code letter

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You and your crew of inspectors have recently stumbled upon a haunted house at Sugar Middle School during a routine visit for lunch. The haunted house is on the second floor of the school in a room with sprinklers that measures 75’ x 25’. There is fabric (with no fire rating) hanging from the steel trusses on the celling to create a maze from one door in the entrance to another door at the far end of the room. Both sets of doors have stairways that lead to the first floor. The fabric hanging prevents visible exit signs and a clear exit pathway. There are bales of hay, corn stalks, and strobe lights throughout the maze. The strobe lights may produce heat. Fire extinguishers are blocked by the displays. This school event is set to be an important fundraiser for the school’s PTO this Saturday night.

In a two-page letter to Principal Smith of Sugar Middle School, include the following information.

  • Provide and explain the importance of following local fire codes.
  • Address relevant code violations in the haunted house area of the middle school by first locating your community’s fire codes and standards and comparing the haunted house to them. Then, provide an explanation of the haunted houses’ violations. (If you are not in the fire service, reach out to your local fire department for applicable fire codes. A conversation with the local fire marshal can prove beneficial if you are unfamiliar with local codes.)
  • Determine if any of the codes you found for the community are insufficient, and provide an explanation of how they are insufficient. Explain how you believe those codes should be updated for the haunted house and/or the community.
  • Provide immediate corrective actions so the event can occur with risks reduced.