1. Grunnet reported examples of PVC wire insulation in very small fires (less than 0O5 kg of material degraded) resulting in the admission to hospital of 15 firefighters.' An analysis of the fire effluents in a chemical fire in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1985 with burning PVC found benzene, methane, acetylene, and other organic compounds.'9 These findings agree with those obtained in several long known investigations of the pyrolysis of plastics under laboratory test conditions.82021;and, Einhorn
2. In another tragic and widely discussed fire disaster-the holocaust of the Cocoanut Grove night club in Boston in 1942-fire and fire effluents killed 491 people for the most part at the scene. Of the 114 seriously injured and taken to hospitals 75 were either dead on arrival or died of anoxia within minutes.3 ~6 Of the remaining 39 only three were entirely without respiratory symptoms.39 Most ofthe survivors "were suffering primarily from some pulmonary complication, the nature of which was not clear."34 According to Easton "it is' suspected that some individuals were affected by nitrogen oxide fumes derived from the pyroxylin content of about 44 pounds [20 kg] of artificial leather used as decorative material.""3916
3. Watt JM Jr. Phlogiston. Fire Technologv 1989;25:1-2.
4. The growth of fire science. Fire Sas'eN, Journal 1980/81; 3;Emmons, H.W.;Fire Prez; The Popplewell enquiry,1985
5. Summary of the National Bureau of Standards' analysis of the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire;Snell, J.E.; Nelson, H.E.;Fire and Materials,1988