Volunteer group in Texas moves to ban mandatory training

[Bnechis 3,961]

To be fair, the State of Connecticut doesn't allow municipalities to create their own Fire Codes either, so that's hardly a fair argument to make.

Same in NYS. And the reason goes back to the Stoffer's Fire in December 1980. Stoffer's Built in Harrison,gust outside the White Plains City Line. White Plains City Code required sprinklers and other safe guards, that Harrison did not require and Stoffers wanted to save money (not do the right thing). The state determined that if the WP code was inplace, the outcome would have been different. They then made a state code. They do allow some local "upgrades" but they must be approvedby the state codes council andits not easy to do.

As a sidebar, Stoffer's never recovered from the reputation of the fire and finally got out of the biz. Good planning in not spending the money upfront on fire protection.

OSHA and EPA laws and regulations exist no matter what state you're in, so to say that there's NO regulation in Texas isn't entirely accurate, they're held to the same federal standards that any other regulated industry is. Also if I recall correctly, this company WAS fined for a violation by Texas' environmental enforcement agency previously, so its not as if nobody is out there enforcing the law.

While EPA laws are on all persons and organizations, OSHA laws in non OSHA "Plan States" including Texas can only be applied to non governmental workers.

[Bnechis 3,961]

Bulk storage of hazardous materials and petroleum products has always existed and there is always the potential for a disaster. Would inspections and other safeguards have prevented this? Do we know with any certainty what the cause was? I don't know the answers so I'm not rushing to judgment. Seems to me there are investigations ongoing into this possibly being an intentional act. Inspections wouldn't prevent that if it is indeed true.

How about building the plant OUTSIDE the town. There are code and zoning restrictions on the manufacture storage and sale of most hazardous materials and on the most dangerious ones (particularly explosives, oxidizers and peroxides) they include maximum quantities per control area and (blast) distances from other structures, storage and processes.

Gricci Fireworks in Bellport LI blew up in 1983 killing 3 workers, leveling the factory and damaging over 100 homes. When the factory was built in 1929 it was in a remote area and most of the homes were built around it (ie. no zoning laws). The replacement factory was built on 90 acres, next to an ash field & an FD training facility. The factory is sub divided into multiple buildings with seperation and earth mounds between each "room". The likelyhood of another large explosion has been limited and if one happens the only people affected will be those that work there.

[M' Ave 1,466]

Being the eternal cynic, I'm surprised that I'm actually saying this but... most people inherently DO the right thing, or at least try to. There are always exceptions and there are always the dregs of society (like criminals and politicians or is that redundant) who garner much of the media attention but the vast majority of people strive to do the right thing.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm confused now. You said in one post (emphatically) that Texas had no codes and now you're saying that they do. I'm not sure what the distinction is between building codes, municipal codes and the codes you're saying don't exist. Are there no state fire codes because they already exist in other legislation or at other levels of government?

Bulk storage of hazardous materials and petroleum products has always existed and there is always the potential for a disaster. Would inspections and other safeguards have prevented this? Do we know with any certainty what the cause was? I don't know the answers so I'm not rushing to judgment. Seems to me there are investigations ongoing into this possibly being an intentional act. Inspections wouldn't prevent that if it is indeed true.

Well, I too am a cynic and while I'll agree that people do strive to do the right thing, corporations do not. They answer to the all mighty dollar. I was saying that some municipalities, larger ones, do have Fire Codes, but the state (as I read it)does not have a specific fire code. As for sprinklers and such, I was just suggesting that these codes are woven into the building code.

Bulk storage is always a problem and potential does exist, but from the sound of things the manner in which the material in question was stored was not adequately safe. Perhaps an inspection would have caught the condition prior to the fire and subsequent explosion.