well be as high as 500,000 deaths
SUMMARY and many million major injuries and maimings.
There are many other facets to the code system conspiracy
to keep the fires burning, but the two that are most basic are Fire continues as a national problem today only because
these: near 100 percent reliable solutions to fire, available 70 years
1. The promotion of compartmentation (a "non solu- and more ago, have been systematically barred from the
tion"), as the accepted solution to fire, and the struc- market place by a code-profit system that will not tolerate a
turing of a "fire science" so oriented. true solution to fire.