The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "fire prevention" ...
-
What's Wrong with the Hydrant?
In the investigation, it was revealed that “hundreds of fire hydrants” were not meeting minimum standards for water flow. This prevents firefighters from adequately fighting a fire and requires more time to extinguish a fire. Further, the investigation revealed a number of problems including a water system “looking like clogged arteries, firefighters struggling in aging rural communities”, and lower costs were more important than finding a solution.
Tags: fire chief; fire department; safety; housing; US Fire Administration; water supply; fire victim
-
Fatal Care
“At least 22 children died from 2004 to 2008 despite clear warning signs from the Bureau of Child Welfare they were at risk”. A number of reasons were to blame for the deaths of these innocent children. The reasons include: workers making these “fatal mistakes” were reassigned instead of being fired, the parents mistreating their children were never punished, and secrecy in the Bureau persisted.
Tags: Milwaukee; county; kids; preventable; social service; social workers; turmoil; caseworkers; guardians
-
Nonprofit groups and Legal Action say Fire Department money is up in smoke
The Milwaukee Street Beacon uncovered thathundreds of thousands of Community Development Block Grant dollars went to play Milwaukee Fire Department staffers, instead of to neighborhood organizations.
Tags: HUD; Housing and Urban Development; Community Development Block Grants; Fire Fighters Out Creating Urban Safety; FOCUS; fire detectors; fire prevention; Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation; NICD; Merrill Park NEighborhood Association; Legal Action; Community Parole Watch
-
Alarming Absence
The authors investigated reports that inspectors with the Columbus Fire prevention Bureau had missed or falsified dozens of fire inspections. The inspectors were supposed to make sure new or renovated buildings were safe for the public to occupy. There were missed inspections, allegations of intoxication on the job, and overtime fraud.
Tags: Fire; building inspectors; Columbus Fire Prevention Bureau; Ned Pettis; Ohio Public Records Law; overtime fraud; public safety
-
Deadly Decisions
The series of stories were related to the death of civilian Army firefighter Kerry Neis, who was employed at Fort Rucker, Ala. He he was killed on Dec. 4, 2002 by a runaway fire truck during a training exercise. Army officials were aware of past problems with this model of fire truck driving away unmanned and also of a safety kit designed to prevent driveaways from happening. The safety kit was not a mandatory fix until after Neis was killed.
-
As blazes get fewer, firefighters take on new emergency roles
The National Fire Prevention Association was set to make a recommendation that could prompt fire departments to hire 30,000 more firemen nationwide, and 11 percent increase. Robert Johnson followed Mike Conroy, a firefighter in Kansas City, Mo., to see what a day in the life of today's firefighters is like. He found that the position has changed markedly over the past decades.
Tags: firefighters; firemen; fire; health; regulations
-
Dangerous roofs
ABC15 reports that "firefighters in Phoenix and across America are dying in accidents that could be prevented." The story reveals that truss -- an inexpensive, cheaply prefabricated element, commonly used in home construction -- tends to cause roofs to collapse when on fire. As firefighters get on roofs to vent a fire, they often fall through and die. This has forced fire departments to change firefighting tactics, which however, leads to "higher property damage and possible loss of life."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; insurance; safety; homeowners; building codes; fires; homebuilders; lobbyists; National Homebuilding Association; National Fire Protection Association
-
No Longer a Burning Issue
As fire prevention dramatically reduces the number of blazes, the nature of firefighting is changing. Despite a one-third increase in the city's population, the number of structure fires has declined from 8,557 in 1979 to 3,406 in 1997.
Tags: structure fires; safety; fire prevention; firefighters; prevention; Fire Department; Los Angeles; California
-
Slacker fire inspectors
The Times-Union reports that Jacksonville fire inspectors have spent almost two-thirds of their time shopping, running errands and going home in the early afternoons. The findings are documented with photographs of inspectors goofing off in the middle of the day. The city fire prevention department has left some buildings and businesses not inspected for up to 10 years, making the excuse that there are not enough employees. Other findings include that the fire marshal's office did not try to correct hazards it knew about, that a downtown hotel burned three times because it did not comply with the minimum fire prevention standards, and that the department's records and work logs were false and grossly incomplete.
Tags: city government; public safety; fire prevention; building code violations
-
Observations Under Fire
A Dispatch/Sunday News investigation reveals "how York City was using its postal permit to help distribute a newsletter that contained political advertising as well as city sponsored news." The story exposes campaign-finance ties between the publisher of the newsletter, called Observations, and city officials. The series' last part reports on the closing of the newsletter, as the Postal Service intervened to prevent the city from using its bulk-mail postal permit to send out political advertising.
Tags: FOIA; city council members; contributions; municipal finance