Couple of Things

FBI: Terrorist Warning on NYC Subway An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system. The internal bulletin says al-Qaida terrorists "in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City. These discussions reportedly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives placed on subway/passenger rail systems," according to the document."If you get scared that means they win," commuter Omid Sima said on the platform of the subway below Rockefeller Center. "There's always been terror warnings. I can't change my life because of that."Read on for more information.


Syracuse FF’s Rescued From Roof
TWO SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, FIREFIGHTERS BECAME TRAPPED early this morning on a roof of a fire building.
The older, 2-story dwelling had been split into two living units and a woman who lived in the second-floor looked our her window shortly before midnight and saw flames coming from a 1st-floor window.
She called in the alarm and got out safely. When the FD arrived the fire had extended into the upper floor and the attic of the house. Two FF’s were operating on the roof opening a ventilation hole when suddenly they were surrounded by the fire and isolated. They put in a mayday call and the other FF’s on the scene raised another ladder and got to them.
One of the trapped firefighters made it back down on his own, but the other had to be taken down by his fellow-FF’s. Both of them were taken to a hospital where they are being treated for smoke inhalation.



December 1 marks 50th anniversary of Our Lady of Angels School Fire
Shortly before the end of classes on December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at the Our Lady of Angels Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois. The fire left 95 dead and many others seriously injured. This fire, which occurred 50 years ago, is still one of the deadliest school fires in the history of the United States.
"Poor fire protection design was a major contributing factor to the significant number of deaths and injuries," said Chris Jelenewicz, engineering program manager with the Bethesda, Maryland-based Society of Fire Protection Engineers. "Additionally, many lives were lost because the fire burned out of control for a considerable amount of time before the children were notified that an emergency existed in the building."
At the time of the fire about 1,600 children--grades kindergarten through 8th occupied the two-story brick and wood joist building.
The fire started in the basement at the bottom of one of the building's interior stairways. The open stairway did not have fire-rated doors at the top of the stair. As a result, the fire spread quickly up the stair into the second floor corridors.
"Once the fire started, the stairway effectively became a chimney--allowing the hot smoke and deadly gases to spread quickly up this stair and throughout the second floor corridors," said Jelenewicz. "This prevented the occupants from exiting through the corridors which was the only safe escape route."
The fire department rescued many children with ground ladders or by catching those who jumped out the windows. Despite these efforts, many of the children died in their classrooms and others were forced to jump out windows to their deaths.
Moreover, the building was not equipped with a sprinkler system or an automatic fire alarm/detection system.
"Because of the delay in notification, the lack of adequate fire protection systems and the unprotected stairs, the occupants just didn't have enough time to get out alive," explained Jelenewicz.
Additional contributing factors to the number of deaths and injuries included a delay in calling the fire department.
As a result of this fire, many building requirements were enhanced to make schools safer from fire. Some of these requirements include the installation of fire alarm and automatic fire suppression systems and increasing the frequency of exit drills.
"The Our Lady of Angels Fire reminds us of the threat that is posed by fire and the importance of designing buildings that that keep people safe from fire," said Jelenewicz. "The fact of the matter, however, is that today schools are much better protected. This is in large part due to the fire-safety strategies and systems designed by fire protection engineers that make our world safer from fire."
More Society of Fire Protection Engineers: www.sfpe.org