PO-PO, Bellwood fire
Pioneer Press (David Pollard) (there are a number of pictures):
Six people were injured, two seriously, in a five-alarm fire in Bellwood Wednesday morning.
The fire brought in more than 15 area fire departments to fight the blaze at Universal Form Clamp Company of Chicago, 840 S. 25th Ave., a concrete manufacturing company. Smoke billowed from the top rear of the building, which has oils and flammable solvents on the premises.
I recently received report of a Melrose Park business that keeps a large number of tires on the premises. The source considers these tires a fire hazard and suspects the Village of Melrose Park is not enforcing the applicable code issues.
Are village employees enforcing the fire code laws and other statutes designed to prevent serious mishaps?
posted by Carl Nyberg at
1:43 PM
11 Comments:
A fire breaks out in Bellwood and you criticize Melrose Park for lax enforcement? WTF?!
By
Anonymous, at 4:14 PM, June 15, 2006
It's not the best constructed entry.
I have received credible allegations Melrose Park is lax in enforcement.
The point is that some of the underlying rules serve the purpose of protecting lives.
A friend of mine who used to work in Melrose Park described the "old school" outlook of the village employees as sorta charming, in an earthy way.
Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking corruption or negligence-by-design is somehow endearing.
Many of the rules are bureaucratic bullshit 98+% of the time. But when an accident happens the severity of the consquences is determined by the preparedness of the people around.
If a fire breaks out and you have a bunch of flamable materials on-site that should have been disposed of, the consequences are much more severe than if there are few flamable materials around.
By
Carl Nyberg, at 4:28 PM, June 15, 2006
If this fire broke out 3 blocks south in Broaview, what do you think would have happened?
The fact is that fire and police in these areas are under staffed.
Prevention is essential, but even the best prevention cannot insure 100% safety.
It's time for citizens and politicians to start realizing that fire and police protection is not simply a line item operating expense that can be used to balance bugets.
By
Anonymous, at 5:57 PM, June 15, 2006
If a fire broke out in Utah Carl would find a way to blame Melrose Park as his perpencity (sp) has shown. The afixiation with the quest to find all things wrong is truly amazing.
Although I suppose being a liberal anti establishment is the underlying charasteristic of many bloggers. Afterall they coin themselves activist journalism.
WTF is that?
By
Anonymous, at 10:18 PM, June 16, 2006
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
Anonymous, at 9:05 AM, June 21, 2006
I don't know about Broadview? What is the state of the Broadview Fire Department?
By
Carl Nyberg, at 12:24 PM, June 21, 2006
I'm not blaming Melrose Park for the fire. If I was unclear, I'm sorry.
The point is that lax enforcement of code issues in Melrose Park means that a fire at an industrial location in MP will probably have more severe consequences than if MP was a more "by the book" community.
Of course, perhaps the reason the businesses like to be in MP is that MP officials show flexibility.
By
Carl Nyberg, at 12:26 PM, June 21, 2006
Traditional journalism holds that the journalist shouldn't become part of the story by reporting bad stuff to the authorities.
I don't observe this restriction. If I see something that is likely illegal or improper, I will report it to the authorities.
By
Carl Nyberg, at 12:28 PM, June 21, 2006
Comment deleted. Copyrighted material provided without a link to the source. Also it was too much copyrighted material.
By
Carl Nyberg, at 12:30 PM, June 21, 2006
We can tell that you don't observe any restrictions Carl. Free wielding reporting with ethics?
By
Anonymous, at 11:56 PM, June 22, 2006
melrose parker, have I done something you consider unethical? What was it? Why was it unethical?
By
Carl Nyberg, at 10:55 AM, June 23, 2006
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