Boston Business Daily

Why is Boston/Massachusetts so paranoid about fire prevention compared to other states?

They have fire alarm boxes everywhere, all gas filling stations are outfitted with suppression systems, red strobes on building faces and seem to have fire stations all over. I've been all over the country (excluding the rest of New England) and never seen them as serious as they are around Waltham and Boston. Did something happen? Are people that paranoid?

Public Comments

1. Better safe than sorry.....
2. Boston has much old housing stock, without sprinklers and with all-wood construction. The dominant housing is triple-deckers built 80 or more years ago. The houses are close together, with all sorts of wires overhead including streetcar catenaries. All this makes for a bad fire waiting to happen. Some cities are prone to arson. And if a fire does break out in the old wiring, the trucks can have trouble getting in to safely fight the fire. Fires flash quick enough to injure residents all the time. There have also been several famous fire with loss of life. Just yesterday, there was a fire that injured seven people. Paranoia is just a heightened sense of awareness...
3. what pennylee said plus boston traffic is a nightmare and so is the layout of the streets..thats why there are firestations all over so they could get there as quickly as possible, the supression systems are there to tame the fire until the fire trucks could get there or hopefully put them out themselves...its not easy navigating a huge firetruck on busy boston streets
4. Mass. politicians love to "shake-down" businesses with all kinds of regulations, mandates and fees. Do you realize how many politicians in this state are "in the pocket" of special interest lobbyists? Do you realize just how many politicians just happen to have brothers, or sons or in-laws that just happen to own companies sell or install fire-prevention systems. Co-incidence? NOT! It just the way the system works here. Its what happens when a state is effectively a one-party (Dem) state. There are no checks and balances.
5. People are not paranoid. When something catches on fire up here the entire block or building goes up...extra crispy style.
6. Well about 5 years ago in Rhode Island a club caught on fire and about 100 people died other very badly hurt and disfigured.(About 1 1/2 outside Boston) That could be why people are scared. And Boston is an old city...
7. do a search for coconut grove fire
8. The horrendous Coconut Grove fire was the reason behind this!