June 30, 2003 Hello! "'We've had these parties--everyone's
got a porch,' Zycinski said. 'You wouldn't think twice about, "Is
this porch safe?" You think that everything's safe. You wouldn't
even question the number of people on a porch.... 'Every summer, porches
collapse due to large parties and gatherings held on unstable porch
systems,' Commissioner Norma Reyes wrote in her May 25 advisory. The
latest collapse of a third-floor porch early Sunday was believed the
deadliest in Chicago history, prompting Reyes to call for a fresh
look at building codes.... Witnesses estimated a total of 60 to 100
people were on the second and third levels of the structure when it
collapsed--pancaking into a basement level." Partygoers were out on the
porch for various reasons. Some may have wanted a refill from the
keg, others may have been looking for fresh air and the chance to
escape a crowded apartment. Whatever it was, they didn't think that
standing on a porch would be what one might consider "a risky
behavior." With that in mind, "Ald.
Bernard Stone (50th), chairman of the Building Committee, said the
fault may simply lie with the partygoers. 'The rear stairs are for
ingress and egress and not meant to be a dance floor,' Stone said.
'I don't want to sound callous when you have 12 people dead and so
many people injured, but they are sort of the victims of their own
folly.'" But who gets hurt standing
on a porch? "Nobody would have thought about the porch collapsing.
Nobody ever does.... We are told there were too many people on the
porch that collapsed early Sunday, maybe 50 or more. That seems pretty
obvious. But how many is too many? 25? 50? 75? How are you supposed
to know? I'm an advocate of people using common sense, but structural
engineering is a pretty tall order for common sense." Not everyone dismissed the
idea of risk. Some in attendance at the party "were alarmed enough
to leave the party about 12:25 a.m. and went across the street to
the Burwood Tap tavern, she said. A few minutes later, someone ran
in to tell them what had happened." They didn't go home. They
didn't end their night out with friends. They just moved away from
what they observed to be a potentially dangerous situation. It appears
that they got out just in time. Four months ago there was
another disaster. "Initially, people stood
and watched the fire or casually made their way toward exits. Then
panic broke out, according to videographer Brian Butler, who was taping
the rock concert for a story on nightclub safety.... Hall said all
of the building's four exits were functioning and that most of the
bodies have been recovered from near the building's front entrance.
The fire was 'the main contributing factor' to their deaths. 'Human
nature being what it is, they tried to go out the same way they came
in' and were trapped, Hall said. 'That was the problem.' He said the
other three exits had signs with battery-powered lights, but people
couldn't see them." How often do you take 10
to 15 seconds to decide how you would get out of a room if chaos erupted
at a party or dance? Where could you be safe before things got out
of hand? If there was a fire, where would you go? How could you avoid
the hysteria that can so easily accompany large crowds suddenly having
to deal with a crisis--or just an unexpected event? It's almost 4th of July.
Should people avoid having fun with large crowds or at parties? Not
at all! Should people be aware of their physical and social surroundings?
Absolutely! "Holding aloft his left
hand, swaddled in thick bandages, Patrick Knotts sent a warning out
to anyone who might try to make their own fireworks. Patrick Knotts,
15, gets a hug from his mother, LaBette Barber. He lost two fingers
and part of his thumb on his left hand when a homemade device blew
up in his hand.... 'It was a dumb thing. It was a really dumb thing,'
the 15-year-old Kingston teen said from his bed at Harborview Medical
Center yesterday. Patrick lost part of his thumb and two fingers when
his homemade contraption blew up Wednesday.... The teen isn't alone
in his suffering. At Harborview, emergency room physicians treated
at least nine patients for fireworks-related injuries, ranging from
an 11-month-old baby boy with burns to his face to a 40-year-old man
with an eye injury." Even if you don't plan to
be around large groups, it is still important to be aware of what
those around you are doing. There is the "old standby"
advice: But where is the fun in all
that. Parties and getting together with friends is all about relaxing
and letting go. No one will be there to make
every decision for you, or to police every situation in which you
might find yourself. Parents, teachers, or friends may want to. They
may even try. Question of the Week: Please email me with any ideas or suggestions. I look forward to reading what you have to say. Cindy |
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