U.S. State Fire Code Enforcement: Georgia – Louisiana

Georgia
Georgia State Fire Marshal
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
West Tower, Suite 620
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Phone: 404-656-2064
Fax: 404-657-6971
Web: https://www.oci.ga.gov/FireMarshal/Home.aspx

The December 7, 1946 Winecoff Hotel Fire in Atlanta, Georgia, is the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history, resulting in 119 deaths. The Georgia Safety Fire Law came into being as a direct result. The General Assembly enacted legislation relating to fire safety in public buildings and assigned the responsibility for executing the law to the Commissioner of Insurance, who was named ex-officio Safety Fire Commissioner. The law further authorized the appointment of a State Fire Marshal and the creation of the State Fire Marshal's Office.

• International Building Code®
• International Fire Code®
• NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®

Exit signs with either red or green lettering are acceptable.

• On January 11, 1820, The Great Savannah Fire destroyed about 500 buildings of Savannah, Georgia. Half the city was destroyed. Ironically, an earlier devastating fire in 1796 also destroyed about half the then, smaller, city.
• Two great fires set during the American Civil War devastated Atlanta, Georgia. Retreating Confederate Lt. General John Bell Hood, determined not to leave any usable supplies and installations for the Union, set the first on September 2, 1864. Hood had his ammunition trains (seven locomotives and 81 loaded cars) burned. The resulting explosions and fire caused massive damage. The second was November 16, 1864, when Union Major General William T. Sherman began his "March to the Sea." Before leaving Atlanta, the Union Army burned "anything of value to the Confederates." During his "March to the Sea," applying a scorched earth policy, Sherman ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, and destroy civilian infrastructure along his path.
• On May 21, the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 destroyed nearly 2,000 homes, business and churches over 300 acres. 10,000 people were made homeless. There was only one death.
• On May 16, 1938 a fire at the Terminal Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia killed 35. At the time, the fire was described as the deadliest in the history of Atlanta. Just 8 years later, on December 7, 1946, the Winecoff Hotel Fire, killing 119, would become not just the deadliest in Atlanta, but the deadliest hotel fire in American history.

Hawaii State
Fire Administrator
636 South Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: 808-723-7139

Web: http://www1.honolulu.gov/hfd/statefirecouncil.htm

Honolulu Fire Department
636 South Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-5007

Phone: 808-723-7139
Web: http://www1.honolulu.gov/hfd/

Hawaii Fire Department
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 2501
Hilo, HI 96720

Phone: 808-932-2900
Fax: 808-932-2928
Email: fire@co.hawaii.hi.us
Web: http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/fire/

Kauai Fire Department
3083 Akahi Street
Suite 101
Lihue Hawaii, 96766

Phone: 808-241-4980
Fax: 808-241-6508
Email: kfd@kauai.gov
Web: http://www.kauai.gov/fire

Maui Fire Department
200 Dairy Road
Kahului, HI 96733

Phone: 808-270-7561
Fax: 808-270-7919
Email: fire.dept@co.maui.hi.us
Web: http://www.co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?nid=1460

The state of Hawaii has no Fire Marshal, instead each of the four islands (counties) has a fire chief. Together, these fire chiefs form the State Fire Council whose primary mission is to develop a comprehensive fire service emergency management network for the protection of life, property, and the environment throughout the state.

• International Building Code®

Exit signs with red or green lettering are acceptable as long as there are "contrasting letters" on a white background.

• Two major fires in 1886 and 1900 destroyed many buildings in the Chinatown district of Honolulu, Hawaii. The April 18, 1886 fire began at a restaurant and quickly burned out of control, eventually destroying eight densely packed blocks, leaving over 7,000 homeless (mostly Chinese). Chinatown was quickly rebuilt, but building codes designed to prevent future fires were largely ignored. By 1900, bustling, overcrowded Chinatown was hit with an outbreak of Bubonic Plague. To clean contaminated areas, the Hawaii Board of Health had set controlled fires to clean and disinfect areas of plague. On January 20, 1900, a controlled fire broke containment and spread all the way to the wharf. The fire grew and burned for 17 days, destroying 38 acres and 4,000 homes (mostly Chinese and Japanese). After the disaster was brought under control, additional controlled fires were set to contain the plague. The fires had worked, but at a horrendous cost. Honolulu was plague-free.
• During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, three engine companies (Engines 1,4, and 6,) of the Honolulu Fire Department were dispatched to Hickam Air Force Base to fight the fires caused by enemy action. Two fire captains and a hoseman were killed and six other fire fighters were wounded while fighting fires at Hickam Field. These fire fighters were awarded Purple Hearts and became the only civilian fire fighters in the United States to have ever received this award.

Idaho
Idaho State Fire Marshal
700 West State Street
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0043

Phone: 208-334-4250
Fax: 208-334-4375
Web: http://www.doi.idaho.gov/sfm/firemars.aspx

The Office of the Idaho Fire Marshal is under the purview of the Department of Insurance.

• International Building Code®
• International Fire Code®

Exit signs with green lettering are recommended.

• The August 20 & 21 Great 1910 Fire (also know as the Big Blowup or The Bitterroot Mountains Holocaust) was one of the largest wildfires ever recorded in the United States. Over 3 million acres burned in northeast Washington, the "panhandle" of northern Idaho and western Montana. 86 people, including 78 who were firefighters, were killed. Several towns were completely destroyed by the fire - Falcon and Grand Forks in Idaho, De Borgia, Haugan, Henderson, Taft, and Tuscor in Montana. One-third of Wallace, Idaho burned to the ground. Special trains, crowded with refugees, ferried thousands to safety. The 1910 fire shaped the U.S. Forest Service, and set new policies for fighting wildfires.

Illinois
Office of Illinois State Fire Marshal
100 W. Randolph Street
Suite 4-600
Chicago, IL. 60601

Phone: 312-814-2693
Fax: 312-814-3459
Web: http://www.sfm.illinois.gov/

Perhaps because of Chicago's history with fires, the Municipal Code of Chicago mandates regulations that exceed the standards of the International Fire Code® and NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®. These additional regulations only affect only the City of Chicago.

• International Building Code® (with limitations)
• International Fire Code® (with limitations)
• NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®

Steel frames are also mandatory for Chicago approved exit signs & emergency lights. All "Code Standard" exit signs & emergency lights are fine to use in other areas in the state of Illinois.

• The October 8, 1871 Great Chicago Fire killed 200-300 and devastated 2,000 acres (17,500 buildings) of Chicago, Illinois. 90,000 were left homeless.
• The December 30, 1903 Iroquois Theatre Fire in Chicago, Illinois is the deadliest theatre fire and single building fire in U.S. history. Fire broke out during a matinee presentation of the musical Mr. Bluebeard with a packed house of an estimated 2,000 people. There were not enough exits - some were hard to find, others were locked. At least 605 died, most as a result of being trampled, crushed, or asphyxiated. After the fire, building and fire codes were reformed, and theatres were closed for retrofitting all around the country. All theatre exits had to be clearly marked and the doors situated so that, even if they could not be opened from the outside, they could be pushed open from within.
• The November 13, 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster occurred when fire broke out in the Cherry, Illinois coal mine killing 259 men and boys (some as young as 11). Stronger mine safety regulations were passed as a result of the disaster.
• On December 22, 1910, fire at the Chicago Union Stock Yards resulted in the deaths of 21 firemen and three civilians when the building they were in collapsed.
• The June 5, 1946 La Salle Hotel Fire in Chicago Illinois killed 61, many of them children. The aftermath of the La Salle, Chicago fire and the Winecoff, Atlanta fire later that year, was the enacting of new hotel building codes and fire-fighting procedures in Chicago.
• On December 1, 1958 Our Lady of the Angels School Fire resulted in the deaths of 92 pupils, 3 nuns, and 100 injured at a Roman Catholic elementary school. Smoke, heat, and fire were determined to have cut off normal exit corridors and stairways, and many were killed trying to jump from extra-high 2nd story windows. The story made international news, and sweeping changes in school fire safety regulations were enacted nationwide. Some 16,500 older school buildings in the United States were brought to (then, current) code standards within a year of the disaster.
• The January 30, 1976 Wincrest Nursing Home Fire in Chicago resulted in 23 dead. The building itself sustained only minor damage, but all the fatalities were due to smoke inhalation. Afterwards, the City of Chicago made several improvements to fire safety codes.

Indiana
Indiana State Fire Marshal
Indiana Department of Homeland Security
Indiana Government Center South
302 W. Washington St., Room E241
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

Phone: 317-232-1407
Web: http://www.in.gov/dhs/fireandbuilding.htm

The Office of Fire Marshal is under the purview of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

• International Building Code®
• International Fire Code®

Exit signs with green lettering are recommended.

• On October 31, 1963, during a "Holiday on Ice" show, a propane explosion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis killed 74 people and injured nearly 400.
• On April 6, 1968 a series of two explosions and fires ripped through two blocks of Richmond, Indiana killing 41 and injuring more than 150. The primary explosion was a result of a natural gas leak beneath a sporting goods store. The secondary explosion was caused when gunpowder stored in the building ignited.

Iowa
State Fire Marshal Division
Iowa Department of Public Safety
215 E. 7th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0047

Phone: 515-725-6145
Fax: 515-725-6172 or 515-725-6140
Email: fminfo@dps.state.ia.us
Web: http://www.dps.state.ia.us/fm/

The State Fire Marshal Division (SFM), established in 1911, is the oldest of the five divisions within the Department of Public Safety. Fire Facts:

• International Building Code® (with limitations)
• International Fire Code®
• NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®

Exit signs with red lettering are recommended.

• On June 19, 1946, fire broke out in the six-story, two hundred-room Canfield Hotel in Dubuque, Iowa, killing 19 people. Occurring just two weeks after the La Salle Hotel fire in Chicago, Illinois, the Canfield Hotel Fire was one of several catastrophic fires that helped focus national attention on the inadequacies of then current fire codes and life safety features in buildings.

Kansas
Kansas State Fire Marshal's Office
700 SW Jackson, Suite 600
Topeka, KS 66603

Phone: 785-296-3401
Fax: 785-296-0151
Web: http://www.ksfm.ks.gov/

The Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal was created in 1917.

• International Building Code® (with limitations)
• International Fire Code® (with limitations)
• NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®

Although exit signs with red or green lettering are acceptable, the city of Wichitsa recommend exit signs with green lettering.

• On January 28, 1978 a fire at the Coates House Hotel killed 20 and injured at least six in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Kentucky
Office of the State Fire Marshal
101 Sea Hero Rd., Suite 100
Frankfort, KY 40601

Phone: 502-573-0382
Fax: 502-573-1004
Web: http://dhbc.ky.gov/sfm

The Office of the Kentucky State Fire Marshal is part of the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, which was established in 1978. At that time, the Office of Fire Marshal was transferred from the Department of Insurance in accordance with recommendations resulting from the investigation of the Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire. Numerous deficiencies, including poor oversight by regulatory authorities and extreme safety code violations were factors.

• NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®

• International Building Code®
• International Fire Code®
• NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®

Although exit signs with red or green lettering are acceptable, the city of Louisville recommends exit signs with red lettering.

• The May 28, 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire in Southgate, Kentucky was the third deadliest nightclub fire in the United States, with 165 dead and over 200 injured.

Louisiana
The Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office
8181 Independence Blvd.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806

Phone: 800-256-5452
Web: http://sfm.dps.louisiana.gov/

The Office of Fire Marshal is under the purview of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections.

• International Building Code®
• International Fire Code®

• The Great New Orleans Fire of 1788 destroyed nearly 80% of the structures in New Orleans (856 out of 1,100 buildings).
• Just six years later, the Great New Orleans Fire of 1794 destroyed 212 more buildings.