so how was that fire started so we have
a three-year-old kid in the apartment I
mean what do kids do kids like to
explore they like to touch things I mean
I was involved in many many years in
lead paint poisoning cases what what
what happens little kids go to the wall
they see something they pick at because
they like explore so this kid in this
apartment like to turn on the stove so
he would play with the stove his mother
would smack his hand you know try to
tell him not to do it not to do it not
to do it kids are what they are you know
kids find a way to be mischievous kids
find a way to do things which is why we
put locks on stuff we lock cabinet doors
when they’re young because they can
crawl and get into them right so this
child when the mother was in the shower
was able to physically turn on the
stove as I said before there was a a
chicken on the stove in a
pot cabinets above Court
fire and the rest as we say is history
so why is it that stoves can be made
that a three-year-old is able to turn it
on shouldn’t they be made in such a
manner that a a three-year-old can’t
turn it on or or that something could
impede them their ability to turn it off
now when I got involved in that case I
researched other fires where either a
child or something else turned on the
stove and believe or not there are
several cases where houses have been
burnt to the ground because a pet was
able to turn on the stove there was one
case in Connecticut involving a dog that
was a pizza box that was left on top of
the the range of the stove and the dog
was jumping up was able to turn on the
stove by moving the valve that Eternal
the stove so at Eternal the stove you
you’re supposed to be able to push in
and
turn well going back believe it or not
to 1980 or so there were designs that
the manufacturers such as GE Whirlpool
all had and they knew about this problem
which would have made it more difficult
for a child to turn it on meaning either
they were stoves that were
prototypes where they actually the stove
mechanism turn on was behind the stove
so it wasn’t so easy to get access to it
think of a stove for a minute it’s in
front you have to reach over behind it’s
not as easy to be able to turn on that a
child couldn’t reach over or a dog
jumping up couldn’t turn it on
they knew about this problem yet they
decided for economy sake and because it
costs too much money not to manufacture
stoves in that map so even assuming that
that’s not what you want to do because
of whatever reason the Aesthetics of it
doesn’t look good there are ways to make
the stove to turn it on Harder by making
it harder to push in so when you think
about how you turn on a stove e most of
the stoves you have to push in a little
bit and then turn till you hear a click
that click opens up a valve in the stove
that lets gas in which turns on the
stove there is something called pounds
per pressure that pounds per pressure
essentially means how much force you
have to use to push that in and turn the
stove off so they have made it easier
over the years to turn on a
stove it used to be that you had to push
harder to turn on the stove people
either complained about it or there were
some times where there were complaints
involving elderly people who may not
have the strength to turn it on and
that’s why they kept making it easier
despite the fact that they knew that
being able to turn it on easier a child
a pet something else could occur to turn
on the stove so after this fire that I
just told you about the Prospect Avenue
fire and even before that there are
these like best way to describe plastic
caps that can be placed over the stove
that you have to have an extra degree of
strength in order to turn it
on as a matter of fact in New York City
because of my case it’s now required
that if a child under the age of seven
is living in the apartment you must have
these plastic C covers put over the
valves which make it a second step to
turn on the stove which would prevent a
three-year-old who probably couldn’t
figure it out because you do have to do
two steps it’s a two-step mechanism to
turn on that sto so that involved what
we call product liability law which is
essentially how is it designed could it
be designed better could it be designed
safer why didn’t the manufacturer do it
in that fashion
what were the reasons the manufacturer
didn’t do it and 98% of the time
manufacturers don’t do it because they
don’t want to spend the money on it they
don’t want to spend the money on it
because it costs too much money to do or
if they have a prototype they want to
follow the prototype to get the factory
to redo it in such a manner was going to
cost too much money and
unfortunately people die from these type
of things so these caps which as I say
are now mandated every year I get a
notification from from my landlord
saying do you have a child under the seven living in the apartment because if
you do we have to put caps over the
stove but they were also available on
the internet as an aftermarket type of
item so now they’re required again
they’re required because of the case
that I did New York City requires them I
don’t think other cities require them
but New York City definitely does and
it’s again it’s a safety factor I mean
our office is involved in so many fires
that I’m always amazed that how many
fires occur and how little is done
to actually educate the public on it if
I could get up on my high horse per a
minute so the real question that I’ve
always asked is why aren’t there
sprinklers right I mean what’s the point
of how what’s a sprinkl For The sprinkl
Senses heat right that’s what a sprinkle
does there’s a little sensor on it once
it senses the heat water comes down
could be put out you could put out a
fire and you know what 30 seconds so why
is it that we don’t have Sprinklers and
Builders and the answer is money that’s
the answer in New York City in the
1980s there was a proposal after a major
fire that occurred to put sprinklers to
retrofit buildings with
sprinklers and landlords and their Lobby
killed the bill saying it would cost
billions and billions of dollars to
retrofit all the buildings it would be
too much of a chore so instead in all
seriousness how many years now so 1980
what year is this so 60 years later how
many is 20 years I’m sorry 40 years
later people are dying and getting burnt
because landlords didn’t want to put in
sprinklers so instead they have to deal
with and their insurance companies have
to deal with fires that occur and it was
a major thing in the 1980s when when
Rudolph juliani was mayor he was
actually one of the ones that proposed
it and then he ended up not agreeing to
it because he got too much backlash from
the landlords about putting in sprink if
every building was built with a
sprinkler we wouldn’t be having a
conversation now the conversation be
over because nobody would die so again
it’s about money it’s about landlords
not wanting to do things for safety
purposes and if they
did how many lives would be saved so
we’re just involved in so many fires and
I’m always amazed that why they Cur how
they Cur and how they’re preventable and
despite me uh doing this uh with you and
other people and being interviewed on
television about
fires there’s a fire every other day in
New York
City