Document gEEyj6Vv8KOkdGV3q03GQ9Bj9

COPIED 5999 - 0009-l bo/d r j ,' , TheS ciety fth Plastics Industry, Inc. 355 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10017 (212) 573 9400 Contact: Jerry Blizin (202) 638-2800 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DECEMBER 11, 1975 PLASTICS INDUSTRY SAYS.PVC-INSULATED WIRE IS BEST AVAILABLE MATERIAL TODAY WASHINGTON --In order to give the public a better understanding of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) electric wire insulation used today in virtu ally every application from public building and home construction to auto mobile and appliance wiring, the Society of the Plastics Industry fnc. today issued the following fact sheet; Polyvinyl chloride insulation is the predominant material used for wiring worldwide today. PVC replaced older traditional insulation materials for safety reasons. These include: Durability -- PVC is less sensitive to crumbling or breakdown than OCtjpr materials used earlier. Superior insulation -- it provides better insulating properties than otjtme materials. Fire resistance -- it is harder to ignite and has slower flame spread than traditional materials. ASI 00005999 According to Ralph L. Harding, Jr,, president of SPI, traditional insulating materials frequently deteriorated as a result of age or stress, causing electrical shorts to occur. Countless home and industry electrical fires have thus been prevented by use of PVC insulation, which can retain its insulating qualities for half-a-century, Harding said. Harding noted that PVC is compounded from a mixture of hydrogen, carbon and chlorine. Thus when some outside source does ignite the material, the insulating material can release both hydrogen chloride and carbon monoxide, both of which can be hazardous to human life. However, PVC cannot burn on its own and some outside source of heat is necessary. Hydrogen chloride (HCL) is also given off by other materials such as ir- rubber or paper during combustion. While potentially lethal, IICL is the t gaseous form of the hydrochloric acid found normally in the human stomach. In gaseous form it is an irritant to the mucous membranes and prolonged inhalation of IICL can cause a fatal inflammation of the lungs. Recause all organic material will burn and hence give off noxious gases, the plastics industry has stressed safe and proper installation methods be coupled with correct operation of electrical equipment using PVC or anv other plastic or organic material. No alternate insulating materials possessing comparable qualities are known to the incj^gj.ry to date. The industry, however, is supporting fire research efforts so that the fire community can develop more knowledge of the fire characteristics of this and other plastic materials. ASI 00006000 Harding added that SPI has urged in the past and continues to say that a systems approach -- using detection, fire suppression and ventilation equipment is the best way to minimize hazards both to firefighters or civilians. - 30 - # ASI 00006001 *, txpiosion, Hre . The Wathiogtoo Star to. t75 On K Street NW Jang Ceccorelll, an insur ance specialist, said, "The light* want out. The build Etch said the gas bur victim's lungs and also a delayed reaction. ing began to shake. It kept of the difficulty comes Hospitalizes 35 on shaking. It took us quite a while to get ourselves togetftar. We heard bells and th^ft sirens, and decided to 14 hours later," he saic the past several ye Esch said, "we've had 150 injuries and one d leave," She was in a group from this stuff," Explosions and fire rocked a nearly-completed office building in downtown Washington today, send THE BUILDING, which cover* j of about 20 who made their way down the stairs in the about two-third# of the 2000 block af dark. "It was scary," she K Street up to 21st Street, occupies said. POLYVINYL CH RIDE is the same mat being used to line the ; ing At least 35 persons to hospitals wild burns and toxic smoke inhala tion. Two men, both electricians work ing in the building's basement, were the site of the old K Street Mar-. See BLAST, MU BLAST "We heard bells ring ing," said Mabel Herbert of Rockville, a secretary at the federal agency, "but I didn't know it was a fire and ceilings of Metro: new 5300,000 rapid tr cars. The National At my of Sciences re mended that the PVC t , in critical condition with severe external and internal burns. For a time there was fear that one or more bodies would be found as firemen searched the smoke-filled basement of a 10-story office build ing at 2020 K Street NW. but appar ently no one was caught in a fatal trap as was originally reported. Acrid white smoke from burning plastic electrical Insulation sent dozens of firemen and office worker# taggerlng from the building and collapsing on the sidewalk, whers reacue workers administered oxy gen. Dr.Victor Esch, surgeon for the D.C. Fire Department," said M vic tims were taken ro Washington Hospital Center, 11 to Gc-orge Wash ington University Tiosoitai, 9 to Georgetown and one to Providence. Esch said moot of the victims treated in the hospitals had inhaled toxic gases caused by the bu-ning polyvinyl chloride insulation uaed in an electrical panel. Eighteen of the victims were rushed to hospitals by ambulance, and others were token privately. THE EXPLOSION'S ar.d im-h fire started at 9:33 a.a. in an .ijotncsJ vault in the taserr er.:, -.:ccrding to^ Asst. Fire Chief 3 Lewis. The building, being bu.it tv V:? George Hymsn Co., was teeny completed, and in fact some if t::e office suites were already ocr.: ilsd. m Traffic on K Street and on Penn sylvania Avenue a short tlock to the south was blocked for hours by fire equipment. Hundreds of office work er# watched the rescue efforts from the north side of K Street. According to Chief Lewis, two men working on tno electrical vault were Continued From A-l ket and the old Third Police Precinct house. Tenants of nearby buildings were unaffected by the fire, separated by alleys to both the east and south. Though technically only a one-alarm fire, two subse quent special alarms call ing for all the department's heavy rescue equipment filled K and 21st Streets with fire trucks and hoses. One occupant of the building, William Adams Jr., a stockbroker in the third-floor office of Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, described it this way: "It sounded as though some drilling was going on. Then the lights began to flicker. The alarm went orr two or three minutes later. We got out pretty fast. We came right down the back stairs." P Adams said there were about 50 persons in his of fice. which moved into the new building five months pgo. He said there was no panic as they fled down the talacked-out stairwell, even though there was a strong smell of smoke as they ap proached the ground-floor exits. t Another Merrill Lynch employe, who asked not to alarm, because we just moved into the building in the middle of September, and we had no training." Mrs. Herbert's daughter, Susan, 21, a fellow employe, passed out from the poison ous smoke on the way out of the building. "We looked out the win dows and saw everyone outside but us." said Marjorie Ashby, of the 1000 block of 30th Street NW, a management assistant at the agency. Ashby described how the agency 'workers groped their way down the seven floors of stairs. "We could n't see anything." she said. "There were no lights in the stairwell. It was very smohv when we goUQjUif-- second floor. There were so many people in the stair well we couldn't move swiftly." Ashby said there was a certain amount of panic. "To a certain extent. 1 did panic --when I got to the second floor and didn't see anything but smoke and dian't know how far it was to'the next exit." Mrs. Herbert said the toxic fumes "caused a burning in our throats and we felt nauseated a while." At that, she said, "we were lucky; ordinarily the stairs are locked for. security rea sons but today they were n't." The source of the smoke, placed by a more resistant material, there has been no rr ment in that direction 1 ther the Metro stai board of directors. The two critically bt electricians were iden as Curtis TfTmmer of Foote Lane, Spring Va., who was in a cot GW Hospital with over 90 per cent of his and Jonn^ltucker of Paddington Lane. C ville, Va.. with s internal burps and = poisoning. Among the other v: all suffering from ; tion of the toxic f were the followin released by the hospi: Jamie Hawkins. Church; William E Alexandria; Anne Bethesda; Robert .v Fairfax City; Patr; deYoung, Washir Henry Rose, Colt Md.; Jane Cecc McLean;Ga;l Se^m. ington. Susan Hi Mabel Herbert, M Ashby, Elvira Knai nice Harrison and Chesley. The following f were treated: Wayne My vill, Lohr, Steven W Steven Sandy. U Casey.' Larry Buck ard Long. Jesse Ty: William Handley. overcome by poisonous fames from < plastic electrical installation. Lewis ; said each time the fire m the vault was extinguished, it would heat up again and explode, overcoming both ' the workers and rescuers. The victims were taken out , through an underground parking ga- | rage aad up the sta.rways to the first j -Maori - be named, said, "I'm not sure how fast people could have gotten out if ihe build-_ ing had been full or if there had been any panic." WORSE OF? than the brokerage firm employes were workers in the seventh-floor offices of the U.S. Pension Benefit Guar antee Corp., who didn't polyvinyl chloride used as electrical insulation, gives off hydrochloric acid fumes asiit burns. Even firemen wearing protective masks were overcome by the fumes, and a continuing procession of firefighters staggered out of-the build ing basement to lie on the sidewalk to be given oxy gen by ambulance attend- This story was wr; David Braaten baset parts from Star writers Charles M Timothy Hutchens, Crosby, Robert Pe Lance Gay. ASI 00006002 ASI 00006003 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 197$ i Pion# (202) 223-6000 I ifratiiiM *M-4l<h* III, f ! i * H J11. ' \ - :\ ; . ., -Aji\ - AiV... -5 ' - '-`I >k$$S - \ /: 11*: v.- .' . -.-t - -MX >\iiLXlSk- ^ir-?i,1jr ' t - _____*"- ' -JgO VAv-i'f'.v"! '/.- ' ; --' : 4. * f' `^r - rf.* ,'b .` Ah 4L, |L. *-> -^- ?Q -rv -*--* '' >; $ v 1 V. Criri '^. '' ` "' -JMZ Kjjp****' ASI 00006004 [ jsjte. v' '; - - By Boh --The Withingion Foil >ir ../jliwl L ikuooiirt Prm U'nmnn .1 Irrt is assisted from scene of explosion yesterday firemen and rescue workers carry eat seriowly injured man. right, from buildiftl nt WO K St. NW. TIIUKSilAY. DKCKMMEK II, 1*J7'1 THK WASHINGTON POST C0. _ ____ " _______ \ In BviidingMkmt My Douglas Watsoir^pd Patricia Camp Poll SuttWWUn One clccti iciim was fatally his late 2u.s and has two tnjuhhl. one crlticalKvinjureci children. and 4t lust 29 other persons, Uuclcer had been admitted including 21 District firemen, to the hnspJ.*~ivUb sevej were admitted to hospitals smokd oc gaa suffering from gas Inhalation third-degree bUiii`'U,Ss following explosions and lire cent of his body. yesterday morning in the Most of the others' basement of a new office hospitalized were reported in building at 2D2D K St. NW. satisfactory or better con The explosions, which oc dition. Some were admitted curred around 9:35 a.m. in the main electrical panel of the eight-story, largely compleied and partially occupied building, caused the emission of a ' dapgerpus gas that ac counted fur rmM of the in juries. Just lie! ore midnight, for observation as wall as treatment. The two electricians were working on the electrical panel when the explosions and fire aUrtedy/rfiriaJfrjMi&i; Both re'porteuiy' v'- ere repairing an electrical switch a t the time of tho explosion. electrician John Rucker, an An employee of the Pension emploNpr of Walter (' Doe Benefit Guaranty Corp,. a and Co,, died of sevcie Lninis firm occupying the building's at lieorgc Wiihhing'nit top three floors, said the ex Umversils Hn.'piiai Curtis plosions sounded "Uise rolling Trimmer, also a Doc and Co. thunder." Another building electrician, was reported In occupant said he thought he euttesl c ' H: i r rly this was hearing a Jackhammer. morning ,n itm- ;:i "It was like pow, pow, Rucker <> nc'tt f'cuu'rgtor pow," a fire department of I,a , Ce:..:v !:' a-> m his ficial said. nr id-uo's ; had four The other injured persons children, 'i'n. of T91P (are admitted; to three bltdell l-i , hi-ringfield, is in i-ESFLODZ.-A*. Col.l hospitals and were treated for possible exposure to hydrogen chloride, a potentially lethal chemical gas produced in many electrical fires by the melting of the plastic coating around the wires. -The wire cbatlng, made of polyvinyl chloride, decom* jdoses when temperatures reach 430 degrees Fahrenheit, emitting the dangerous gas, according to Dr. Victor Esch, District of Columbia fire department surgeon. 'Many occupants of the building were not aware of the fire for several minutes. No nearby buildings were damaged. Majorie Ashby, who works on the seventh floor, said later, "We heard a bell but we thought someone was stuck in i he elevators. We ttten heard sirens a'fid someone said, `Everybody's down there but u.'" ; - Elv^a Knepp, who also works-fin the building, said. "There were maybe 40 per sons coughing and gagging in the lobby. The lobby was completely filled with smoke and there were several firerr.en who were dropping like flies." Stephen Sandy, a D C. fireman who was admitted to Washington Hospital Center, said, "I would have been OK if I didn't have to give mouth-tomouth resuscitation I was heaving. coughing and choking. I couldn't get m> breath.'1 Deputy Fire Chief Willian <J. Stickley said that most r the 75 firemen who fought th. blaze had donned gas masks He added that many of then ran <>ut of-oxygen before the. could get back out of th building and were turccd : bnsathe the fumes. "These masks carry bet witn 15 and 30 minutes ofa. and a lot of guys extendc thilr stay in the smoke wh J th>y were searching f: victims,1' Sandy said H added. "1 had to take off mask because the man cr.e r the injured electricians' stopped breathing' ne*ded to be resuscita'.cd The fire itsefTlastea . about on hour and was c- fiid to the basement r>`r wflsre the electrical panel hossed. Firemen kept work r in the building tflroughou*. dr morning, using 8J I,.:'; 1 dissipate the gas and sme-ra' "It wasn't a trerr.er.d:.. amount of fire but it pet r_ dense smoke." Fire ! William H. Casey said took us a matter uf m.r.u'.C' . remove the two me:,. " - problem was finding them . the smoke," he said. It vvas unclear w-s vrdr what specifically causen explosions in the elcctn: panel. Police mle-: : play. A Potomac Lie.:: . .. Power Co. emcioy- e . of the sw i'ch'-w rt p r\ a.. : been broken and "a- 0 - repaired A super'- : Walter 1' D- e . : employs the two e.ecr. ., declined comment A Pepca spokesman that the idcctrtc ut* notified at J 48 a ir. .. CONTINUE;).......... ASI 00006005 -s THE WASHINGTON POST THURSDAY. UKtlKMHER 11. 1975 Explosion, I*'ire Fumes fell 31 in NW Building EXP^DE. Pram A1 ASI 00006006 <. Unidentified fireman is assists Yesterday after lea\ing ; building at 2020 K Street. NW after explosion and firf. and that one of its emergenc> crews cut off all electricity in ,the building by 10:21 a.m. by entering a nearby manhole and turning off switches to four transformers. The building has been partially occupied since July and now is about two-thirds filled. The top three floors are occupied by 230 employees of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a US, agency established under pension reform law to help protect participants in private pen sion plans. Other than the injured electricians ami firemen, most of the others hurt were employees of this agency. Another tenant is the Merrill l.ynch, Pierce. Fenner and Smith brokerage firm. The building's general contractor is the George Hyman Construe lion Co. A Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp employee said, "People didn't panic much. Nobody really thought it was a fire at first." Occupants of the building filed down darkened stairwells with the help of , matches and cigarette lighters. One woman fainted on the sidewalk outside, of ficials said i'iii' D.-.ir.et Bremen ad. Washington Hospital lV i : were Jessie M. 7y?:-.t Richard L. Long S'.epr.e: Wright, Larry Buck, Pm her A. Jacobs. Walker P car penter, Henry \i. Asha.-cr James Monahan. Jon.r. 7 Mulligan, RowrtLcn" Wyvill, R3ymo.n : 1 William E Smith. .-"eder.Cf Blalock. Sephns L> -_r. William Hane.ey Firemen a am. : Providence Ho-r John Stone, \\ ilha -- : Michael Lee and v-_ rr.e Sandy Fireman tt .7 a' Embry u.,; jdm..:t'ii : George Washirg cr. B-*: ... Other persons a dm ::e : Washington Hospital i>-tc were .Matxl A Herrer: Herbert, Cam > her, Marjorie A~h: .' _.c- Chesley,- hi'. ;ra r.r- ; n .ir. Janie Ilarr^nn A . 7< who also work' at J ,, E v NW. was admitted : > Le.rn:-. Washington Hospital Employees of the p.-n--,-.': Benefit Guaranty Corp an not expected work today but have been ..sked 'y retur: to work Friday w ,iv)umL^itjn r -[ Wplff l>'Vl y \ iv <,, i . .. i.>( i- ""v *; r- f /i tt rirtt U Ihr building m i r ftrr and notation occurred. Onr person "is k il l*tl *'dd '"'e irilii.ill} _ *:-* ys?*rzK?T?*p' * _mm m - r:a1 - '' * :l;i ,%rr-^ - j '* I* ASI 00006007 THE WASHINGTON POST THURSDAY. DECEMBER 11. 1975 i Plastic Fumes Insidious tty Martini Iloniblower ......... ' ' t'#'1 /.' U-t Hvdrogen chloride. tIk- gaj that apparently nltccU-d at least 2P firemen and civilians at an electrical explosion here yesterday. already has been responsible lor one firemen's death, DC tire officials said yesterday > The lircman. who died in 1`iTII. was one ol loti ltremcn who have lieeii exposed to the Ifias here during the last live ^ears, according to police anti .Tire clime director l)r Hubert *Diet- / The men an under rinse iili-er\nlinn Iml on lonp term etlcctv h.i\ i- Ix i'tt olisci'\ cd I ^ Hi droten clilin nlc is produced in i Iccli n ,il 111f 'll lien 111 e pi.islc co i! mg inound tin- wires, called , poli vin\ I i him nlc. dm oni * poses ll inhaled till- pas , .in ( i.iusc a pill cut 1.1 If i mini m llamniaiion ot the Iiiiius , y piilnioiiaii-tli'in.i ^ h ` I - i,M cl | .III \|`.|.-|[|.c , .iheltim iia mi line aiimillotl . i<>.oca lin-piial'lollowiiu: llii c \plic - mm ... I--,, aticcted In i .tnhalai .m, ,o IndropnHpfr * i hlmi I., - :ii i I tic s\ nip I 11 tils I In ,,a i; i ,- I ,i | mil. ? headai he- no luuidtmu are a eiMiilnr Iii,is(* o| crMcial I hi 0 o-M, , ,,, j i, (,N | n lolling C\|M||> *1,11 11 ,1 a ((| plastic i ,iiin-,- tli.ni riaIiir,ij material-* c v.af focnicii niai icmoic their oxygen mtisks Ion soon While hlaek smoke produced hy house im-s c a elear danuer. hvdmgeii ehlonde ran sonvetnues be colorless and ilm-s not always proiluee immediate irritation. I Iyer said `Most liremen are aware ol earlwin monoxide." he said "Hut they aren't aware ot hydrogen ehlonde. So when the lirr seems to be* out. they teel secure about going in and they are exposed " The effects of hydrogen chloride sometimes are not evident until 24 hours aftlr the tire The fireman who died in 1H7o. whose name was not available, did not go to the hospital for his mild irritation symptoms, but the autopsy revealed that exposure to the gas caused his death. Dyer said. The gas, said Dr. Vn tm Esch. DC. lire detriment surgeon, "ix a hazard ol the occuputioti... Wr live m a plastic world." D.f. fur ol iiciult have been concerned, he added, about ihe use ot polyvinyl chloride to enver wiring Otttc.tals at Ihe bureau ol .Standards ('enter lor lire research said it would be prematurei to ban polyvinyl chloride ""There is no in dication that we haie any safer material for wire in sulation." said toxnlogy chief Merritt Birkey. "No matter what burns in a lire, there is a potential risk We don't know if synthetic materials are more toxic than natural materials It's 'debatable whether hydrogen chloride is high nsk Birkey -said he has lieen in touch with.DC lire officials and has approved several grants to study the effects of hydrogen chloride "Out only recommendation now is that it is extremely important lor lirelighters to use their oxygen masks " IMer s.nd he hail talked la other dm tors * and lire departments about the qlfect' ol hydrogen chloride, hut had never heard ol nilier lataltlies linked to the gas 'This lalalily is po'sibh a unii|ue ease," Bit'kei 'aid He said lhai poly i mi I chloride is harder tu burn than other plastics The problem is that ollen the polyiun' tires alt1 mil nidged si-nous ei-ough loi a In ealhlllg ap paratus Then as a result at iiiIi.ilalmo llij-ie is severe I i 'pir.l[t,l \ illstl ess Mm e l han in pel i nil ol * I nise who die m tires, die o| inli.i1.1111iti lal hrt than bums, according to the Bureau ol Standards, and about at) per cent of inhalation deaths are Caused In carbon monoxide ASI 00006008 TIIK WASHINGTON ST AH limits I )AY. DECEMBER 11. I* CT> FIRE Continued From A-l "A building engineer tried to put the switch back in." Meyer continued, "but when he did. he jammed it and broke a pin. The two electricians from the Wal ter Doe Co. were trying to repair the switch while it was hot. but they should have called Pepco ahd had them disconnect the current to the building." While the two employes were working, apparently another short circuit touch ed off a series of explosions and fires about 9:30 a m., according to Asst. Chief J.W. Lewis, who directed dozens of firemen at the scene. William Embry of En gine One at 2225 M St. NW was one of the first three rescuers to reach the elec tricians lying in the vault. All of the clothes were burned off one of the men. Embry said, and the rescu ers pulled him out. While ullmg the second man out. owever, Pmb:-.. s ir.a ran out of air he >: n'f and began breathing the gas. "Unlike ether types of smoke that you inhale with out a mask, he said, "it leaves a burning sensation in the chest AFTERWARD, he said, he felt hi ' ! ,-t g< lime tight ar..! t.a,m:e faint Other re .<.!.; , la i;;ed him out. Snd he was admitted to George Washington m fair condition And so res.uer* became the rescued who emerged coughing and choking, some after never having taken off their masks. The gas is insidious enough to seep behind them In yesterday s fire. there were tremor's from the explosions, flickering of lights and confusion about what was happening among many of the 2T5 emplnves of the federal pei ;icn agency, which directs retirement funds of ccrr.p3n.es that have gone- out o' business. - Jane Ceccort lli, en insur ance special) t. said. "The lights went out The build ing began *.r v.ak . It kept on shaking, it took us quite a whi1-. to , ?t rurselves to gether Wf . ird bells and then v aj- i j..-. yj iq MURRAY GELLER, the agency's director of com munications, said, "Initial-.. ly, I guess, ws weren't sure whether it was the elevator alarm or whether it was a fire alarm or fire drill." The agency's employes, as well as those of Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith on the third floor, where about 50 people work, groped their way down darkened and smoke- filled staircases to the street. The building has been partially occupied since September. .. "It was lucky." said Mabel Herbert of Rockville, a secretary at the pension agency whose 21-year-old daughter, Susan, passed out. "Ordinarily, the stairs are locked for security rea sons. But today, they were n't." "I think they moved us into the building too soon." said one secretary. "It's still under construction." OCCUPANCY PERMITS for the building have been issued for only the third floor, according to records of the occupancy branch in the city's economic devel opment department. Ernest Pifer, the branch chief, ssid there were none on file for the federal agen cy's floors and that inspec tors would be sent out today to determine why. The hospitals lilted the following firemen *s those admitted in fair to good condition: Robert A. Jacobs, 58, of 4003 East West Highway. Chevy Chase; John fi. Stone. 37, of 6427 Silver Ridge Circle, Alexandria; Henry W. Ashauer, 40, of 4403 Independence St., Rockville; Michael J. Lee. 38. of 9319 Avenel Road. Sil ver Spring; James Mona han, 23. of 5651 Kennedy St.. Riverdale; Jesse M. Tyson, 29, of 1932 Jackson St. NE; Richard L. Long, 31. of 1512 Bright Seat Road. Land- over: William H. Coasey, 37. of 1104 Colony Ridge Road, Odenton. Md.; "Stephen Sandy, 28. of 18 Redspruce Court, Byransroad, Md.; Stephen Wright, 25, of 14417 South Ave., Oxon Hill; Larry Buck, 26, of 1937 Grovewood Drive, Richie. Md.; John Nulligan, 34, of 12419 Flack St., Wheaton; Robert Lohr. 22, of 4141 N. Henderson Road, Arling ton; Wayne Wyvill, 23, of 3900 Mitchellville Road, Bowie: William Handley, 25. of 1123 Prince Road, er Marlboro; aymond Gist, 35, of 9008 Lynnalan Drive, Oxon Hill; Walker P, Carpenter. 34, of 8509 Richmond Ave., Alex andria; William E. Smith, 25. offf 3602 55th Ave., Cheverly; Cephas S. Lewis, 31. of 721 Rittenhouse St., Hyattsviile; Frederick M. Blalock. 37, of 1209 Sim mons Drive, Rockville, and Embry. 39, of 5602 Burgandy Place. Alexandria. Others admitted were Susan Herbert. 21. of 13812 Marianna Drive, Rockville, and her mother Mabel, 55; Elvira Knepp, 55, of 307 Penwood St., Silver Spring; Joyce Chesley, 30, of 6415 Pennsylvania Ave., Suitland; Janice Harrison. 32, of 17th Street NW; Camille Nathanson, 24. of 10900 Buckncll Dr.. Silver Spring; Marjorie Ashby, 30. Of 1001 30th St. SE. and Anne Guille, 31, of 5907 Rolston Road. Bethesda. Treated and released were Gail Sevin, 29, of 2440 Virginia Ave. NW; Jane Ceccarelli. 50, of 77000 Tremeyne Place, McLean; Henry Rose, 48, of 10691 Rain Dream Hill, Colum bia; Patricia DeYoung. 33, of 2700 Virginia Ave. NW; Robert Meyers. 43, of 5023 Gainsboro Road, Fairfax; Jamie Hawkins. 35, of Falls Church; John Hirchmar.n. 33, of 154 13th St. SE, and Sharon Rosenberg, 23, of 2775 N. Washington Blvd., Arlington. Usually, the symptoms from inhaling the gas show up about 12 hours later, which is why to many peo- ^d^were being held for observation. THE BUREAU of Stand ards has commissioned Mwral authorities to deter mine alternatives to the plastic. One of them is Dr. Ives Alarie of the Universi ty of Pittsburgh, who said. "I don't know what materi al will replace it. You're not going to produce anything at won't give off danger ous smoke unless you use stainless steel." The plastic disintegrates into about 75 products when it bums, and some might give off even more toxic material than chlorine gas. "But the success of the re search is not finding what's more toxic but in finding what produces less smoke, he said ASI 00006009 The Washington Star A 5 WASHINGTON,D.C., THURSDAY,PtltMatK i.,iy/3 Fire Is Laid To Wiring Break, 39 Hurt, 1 Dead By Timothy Hutchens WiMA|Hn liir (lid Vrlltr Two electricians should have made lure the power was turned off before they tried to repair a broken switch In the downtown building where fire yesterday tent 33 people to the hospiUl, according to the District's chief electrical inspector. One of the electricians died last night as a result of injuries. The other is in critical condition at George Washington University Hospital with severe burns. They "should have never worked the switch live," said William H, Meyer, head of the electrical section of the D.C. Economic Development Department's building, housing and zoning bureau. Meyer said the electricians and their company, a Northwest Wash ington contracting firm, were competent. But he said that the two men got overconfident. "Every electrician should know better," he said, "Tuesday night there was a short circuit of some sort and the main switch opened up," Meyer said in re counting events leading up to the fire in the electrical room, reached by a narrow hallway in the basement. See FIRE. A-8 . MEANWHILE, according to city records, occupancy permits have only been issued for one of the four floors occupied at the time of the fire. The electricians are Curtis Trim mer, about 35, of the 7900 block of Foote Lane. Springfield, who burned over 90 percent of his body; and John Rucker, about 30, of the 8200 block of Paddington Lane, Centreville, who died of burns and smoke inhalation at George Washington** University Hospital about 11:45 last night. In all. 31 people, including 21 fire men. were admitted to George Washington and the Washington Hospital Center for observation and treatment. They were injured after inhaling the acrid, white chlorine gas given off by the polyvinyl chloride insula tion used for electrical wiring and panels in the new build.ng at 2020 K St. NW. Another eight peopie who work for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp,, 1 on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the eight-story budding, were treated at Georgt Washington and released. D.C. firemen take o\\gen to combat effects of fumes created by the fire. ASI 00006010