NFPA Journal - Winter 2021 - 44

ADVOCACY,
Outreach by Lorraine Carli
LEGISLATION,
AND PUBLIC
EDUCATION
Preventing the Preventable
AN INVESTIGATION INTO DEADLY HOME FIRES IN CHICAGO UNCOVERS LAPSES AT EVERY
LEVEL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF THE SAFETY ECOSYSTEM
I
recently read a troubling
story in the Chicago
Tribune titled " The
Failures Before the Fires. "
The piece was part of an
investigative series and was a collaboration
between the Tribune and the Better
Government Association, a government
watchdog group. The story analyzed thousands
of Chicago and Cook County records
related to fatal home fires that occurred
between 2014 and 2019, and found that
in 42 of those fires-in which 61 people
died-there were previous fire safety
issues that had been identified but not
addressed by city officials. The problems
included missing or nonworking smoke
alarms, overcrowding, blocked exits, and
electrical issues.
There was no doubt who was at fault.
" Responsibility for these failures lies with
the city's elected leaders, who cut back on
inspections, eased regulations, and failed
to follow through on promises of reform
after headline-making tragedies, " the
Tribune reported. " [Responsibility also lies] with city lawyers
and hearing officers who deferred to property owners...and
with frontline inspectors and their bosses at the Department
of Buildings-an agency created after the Great Chicago Fire
of 1871 specifically to prevent fire-related tragedies. "
Circumstances like these exist in communities across the
. The ecosystem is an interconnected
system of eight cogs that must work together to protect
people and property from harm, and it begins with government
responsibility. Government must maintain an effective
policy and regulatory environment supporting fire, electrical,
building, and life safety. The Chicago story also highlights
the ecosystem cogs of code compliance, where resources exist
to support effective code enforcement, and an investment in
safety, where safety is prioritized across the entire community.
These ecosystem components are paramount, but there
44 | NFPA JOURNAL * WINTER 202 1
The Tribune/BGA
series reminds us
that we can and must
do better to prevent
losses from fire, and
that safety lapses
cannot be ignored.
is also a critical need for the public to be
educated about the dangers of fire and
other hazards in order to contribute to
their own safety.
NFPA recently completed a seminal
research report, " Fire Safety in the United
States Since 1980. " It assessed the reduction
of losses due to fire over the past
four decades, chronicled the achievements
since the 1973 " America Burning "
report, and identified both the remaining
and the emerging challenges. All of this
was analyzed against the framework of
the fire and life safety ecosystem.
Three key findings from the report
amplify the failings cited in the Tribune/
BGA story. " A lot of progress has been
made in the years since 'America
Burning', " the NFPA report observed.
" However, the success in taming fire...
has unfortunately led to fire safety taking
a back seat to other societal concerns
that seem more pressing " -as the story
demonstrates, we cannot let complacency
lead to practices that fail the residents of
country, and they're what led NFPA to frame safety as the NFPA
Fire and Life Safety Ecosystem™
any community. Additionally, the NFPA report reminded us
of the success story around smoke alarms, especially in relation
to home fires. Although smoke alarms have contributed
significantly to reducing home fire deaths, the majority of those
deaths occur in homes with no smoke alarms and no working
smoke alarms. Finally, the NFPA report observed that " the most
successful recipe for fire safety in the built environment is the
implementation of fire safety technologies through mandated
codes and standards, " where the latest codes and standards
are used and enforced.
The Tribune/BGA series serves as a reminder that we can
and must do better to prevent losses from fire, and that safety
lapses cannot be ignored without the risk of consequences.
You can read the entire series online, in English or Spanish, at
bettergov.org/investigations.
LORRAINE CARLI is vice president of Outreach and Advocacy for NFPA.
MICHAEL HOEWELER
http://www.bettergov.org/investigations
NFPA Journal - Winter 2021

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