June 19, 2001

To The Editor:

Another unspeakable fire tragedy has claimed the lives of three brave firefighters and is responsible for dozens of injuries. Fire Commissioner Von Essen is right, had the Long Island General Supply Company hardware store on Astoria Boulevard been protected with automatic fire sprinklers the headlines in the printed media would not be screaming for answers and these firefighters would still be alive. There has never been a multiple death fire in a fully sprinklered building in more than a century. Why hasn’t the Mayor’s Task Force on fire safety issued their report and recommendations more than two years after the tragic fire which claimed the lives of three firefighters in Brooklyn? If cost is the issue, the Mayor and City Council need to develop creative ways of financing installation of these systems. Since December of 1998, more than 250 New Yorkers have perished in fires throughout the five boroughs. There are hundreds of buildings throughout the City that are not protected with sprinklers and should be. The cost for inaction on the part of the Mayor and the City Council is indeed getting very expensive.

Cordially yours,

John A. Viniello

President, National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc.