TENANTS LASH OUT AGAINST OWNER

Now that we know 10801 has been cited for fire code violations, we have received emails from tenants stating their concerns and disgust. We would like to feature one in particular, because it is well written and drives the message loud and clear...

Letter - from an anonymous tenant

Upon reading the fire safety violation issued to the owners of the building at 10801 National Blvd. in West Los Angeles I am paying particular attention to LAMC SEC. 57.12.02:

Subsection A:

No person shall install or maintain any wire, barbed wire, razor ribbon, fence, cable, aerial, antenna, or other obstruction on any building roof, parapet wall, or openings in an exterior wall required for Fire Department access, in such a manner as to obstruct access or egress, or cause a hazardous condition in the event or fire or other emergency.

So to clarify, this signage is an "obstruction….. to the openings in an exterior wall required for Fire Department access, in such a manner as to obstruct access or egress, or cause a hazardous condition in the event of fire or other emergency."

Realizing that the attorneys representing the owners of this building and the attorneys that represent the sign company have a primary interest in their clients' monetary interests rather than the safety of the building occupants and visitors to the building, it is obvious that they will try to find some way to ignore the danger to the people. Clearly the signage there obstructs the access or egress to the openings in the exterior walls and is causing a hazardous condition in the event of fire or other emergency. "Openings in an exterior wall" would include windows covered with glass, whether or not those windows can be opened by the occupants from the inside, since there is nothing in the code to say otherwise

(SEE DIVISION 12 - OBSTRUCTIONS TO ROOFS AND ALL OPENINGS p.150).

I am sure everyone remembers the horrible tragedy that occurred at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai this last December. The fire department there rescued 750 people by BREAKING THE WINDOWS so that they might be able to escape the building. These 750 people are alive today because they were able to escape through the "openings in an exterior wall." God forbid that this type of signage would have been present to impede this dramatic rescue.

Obviously it would be difficult for fire department personnel to gain access in a timely manner due to the obstruction caused by such signage. If they were to cut through the material there is a strong likelihood that the material would start tearing away and possibly create a moving hazard to occupants that might need to be rescued as well as the fire department personnel directly.

Occupants of this building are at an increased danger from fire as well as other emergencies, including terrorist attacks.

I can only wonder what Homeland Security would think of this impediment to the safety of the occupants in this building.

This tenant wished to remain anonymous, but we want to thank them for contributing.

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The tragedy that is described in this letter was real and fire fighters had to bust through these windows to rescue these people. These are the same type windows in our building. You can see a news story that describes this event by clicking FIRED UP WITH VIGOUR, FIREMEN DIDN'T EVEN HEED TO NSG WARNING.