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some fire control, but in my own opinion, you ar right — those buildings are like "bombs" and what we could have done is problematical.
Mr. Preyer. Would any sprinkler system have made a difference, like the deluge type or a standard type?
Mr, EsTEPP. The key to a system working properly and to a system doing its job is that it must be the right type of system and it must be installed i)roperly. So far as we can determine, we did not have enough heads to cover the fire loading in the vaults, and, of course, two heads had been removed by a contractor, rendering the remaining system wholly inadequate to cover any fire that might have occurred.
We had another problem in that the deluge system i^equires open sprinkler heads that would dump water immediately into the vault. Of course, these were closed heads and had to reach a temperature of 165° before they opened.
Mr. Preyer. You mentioned that the fire eventually spread to a number of vaults, I think 19, and that some of those were closed. How many of the vaults burned that had the doors closed ? If so, how did the fire spread to supposedly closed vaults ? I think the earlier fire out there in 197Y was confined to one vault. How was that one confined to one vault and this one spread to 19 ? Was this even through closed vaults ?
Mr. EsTEPP. To say that our science is so exact that I could tell you why only one vault burned in 1977 and several burned in 1978 would be like trying to predict whether Metro was going to be on time. It would be difficult to do that.
Obviously conditions would have to be repeated exactly. We have already learned that a number of vault doors were open at the time that this fire occurred.
We know that the heating and air-conditioning system was not functioning. I do not think there is a valid comparison of the film in the 1978 fire, that is, the film in the vaults in building A, as compared to the vaults in building C that burned in 1977.
We would have to say that the conditions of the two fires were exactly the same. I do not think those conditions can be exactly repeated.
You are dealing with something that literally is operating like dynamite. There are a number of actions that occurred in 1978 that were different than 1977. The building was open. There were workers inside. It was not a secure operation.
I am not sure that just the closing of those vault doors was the factor that contained the fire in 1977 as compared to 1978.
Mr. Preyer. Was the fire in 1977 in a situation of vaults that were generally like the one you described here, that is, with uninsulated doors, which were difficult to shut ?
Mr. EsTEPP. Yes. So far as I know, those three bunkers are constructed just about the same.
Mr. Preyer. After the fire 16 months earlier, did you take any steps to call to the attention of the authorities that this building was like a "bomb," and, for one thing, to familiarize yourself with the vault situation so that your firefighters would know how to deal with it? Mr. EsTEPP. I did not take over our department until 1978, so I cannot speak for events prior to that so far as our top administration is concerned.