European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Doily Magazine up newsman de Rogers with photo of the aftermath of hotel fire in Atlanta in 1946 which claimed 119 a crazy quilt pattern of codes Bujac Kneece United press International fire began on the lower raced up the elevator shafts like a living spread room by burning paint from the furniture and spreading panic like billowing smoke among the screaming the Blaze was in a fireproof people began leaping from the preferring this death to one by recalled the second person to run to the that was de then an unemployed he remembered he had been Reading a Somerset maugham novel when he heard the first he dropped the raced to the Bat the fire was not the Mem grand fire in Las vegas that killed nor the Stouffer fire North of Manhattan that killed 26 both recent fires that created a flurry of demands for tougher fire Ordi this was the Winecoff hotel fire in Atlanta on de Cember 1946 that killed 119 Rogers who won his Job with United press International by covering that fire said it also created a rash of Calls around the nation for stiff new fire i was the second Man on foot to arrive at the recalled i have Many vivid memories of that fire that i can never trapped people started a Sheet but so Many climbed on it that it leaving one woman hanging in the finally she let when firemen cot out a it attracted so Many wild jumps they finally had to hide although there were Many Only two were below the Sheet and there were so Many bodies raining through the air that some hit one of the catapulting a fire who rotated like a Marionette through the air and through a Canvas ill never forget one Man pleading for a his room filled with then it then there were then the flames raced up his then the fire enveloped his head like a finally the Only thing visible was his hand at the what has changed since the Winecoff the Mem grand the Stouffer fire How have modern fire codes kept Pace with modern construction new materials and new technology a nationwide Survey by up reveals a crazy quilt Pat Tern of fire codes that Range from the strict and efficient to antiquated regulations of pre world War ii Many of today modern condominiums and High Rise apartment buildings with sealed Plush supposedly fireproof stairwells and modern heating and air conditioning can instantly turn into giant chimneys that become efficient devices for rapidly killing the occupants by fire or modern Nylon and acrylic polyurethane foam Builtin lax fire Grandfather clause fire Laws that permit existing build Ings to violate new inefficient or nonexistent sprinkler a Lack of smoke alarms and it cant Hap pen Here attitudes make mass deaths in High Rise fires a growing problem around the while the Mem grand and Stouffer inn fires in recent weeks claimed 110 there Are fires a month in hotels and motels in the United that an average of Over 33 a the annual loss is about according to the fire we lose 160 lives a year double the loss of the Mem grand said Ufa director Gordon Vick but we usually lose them in ones and twos and people dont pay much it takes a disaster like its said fire chief de Wilson of Kan Sas but most of the changes in fire protect january 1981 Tion practices come on the stacks of charred Wilson said the modern sealed window construction quickly allows a fire to consume All the oxygen in a leaving Only smoke to asphyxiated those this is a situation that makes it so very necessary to have air tanks in order to have breathable you get up on the 10th and Lith floor and you Start breaking out windows youve got shrapnel flying Down All Over the in scene of the Winecoff state legislators alarmed by the Las vegas and new York fires Are draft eng legislation to provide for a statewide fire it includes tax incentives and requires sprinklers in big in Las some escaped from the roof of the Struc Ture by but not enough could go on each Mcdonnell Douglas has developed a flying fireman platform that with a remove 16 persons at a but a company spokesman said it has sold Only one since its development in 1978 to the City of los in fire codes have been toughened considerably since but Miami and Miami Beach fire officials say there Are deficiencies in Many High rises that could Lead to the potential for a major disaster is said assistant Miami Beach fire chief Brunkard weve got a Large number some of which meet Only minimum fire code and we have a lot of elderly which increases the the Miami area standards went into effect in they for buildings three stories or sprinkler fire smoke smoker Emo Val hoses and hydrants on each a Public address and a control panel that pinpoints the continued on pages 1415 the stars and stripes Page 13