FIRE PROTECTION DEFENSE LEAGUE

P.O. Box 112 * Aitkin, MN 56431

 * Phone: 218-927-5432 * Fax: 218-927-5435 * E-mail: fpdleague@netscape.net

Gerald W. Brown, President

Question: What is the difference between these two tragedies?

1. OK Bombing

2. Comm. Bldg. Fire

What we do: FPDL engages in notifications to the law enforcement community, standards writing bodies, insurers and the press, when unsafe fire protection conditions exist, which violate common fire protection law or common sense, in such a manner, that public safety is jeopardized. Typically, unsafe conditions in fire protection are based primarily on negligence, meaning that to do the right thing would cost money and thus money takes priority over the safety of human lives and thus nothing happens until an accident occurs or the whistle is blown or both. Sometimes the root cause of unsafe fire protection conditions is ignorance. Whichever the root cause, our representatives find and point out the conditions in such a manner that the exposure leaves no doubt about the responsibility for the unsafe condition. In other words, we strive to remove (absolutely) all plausible deniability.

Why we do this: We act on behalf of our members, which include law enforcement, industry representatives, trade union members, basically people from all walks of life. Pointing out unsafe conditions outside of North America, particularly under totalitarian regimes typically causes the elimination of the whistleblower and his or her family through the totalitarian government. In democratic rule, whistleblowers and their families are destroyed "only" in financial terms. They get fired, blackballed, marked for life, threatened, sometimes with their families. The US have whistleblower legislation, but the reality is that those who say anything, verbally or in writing, to a regulator or the press (typically a last ditch effort) can forget their careers and/or their businesses in their respective industries. We work with a number of other 'grass roots organizations', but our specialty is deficient fire protection. Our aim is to help the basic human right to fire safety. As such we are responsible for exposing a number of high-level infractions, which have led to remedial activity.

Due Process: Claims are independently verified to ensure validity to the greatest possible extent. Our directors are fire protection experts, who understand the technical issues in-depth, as well as the applicable legislation. We typically provide back-up to the authorities or members of the press, whom we notify of unsafe conditions. Final verification is up to the authority having jurisdiction. At times, the law enforcement community, such as municipal building departments or fire departments, may have insufficient clout in their respective municipalities to effect change. If that is the case, we notify the press. Other times, the local law enforcement agency, or members thereof, may be involved in a cover-up. In that case we also notify the press as well as the next higher level of government. We will not rest until we are satisfied that either the unsafe conditions have been remedied, or at the very least, that maximum exposure of the issues has occurred and that those responsible have been identified and their excuses to avoid the expense to remedy said conditions have been decimated, meaning that in the event of an accident involving a fire, the question of liability will be resolved very quickly in a court of law. We are not infallible. If we, or any of our representatives have erred, we will make this known, as well as any reasons for it. Fire Protection is a very basic human right. This is what we defend.

Case-In-Point (Nov./2000): Ontario, Canada Status: unresolved One of the worst cases of generic code violations outside of the North American nuclear industry is that of the Canadian Province: Ontario. With the exception of the City of Mississauga (to the best of our knowledge from multiple sources), Ontario buildings in most municipalities and particularly in more remote settings, do not meet their own building code (and everyone there knows it and does nothing about it, such as handing orders-to-comply to bldg. owners) because of generically permitted code violations. FPDL has submitted a multitude of CINs (Code Infraction Notifications) with graphic photo and written documentation, which has at best resulted in the granting of "exemptions" to buildings, which often have neither sprinklers nor continuous fire barriers. In structural fire protection, there are three key elements to fire safety: Detection, Suppression and Containment. If you think of these three elements as legs to a stool, you can imagine what happens when only one of them is removed. The status quo in Ontario appears to be that it is perfectly acceptable to have two of these legs missing, even in buildings OWNED by the very same government, which publishes and supposedly enforces the Ontario Building Code (=OBC - regulations for building new buildings, enforced by municipal bldg. departments) and the Ontario Fire Code (=OFC - regulations for existing buildings, enforced by municipal fire departments). Examples include all Ontario hospitals and schools, at all levels (JK through post secondary) and residential units. Responses to FPDL by the Ontario Fire Marshal's office as well as field reports by our membership, indicate that the human right to fire safety is of absolutely no consequence whatsoever in this Canadian province, when it comes to actually fixing what is wrong in their buildings to make sure that fire barriers are operational. For the most part, owners must be forced to do this. Ontario does not do this or grants unlawful "exemptions" in cases of exposures and refuses to take generic action, as FPDL has recommended. It is our information that Alberta and BC are somewhat more vigilant in this matter and that the remainder of Canadian provinces are on par with Ontario. This also includes federal buildings. For further information including photographic documentation on our notifications to this government, please click on the links below: