Fire Departments, Do You Know Where Your 'Knox Box' Keys Are?

Lucky for one dept I found and returned theirs.

By Nick Markowitz

I do occasional subcontract work for an alarm dealer who has a bunch of coal-fired pizza shops and they're notorious for causing false alarms due to coal dust. Well, this morning I received a call from my friend. He needs me to go to one of his locations and replace a smoke detector, which was false alarming.

So I get on site, change the smoke, then go around back of the store where there's a small rear access room accessible only from the outside. To my concern, I see the Knox Box is sitting open and the store's keys are sitting in the door!

Editor's Note: For info on the Knox Box, visit https://www.knoxbox.com/

Now, had I not noticed this key first and a criminal type got hold of it, which was a very good possibility as every car going drive thru window for business next door would see them hanging there, they could have had access to every store front in town that uses a Knox Box. The fire department would have had to re-key every Knox Box in town to prevent the burglar getting into every store undetected without an alarm. Even if they did, he would be in and out with ease if the burglar had this key.

One town had to do this exact thing and re-key can cost well over $2000.00. To make matters worse, the town could be liable for items taken, which could cost thousands of dollars and they could have gotten a call, arrived on scene and found no key, which is an even worse situation.

I carefully put the door keys back in, locked the Knox Box, and took the keys up the street to the fire department. No one had any idea they where even missing it.

Needless to say, they where very happy I found and returned it. I am sure someone got a chewing out, and rightly so. Some new protocols may also follow, which is a good thing.

It is too easy to loose track of your keys. All of us, including myself, have done it before and there's that rush of adrenaline as you frantically search for them.

Luckily this time, other than some embarrassment, no one got hurt, but it could have turned out much worse.

So I ask again, do you know where your Knox Box keys are? Do you have an SOP protocol in place for how they're to be handled?




Note: the key image in no way allows it to be copied this is a level 4 Bixial key way  and does not reveal  its features

Fire Investigation and Junk Science

Why you could find yourself a criminal suspect or civilly liable if you’re involved with a fire.

by Nick Markowitz, Jr.

Everyday there are people who are charged with arson when a fire has taken place in their home or place of business.  How many times charges are warranted is a subject being hotly debated in the fire community today.

The problem is a general lack of training for some investigators. There's even an on going debate among trained investigators as to the cause of these fires. All of this has unfortunately lead to people being arrested and eventually convicted of arson. Many are found civilly liable for causing a fire that they may not have had anything to do with. In one case a Texas man may have even been executed for the crime of arson when he may not have done it.

Now you say to yourself, “WOW! How can this happen in a modern world with DNA and advanced investigative techniques?” Well, it does, and it happens easier than you think. The worst part is trying to right a wrong in court after you've been convicted. It can take decades to be exonerated.

At any one time in this country there are various innocence-type organizations that are fighting for wrongly-convicted people. This includes not only rapists and murderers, but arsonists, too. There are excellent organizations like the IAAI (International Association of Arson Investigators) that provides standards for the training and certification of fire investigators. This includes the prestigious CFI certification. While it is not mandatory in some states to have this or any other type of certification in order to investigate fires, many states, including my own, does not even require that you be certified as  private investigator.

While fire investigators are required to follow the Guidelines of NFPA 921 on fire and explosion investigations, which bases its standards on the Scientific Method, this manual is often looked at as a guide, sometimes even scoffed at. And yet many investigators don't even own a copy.

While it is true that public sector investigators, such as fire marshals, arson investigators, etc., must be certified to do their jobs under the rules of ICC (International Code Commission), in states which follow ICC Codes many don't even know they are required to carry this certification. This includes lawyers as well.

An entire case brought by a fire marshal against an individual for arson could be thrown out of court

if he is not certified by ICC. This is due to a rule generally referred to as as “Fruit of the poison tree” where if one thing is wrong, everything is wrong. Think tree fruit and roots... yet it is allowed to go on.

Then, when it comes down to the court case, it becomes a battle of the experts and who has more initials behind his or her name as well as bravado.

Even learned experts disagree. And when you're a little guy trying to claim something happened a certain way, you can forget it. Since you are an unimportant person, you are nothing even if you are right. Because 921 or an expert says it happened this way and this way only, it's over before it begins.

A General Lack of Open Minds

There are very few open minds in learned professionals because the science tells them otherwise.

Experts as I have found do not want to listen to technical people like myself who are out in the field everyday. I have 30+ years as an electrician, a troubleshooting electrician at that. In addition I also have heavy electronics experience and I often see and observe things before they entirely burn up completely  whereas experts in many cases only know what happened afterwards.

When they investigate a claim they do not have the day-to-day dealings that a troubleshooter or someone of a lower caliber in their opinion has. So they take it off to the lab and if it can not be duplicated, then it could not have happened that way--period.

As anyone of a low caliber, as I have been called in court and fire  blogs, can tell you, when you work in the field and see something that can not be 100% duplicated in the lab, it needs recorded as it is happening in the field. This is what I have been trying to introduce into fire investigation, that sometimes statistics and instruments are not enough. Sometimes they are not accurate because of who is doing the work.

In actuality, only a relatively small percentage of fires are ever investigated. Many times if a fire is small enough, no one ever comes to investigate. The home or building owner, knowing they have a deductible, just handles it and that's the end of the story. Sometimes that damage is negligible or it's easily explained and so it's determined that an investigation is not warranted. But yet because so many of these so-called small change fires are not investigated, patterns and trends can be completely missed. Even potential serial arsonists could be at work and no one knows.

The fact is, small fires can teach us big lessons, but hardly anyone looks at them--they're written up and maybe reported on the state statistical site and that's it. This is why I have, for several years now, worked with and submitted new and different findings to investigators, engineers, and CPSC agents when I go to do my job as a troubleshooter.

Using the Scientific method along with Forensic Techniques, I carefully and thoroughly document a situation, Where I can carefully remove a burned up item I do so and I provide it to others who might be interested in examining it. How many times I have brought in a burned up electrical items and you hear an expert say, “Well, that shouldn’t have happened.”   Well, it did happen and we need to carefully document it and add hat we learn to the collective storehouse of knowledge.

I have found working as an electrician and/or fire photographer that the story I get when I go and repair something and the story an investigator gets is often two different things. When I have been at fires taking photos and I afterwords hand the disc to the fire marshal at his office the next morning and I compare notes with him, the story I get as to what someone saw and what the fire marshal was told is often times totally different. When people talk to me, they’re talking to Nick the photographer, not Nick the official who they may or may not be in trouble with.

I see this all the time as a troubleshooter. People are careful when they talk to an investigator about fires and accidents because they feel they may be blamed and their insurance will not cover it.

Case in Point

A typical matter is the one I had earlier in the spring at a customers fabricating business. The client has several 5-ton, overhead cranes they use in the facility. A couple times now I have had to go down and reset the overload system. Well this time the crane stopped for good. The owner, someone official in people’s eyes who can get them fired, walks in and wants to know whatin the sam hill caused the crane to stop working. The workers tell him, “Well boss, the cranes are old and cranky and probably just died from old age.” 

When I walk in and start working on the cranes and ask questions as Nick the electrician—a working guy just like them--I get the real story. The shop foreman mentioned to me that one of the new guys used the crane to pull a piece of steel out of the rack. I asked him whether anyone told him not to do that and the reply I got was, “No, I was not here when it took place.” I walked over to the employee and explained to him what I found, that the crane motor control blew up from abuse, not old age. I also told him that someone should have used the tow motor instead of the crane to do what they did. He told me that no one showed him how to use one and he was too embarrassed to admit it.

Well that afternoon The foreman had everyone qualify for there tow motor license and things were smoothed out because the new guy did not feel like he was being singled out for training. The boss also was happy because the problem was solved and he did not have to fire anyone as the workers handled it internally. He figured all along they where lying to him but he likes them and their good workers. So as you can see there are often two different story's and this is especially true when horseplay on a job site is involved. When this occurs, things can go very bad, very quickly.

Reflecting on Lessons Learned

My dad, a retired electrician/steel worker, and. one of his buddies from where they retired stopped by my home one day. We talked about a bad accident at a plant down river from us. His friend told us a story about something that had taken place down at the Coke Facility where he worked.

As a joke on the boss’ birthday, they took a prophylactic and blew it up to a huge size with flammable Coke Gas  and then they placed it under his office, which was couple feet off the ground on stilts. They then took a long stick with a hot poker on the end and set the prophylactic off. It naturally shook his office and when he came out all mad and ready to fire everyone, they had this huge birthday cake setup for him. It was then that he realized they where just playing a game with him.

Now lets face it, had this joke gone terribly bad, do you think any of these grown men when questioned by OSHA or a fire investigator would ever admit to what had actually taken place?  It’s for sure there would not be a trace of a prophylactic.

The fact is, poor training is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many fire investigators out there using testimony and methods which have been proven as junk science. Like spaling concrete or gator-looking marks on wood are a sure sign of a poured accelerant. But courts except it. Why? Because attorneys do not know to challenge it with a Daubert hearing to prove the theory. Once something is excepted in court, that’s it for ever. It becomes allowable testimony for a long time unless it happens to be challenged.

This is what got the gentleman in Texas executed, and now, after numerous court reviews, it has brought a rebuke of the courts for allowing bad investigation methods to be used as fact. Well, you can see what the issues are and why cases both criminal and civil can go bad.

Once I was accused of stealing from a school where I worked. Now, the detective should have done his job and found out that I am an Eagle Scout and a general stand-up kind of guy. Instead, he was a hard guy detective who was bound and determined to try and convict me for something I did not do--all because he didn’t like my answers. He  ended up tying up valuable taxpayer money, he got egg on his face, and the real criminal, a temporary cleaner, was finally caught and fired--after three months of stealing things.

Conclusion

Unfortunately too many investigators get it in their minds “this is how something went down” and “this is how it has to be.” They refuse to take two seconds to sit back and say to themselves, “Well, maybe the guy is right after all.”

Luckily the bell has gone off and some have now taken a second look. Some of them have learned that things where wrong with what they thought and they consequently stop cases in progress. Sadly, others. Continue to follow blindly and do whatever they do badly.

Everyday in this world new and completely different results are found. But when it comes to the fire investigation community, unfortunately, if you have a new look at something, it’s like the Spanish Inquisition or the questioning of Galileo concerning whether the Earth is actually flat. Now, I am sure we’ll hear from a few of these learned professionals on the subject.

This is my blog, so speak and make your point and let the readers decide. Who is believable--the guy with 30 + years to the grind stone or a “learned opinion”?

Home Sprinkler Advocate Voices Opposite Opinion

My piece on home sprinklers, published on 15 May, caused a bit of a stir among those who endorse the mandatory use of sprinklers in the home. A fire marshal based in Oregon wrote me a note and I'd like to feature it here at this time. Be sure to read my reply at the end.

--Nick Markowitz

---- by Eric T. McMullen ----
Monday, May 24, 2010, 11:05 AM

Mr. Markowitz,

I was reading your Blog titled “Things they do not tell you about home fire sprinkler systems” http://nickmarkowitz.blogspot.com/2010/04/things-they-do-not-tell-you-about-home.html and felt compelled to contact you to challenge some of your assertions about fire sprinklers. My computer system at work does not allow me to post a comment directly to your blog, so I thought I’d send you an email.

I will attempt to address your comments in the order you made them;

You mentioned needed a “good” city water pressure, and while good may be a relative term, a residential fire sprinkler system can be designed for pressures as low as 7 psi. I don’t know of many, if any, municipal water supplies that can’t provided 7 psi.

Your point about connection to the water main is valid in many areas. In Oregon, multipurpose systems are allowed to be connected directly to the potable water system. In the case of multipurpose systems, there are no stagnant water issues and no backflow preventer or vacuum breaker requirements. The additional cost of systems development charges and standby fees is a problem, we are attempting to alleviate this problem in Oregon through legislation that will prevent the additional charges and fees on fire sprinkler systems in one- and two-family dwellings.

Your comments about homeowners insurance are just flat wrong and have been for some time now. Many years ago, there were some insurance companies that actually charged more when fire sprinklers were installed, but that Neanderthal way of thinking has long since passed. Every major insurance carrier in the Oregon currently offers discounts for fire sprinklers in one- and two-family dwellings. Insurance companies came to the realization that the amount of damage done by fire sprinkler systems pales in comparison to the damage done by fire, smoke and heat. Scottsdale, AZ has had a fire sprinkler ordinance in place since 1986 and their data indicates losses dues to fire in sprinklered homes averaged $1,945 compared to $17,067 in non-sprinklered homes.

Your estimates on using a well as a water source are quite a bit high, Talco offers a pump and tank package for NFPA 13D systems at a cost of $2,200. The size of the home will not double or triple the cost of the pump and tank, it may increase the size of the tank by 40 or 50 gallons, but that won’t increase the cost much. In many cases, if the well has the capacity, the system can be designed to use the well pump to supply the fire sprinklers and the well casing and recovery rate to satisfy the stored water requirements. I can design a system with flow demands as low as 16 gpm at 7 psi, which many wells can supply.

As far as cold weather and freeze mitigation goes, dry and antifreeze systems are not practical for one- and two-family dwellings for many of the reasons you state, however the standard does allow them. There are practical approaches outlined in the standard to deal with freeze problems in wet systems. While the insulation can be moved, one can make the same case for any water pipes in your home. A fire sprinkler system, installed correctly, has no higher chance of freezing than any other domestic water pipe.

With regard to maintenance, there are practically no maintenance requirements for NFPA 13D systems, and certainly no mandate in the standard to pay a fee or have a third-party inspector do an annual service on the system. Multipurpose systems that are connected to the potable water system need the same maintenance as the other water pipes in your home, which for most folks, is none.

Accidental discharge of a fire sprinkler head is around 1 in 16 million and accidental leaks of the piping are no more common than potable water piping. The story you relayed about the accidental discharge due to a microwave oven is highly suspect. The lowest temperature sprinkler head is 135 degrees Fahrenheit and I find it very hard to believe that kind of heat could escape from a microwave and make it to the ceiling level without dissipating, unless the contents inside the microwave were actually on fire. If you can provide me the actual fire report showing otherwise, I will stand corrected.

Yes, residential sprinkler heads have been recalled, so have coffee makers, laptop batteries, Toyota vehicles…….product issue arise from time to time, it doesn’t mean we abandon a sensible idea because of one recall.

The fire service has never advocated for fire sprinklers only, we have always educated people on the need for both smoke alarms and fire sprinklers as a package together, your chance of survival with both rises exponentially.

In closing, I must say that I am surprised that your blog professes to be about fire and electrical safety, yet you attempt to derail one of the most effective tools we have to guard against dying in a fire in our homes. I have to wonder if, as a master electrician, you feel the same way about GFCIs or Arc Fault protection in our homes?

Regards, Eric T. McMullen

Assistant Chief ~ Fire Marshal
McMinnville Fire Department
McMinnville, OR

---- And my reply ----

Date: Monday, May 24, 2010, 8:21 PM

Thanks for the comments.

Working [water] pressures here in my community are very low where on the tops of hills and people who have opted for systems have had to install tanks per the sprinkler installers. Maybe the installers are wrong or just selling more than needed. Part of the problem is you must be a licensed master plumber to install them in Allegheny County. That's why the [high] cost. This is also a big union area, again [it's] why the costs are so high.

The insurance thing is for real here. [I] had a customer install sprinklers 3 years ago and his premiums went up when he notified his carrier he installed them. Maybe in your part of [the] country, since you have codes in place, they behave themselves, but not here, yet. Maybe once it is state wide they will level out.

As far as microwave going off and causing the damage, I have the pictures. Remember again this was in college housing.

As far as leaks, 6 - 10 residential systems I know customers have in their homes have leaked or frozen up. It is the nature of the weather cycle around here. We're up [and] down all winter and it affects things in ways you would not believe, unless you saw it with your own eyes. We can be 3 degree in morning and 38 by lunch, then back down to zero overnight.

[Regarding] installation issues, I am constantly responding to sprinkler system issues both commercial and residential, even in the summer. I just had a big fight with Penn Hills, Pa fire depts who refused to properly respond to a sprinkler call [where] $10,000 in damage happened.

Some areas over pressure is also a big problem. Just try and find an emergency restoration clean up crew or even a sprinkler crew available here during the winter when temps drop down below zero. I have had to wait 2-3 weeks to get [a] sprinkler company rep on site because of all the damage.

You should talk to Jack Mason, CFI Fire Marshal For Penn Hills and hear all his worries over this.

I have responded to 3 systems so far this year, commercial, where single heads went off for no reason at all.

I am not derailing sprinklers, I am just stating what I know can and does go wrong with them. If we are going to promote things, let's give both sides of the issue. All I hear from sprinkler advocates are rose colored glasses. What kind of backlash do you think is going to happen around here after the sprinklers are in and start popping because of installation issues. People are going to shut them off and ignore them just like the smoke detectors they take the battery's out of because they always false.

Take Anti-lock brakes, [the] greatest thing to come out, however they have killed hundreds who did not use them right, [those who] lifted their foot off [the] pedal when they applied them because they thought something was wrong.

I am glad things are working out over there in Oregon, but your dealing with issues there which are different here. I am not saying "do not put them in," but I am saying, "let's think things through before we mandate something that's going to come back and get us."

When the first person dies in a home with a sprinkler system because we have not explained exactly why and how something works, start expecting lawsuits and TV investigations.

-30-

Things they do not tell you about home fire sprinkler systems

The dirty little secrets the sprinkler
industry does not want to talk about--the
down side to residential fire protection sprinklers.

By Nick Markowitz Jr.

Ok, we have all heard the hype about just how effective sprinkler systems are in stopping dangerous Residential Fires and why they are needed in new home construction because of how light-weight the construction is0--and yes, this is all true. Sprinklers are one of the best ways to protect your family and loved ones, but they come with a lot of conditions that no one wants to talk about. So let's take a good look at sprinklers, things that can go wrong, and the true cost of implementation.

First problem is the water supply. Where you have good city water pressure you can do a house for around $2500.00, even less if you use standard PVC pipe instead of fire rated  PVC, like Blaze Master. But this is where the problem begins.

Are you going to be allowed to take the sprinkler water off the house water main or will you have to put in a separate water main at the commercial water rate  at an install cost of $5000.00? Also, will you have to install a special back flow preventer at $500.00, which requires annual inspections of $65.00, or perhaps a standard vacuum breaker at $20.00?

What about if you're not home and the system starts to discharge by accident? Will neighbors hear the bell or horn and call 911? Or will you need to have it monitored at $30.00 a month plus $1500.00 for the fire alarm monitoring panel.

Also, what about your homeowners insurance. Will it go down because you're making things safer? Nope! In fact, people who have installed sprinklers voluntarily in their homes have seen insurance rates double or more because of the potential for water damage!

But what if you do not have good water pressure, or let's say you have a well. All I can say is "Get ready to shell out another $5000.00!" This $5K will buy you a pressurized water tank in the ground. And if you have a really big home, the price can be double or even triple that!

We're just getting started here folks.

How about the cold winters some of us experience across the country. There are several ways to deal with this issue and each one has its good and bad points, just as we've found with commercial building sprinkler systems.

One system is known as a dry system where the pipes are filled with air, which holds a valve closed until a sprinkler head activates. When this occurs, the air leaves the piping which allows water to flow through the pipes. A small oil-less compressor is required to keep pressure constant in a dry-type system. This is because of the expansion and contraction of the pipes. You also need to keep the drip drum at the end of the piping emptied of condensate to prevent the drum from freezing and blowing off.

As we have found in commercial buildings, these compressors lose power, drums do not get emptied, and the first hard freeze sends water everywhere. While dry systems work excellently when maintained properly, when they're not, they can cause a good bit of misery.

Then there is the option to add additional insulation in and around pipes to prevent freezing, and though this also works, any movement of the insulation by repair people, kids in the attic, etc., can leave the pipes vulnerable if not properly replaced. Again this works well but maintenance is the key.

Still another option is to use special antifreeze in the pipes. This works well but as they found out in one California residential community where a sprinkler company mixed its own antifreeze, it came out of the pipes during a kitchen fire and when it mixed with the hot cooking oil it exploded. This resulted in the death of a middle aged woman, which brings us to another subject. The sprinkler Industry says "There has never been a multiple fatality in a fully-sprinkled structure where a sprinkler system has been properly installed and maintained."

Well, guess what. Properly maintained means another fee... so expect to pay $150.00 annually for a sprinkler system test and hope you get a company that will actually do a proper test. For that matter, hope you get a contractor who properly installs your sprinkler system in the first place because overnight every Tom, Dick, and Harry will suddenly be in the sprinkler business.

Then, of course, what about when the sprinkler head does go off. Proponents of home sprinkler systems claim it will not be like the ones you see in movies... but they're not telling the whole truth either. Although residential heads are slower than commercial grade, they still put out a considerable amount of water.

I can personally attest to this where a Class R-13 residential sprinkler system was installed in college housing in California Pa., where there was not even a fire. All it was that triggered the incident was a blast of heat from a microwave oven when a student heated food wrong. A single sprinkler head destroyed the kitchen where all the drywall needed replaced. In addition, water leaked through to the room under it, destroying a ceiling. The total bill for this was approximately $8,000.00.

And yes, a sprinkler head and sprinkler piping can and will leak if pressure in the piping is accidentally increased by a faulty pressure regulator. This can also happen due to age as these systems deteriorate. It happens in commercial systems so why would it not in residential?

There has even been a massive sprinkler head recall by several manufacturers because of sprinkler heads that did not trip when there was a fire... and yes you can get false sprinkler alarms when pressure in piping changes. It happens in commercial buildings any time there's a major water break near by and water is turned back on later.

Something to also consider is why just not shut the system off after every one inspects and leaves? Yes you could do this but then again will the insurance company still be required to pay your claim because you shut the system off?
Also keep this in mind, when the first sprinkler systems where installed, it was done for property protection, not for human safety.

Sprinkler systems are by no means the 100% perfect answer. You could well have a properly maintained sprinkler system and still die in a fire in your home from smoke inhalation if the fire develops in the same room where you are located. A classic example would be a person who smokes in bed. A fire which starts in a bed will set off the sprinklers, but well after flames and or smoke have killed you. This is why it is important to still have and use smoke detectors.

So as you can see, all the hype about sprinklers you're hearing does not tell the downside. Over the next few years, you and the community you live in will have to deal with the politics associated with today's huge push for sprinklers in the home.

What have we really learned about fire prevention?

"Heads must roll for this travesty unbelievable it was allowed to happen. " Fire prevention in the year 2010 Have we really learned anything? The above statement was not made in 2010. In fact it wasn't even made this century. The year was 1903 and people were infuriated over the 602 deaths of men, women, and children in a fire that occurred at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago Illinois. With 602 dead there was not one red penny given in compensation. Numerous fire and building officials were on the take and fire-proof features that were boasted about when the theater was built were never really implemented or completed allowing for the huge death toll. Worse yet, not a single official spent one minute of time in jail for the incident. This Could Just as Easily Happen Today It was only a decade ago when 101 people died in the tragic Station Night Club Fire in Rhode Island. Since 2000, this same type of fire has killed hundreds more in clubs around the world where pyrotechnic displays started fires. So have we really learned anything? Apparently not. We continue to construct homes and buildings using such light weight material that sprinklers are required. Fine and dandy, but that's assuming the system is properly working and maintained. As we have found out, this is not always the case. In fact, a sprinkler system was responsible for taking a woman's life after it caused an explosion due to improper installation. We have not learned in Pennsylvania either. When PA's new UCC building code went into effect in 2003, it opened the door to legal consumer-grade fireworks to be sold everywhere and they are being sold everywhere, around memorial day and July 4th especially. The number of accidental fires and injuries from fireworks has quadrupled since that time. Is there any doubt that sometimes we're our own worst enemy here in PA? Fires During Severe Winter Weather With the terrible winter we just experienced, as many as 25 individual structure fires took place everyday in western PA, from December 1st through late February. Many of them were due to improper use of space heaters and overloaded and faulty wiring, not counting how many people died from CO poisoning. How about New York City? Look at all the fire and building officials found on the take in 2009 who were responsible for allowing cranes to collapse. Again, have we gotten anywhere? Have we really learned anything? The answer to that is no, and the very words which were shouted in anger in 1903 will be heard again sometime this decade. Why call it human nature because as long as there is someone willing to put someone else at risk, and as long as people refuse to educate themselves, the cycle will never be broken.

When Fire Service instructors Give bad advice

When Fire Service Instructors get it wrong, Firefighters will become their own victims by Nick Markowitz Jr. Having been an active firefighter I attended many different classes over the years to hone my skills. Too many times certified Pennsylvania fire service instructors have given bad and dangerous information. Many have also omitted necessary information to firefighters. These men and women should have known better than to make certain statements during training sessions. Take a friend of mine who recently took several courses on rope rescue and additional high plus angle and tower rescue courses. He told me he was now qualified to climb towers and asked me to use his new climbing rig on my 2- 185 ft. directional radio towers I maintain for WAVL Praise, 910 KHz on the AM dial, located in Apollo Pa. I agreed as there had been a bad wind storm and appreciated the inspection. Upon getting to the site and discussing the mandatory safety and lockout briefing before he started climbing, he asked me where on the tower to avoid high energy radio frequency (RF) fields. Looking at him, I ask what antennas, this is an AM broadcast facility. The entire tower is the antenna as the entire structure is hot with RF power feeding at 5,000 Watts. That's 10 Amps of electrical power going through it. If you step over and touch it, you will get a powerful zap as it knocks you to the ground. His eyes went wild with amazement, then he said that the tower instructor never told us this could happen. Well at this point I had to go through the whole lesson in how AM is broadcast and describe the different types of setups on them including towers which switch power levels and directional arrays. We covered how signals are sent, in what pattern, and I explained Duplex AM towers where two AM radio stations run through the same tower structure. We have two such arrangements here in Pittsburgh: 1550 AM and 770AM. Both run on a single stick set up in the Braddock area. We also have 1320 and 1360 on a directional in the Swisshelm section of Pittsburgh. So then we also had to go through the various precautions you must take before even grabbing onto and starting up an AM Tower. This includes making sure that power to the transmitter is totally turned off. When contract tower climbers come to the site to change beacon bulbs they want them off totally. The power must be locked out so no timer etc can start the transmitter by accident. We followed all the protocols and he was able to inspect the towers for me. Luckily no visible damage was found, but then I have to wonder who is teaching this class. Is this individual a professional tower climber that knows about these radio broadcasting towers, or is this someone who only works on a particular type of tower or someone who works on them for a cellular carrier. Obviously I made a phone call to local fire academy and of course no one ever answered my questions on this course. I have since made the Pennsylvania State Fire Commissioner aware of this incident. Then take the incident where I am sitting in class and the topic is Sprinkler Fire Suppression Systems. The Instructor makes the erroneous statement that stand pipe connections for Fire hoses are a separate piping system from the building's sprinkler system. As a matter of fact, they are not. The 2 ½ inch hose fittings on each floor level that firefighters tap into in order to fight fires are on the same piping system as the sprinklers. If firefighters are not properly told this they could easily over pressure the FDC or Fire Department Connection on the outside of a building and blow the sprinkler pipes apart when providing an assist from a fire engine pump because they think they're supplying just the stand pipes. There are dry stand pipes, but these are found mostly in non sprinkled buildings. Then this same instructor, when it came to safety around electrical items in a building, made the very dangerous statement that all electrical capacitor banks have shorting bars which safely discharge them. Wrong again! Many, but not all, capacitor banks have resistors which slowly discharge the power to the bank after power is turned off, but it takes 15 to 20 minutes, and personally, I do not touch them until one hour has passed as an added precaution. I do this just in case something goes wrong inside. Then I attended an Elevator Rescue Course where the instructor never worked in the elevator industry, and again bad information was being given out and OSHA rules and regulations where not being followed. When I brought up about OSHA regulations, you get this entire lie from instructors that fire departments are exempt from OSHA as Pennsylvania is an EPA-enforced State. Wrong again! It is OSHA that comes in and enforces laws. In fact, the Charleston, S.C., fire department was cited by OSHA after several firefighters died in a furniture warehouse fire, and they're an EPA state. Now the worst part of these instructors giving bad information is one of them now actually was promoted to be the director at one of the Fire Academys. So now any questions or concerns go into file 13--the circular trash can. As the saying goes here in Pennsylvania for the fire service, "Everyone goes home." However, this is not going to be the case as more than one may not because of fire service instructors that give out bad advice.