NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 20

Outreach by Lorraine Carli

ADVOCACY,
LEGISLATION,
AND PUBLIC
EDUCATION

My Fire
DESPITE ALL THE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY, IT CAN BE EASY TO THINK
THAT FIRE CAN'T HAPPEN TO YOU. AND THEN IT DOES.

or the past 12 years, I've

No official cause has been deterworked at NFPA promotmined, but the incident was one of a
ing fire safety through
rash of fires in buildings under coneducation and advocacy.
struction-around Boston and across
Despite my knowledge on
the country-that NFPA has chronicled
the subject, my experience had been secover the last year. The lightweight wood
ondhand-aside from a minor flare-up
construction used in these buildings
with my grill or setting off a smoke alarm
burns faster than traditional lumber,
while cooking, I'd never been personally
and is particularly vulnerable when it
affected by fire. Until I was.
is not yet protected by sprinklers, fire
A few months ago, my husband and
alarms, and other protective elements.
I were out riding our bikes before work
News stories reported that the fire had
on a beautiful fall morning on Cape
been burning for some time before the
We were out riding our
Cod when, almost simultaneously, our
fire department was contacted. Another
bikes when, almost
mobile phones alerted us to texts-one
news article reported on a local official's
from a friend and another from my
concern that the town did not require
simultaneously, our
brother, the fire chief in my hometown.
builders to implement pre-construcmobile phones alerted
They were practically identical: "Is that
tion safety measures, despite codes that
us to texts-one from
your condo burning?" Both had seen a
require such practices. This provided
a friend and another
news report of a large condominium fire
NFPA an opportunity to work with local
from my brother.
near Boston. Like many empty nesters,
officials to ensure they were aware of the
They were practically
my husband and I had recently sold the
applicable codes and offer assistance in
identical: "Is that your
home where we raised our kids and purunderstanding them.
condo burning?"
chased a condo in a new development
While NFPA encourages the public
near NFPA headquarters. We were stayand officials to be more proactive about
ing temporarily at our summer home on
fire prevention, the reality is that both
the Cape while waiting for the condohave become more complacent as the
minium building to be finished.
number of fires has declined over the
Later that morning, as I drove to my office, my husband years. No one thinks it will happen to them or to their comcalled. He was watching a live newscast from the fire scene, munity. I have always promoted the fact that fires are still a
and it looked a lot like our building. I pulled off the highway threat, but now I can tell you from personal experience that
and went to see for myself. It was ours. The fire would ulti- fires can and do happen.
mately destroy the building; 42 of the 50 units had been under
To keep communities safe, we need to continue to promote
agreement and scheduled to close within weeks.
a full system of fire prevention, protection, and education. We
We were lucky on many levels. We didn't lose personal need to remind the public of the role it plays in its own safety,
items, no one was hurt, and unlike so many others affected and we need to work with policymakers to ensure complacency
by fire, we had another place to live. But what if all that had doesn't put their communities at risk. While I wouldn't wish
been different? The experience forced me to regard fire from firsthand experience with fire on anyone, it has given me a
a new and different perspective. It made me appreciate even strong frame of reference to carry with me in my work, and it
more the first responders who spent hours fighting the fire, has renewed my drive to reduce loss.
and the investigators who spent days trying to figure out
what happened.
LORRAINE CARLI is vice president of outreach and advocacy for NFPA.

20 | NFPA JOURNAL * J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8

MICHAEL HOEWELER

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - January/February 2018