Re: Why deliberately shorting equipment to blow breakers might be a bad idea . . .

["buffalobill" <wjohnston@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

tragedy suggests safer constrction codes.

"Gov. Matt Blunt on Friday proposed a sprinkler system mandate for
Missouri's long-term care facilities in response to a fire that killed
11 people at a group home for the mentally ill.
The Anderson Guest House was not equipped with sprinklers when a Nov.
27 fire started in the attic and swept through the one-story building.
After the fire, Blunt ordered a review of Missouri's fire safety
regulations for such facilities. . . .
The report also recommends that smoking be banned in bedrooms and
restricted only to designated smoking areas at long-term-care
facilities."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0612300047dec30,1,5333633.story



Robert Green wrote:
> I can't recall whether it was here in CHA or in alt.home.repair (hence the
> crosspost) but I am certain I read messages from people who short outlets or
> wiring with a screwdriver (instead of using a meter or a fox and hound toner
> set) to find the controlling circuit breaker for that branch.  The article
> below points out the possible downside of that approach:
>
> Missouri: Inquiry Ties Wiring to Fatal Group Home Fire
>
>  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/us/20brfs-Fire.html
>
> By LIBBY SANDER
> Published: December 20, 2006
> Hours before a fire killed 10 people in a group home for the mentally ill
> and disabled on Nov. 27 in Anderson, a maintenance worker trying to repair a
> furnace short-circuited wiring in the attic, where fire investigators said
> they believed that the fire started. The worker told investigators that he
> did not know which circuit breaker operated the furnace and that he
> deliberately tripped the system, according to a report from the Missouri
> Fire Safety Division. The wiring may have become overloaded, the report
> staid. The fire marshal said the home did not have sprinklers. The report
> was obtained by The Associated Press under an open-records law.
>
>
> --
> Bobby G.