OT: For the Britts here who don't see the need for building codes

[trader_4]

And who tell us how much smarter the UK is when it comes to such issues:

laze/

"The cause of the fire is so far unknown, but residents had previously rais ed concerns that a 'catastrophic' event could happen. An action group of Gr enfell residents said their warnings fell on "deaf ears" after highlighting safety concerns about the block.

The group said there was one entry and exit to Grenfell Tower during improv ement works at the block in Latimer Road and it had issues with evacuation procedures at the building.

Lack of sprinklers/exits - Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick said the Government ha s resisted calls to install sprinkler systems in high-rise blocks in the wa ke of the Lakanal House tragedy. The local Action Group also warned that th ere were not enough entries and exits to cope with a catastrophic event."

I don't think there is a highrise in a major city in the USA where under code you could do a major renovation and not update it to include sprinklers. But just requiring sprinklers in new contruction is an example of a code that obviously saves lives. And I doubt you could have just one entry/exit during renovation here either.

[Kurt V. Ullman]

Multiple egress has been a part of US fire codes for years. The report on the Shirtwaist Factory Fire in NYC in 1911 noted that there two staircases even then (code was 3, but they were given a waiver for the third since they had an outside fire escape). Sprinkers had been required in multi-story places for many years before I was involved in the Fire Service in the mid-70s. So, yeah, this would have had multiple staircases and a sprinkler system a long time ago in the US. (Most likely at initial build since I think I read somewhere that the building was built in 74 or so.