Conference 7.286::digital

    Someone once told me that Maynard has a town law that all buildings
    of some sort (commercial ones over a certain size, or height, or
    number of occupants, or some such) had to have a fire-fighting pond
    next to them, and that that is why Parker Street also has a pond.
    I don't know if that tale is or ever was actually true, though.
    Does Maynard really still have old "pumper" fire trucks?

    'Don't know about Maynard, but the "pond" at CXO1/2 is there for
    fire suppression.  It gets drained/filtered/dredged regularly and
    pump stations seem to be operational most of the time.
    
    The pond seems to be tied directly into the sprinkler system.
    
    In fact (as was told to me second hand) when a major water main
    broke here several years ago flooding the CXO1/2 building, the
    fire-fighting system in the building detected a drop in water pressure.
    Under the premise that a drop in water pressure meant that the
    sprinklers had gone off, the fire fighting equipment drained the
    pond into the building also.  Cleanup efforts are still underway...
    
    BobW

    ps, I wouldn't want to go for a swim in either the Mill's pond or
    ours here...they kindof look the same.

    I don't know about a law but I had heard (about 5 years back) that
    DEC gets a big insurance break by having the pond next to PK3.
    
    Deb

    The lakes at MKO were put there for fire fighting purposes too.
    
    jack

    Re: .4 (MKO pond)
    
    Not to mention a swimming hole for helicopters! :-)
    
    			Steve

    I think there's also a rule in Mass that if you build something
    that covers the ground (building, parking lot) you have to do "whatever
    it takes" to make sure that your property presents no additional
    burden to the storm sewer system.
    
    Many ponds around buildings are thus built to hold the water that
    would otherwise end up off site.

    re: .5 Swimming hole for helicopters
    
    Please no helicopter jokes, I was in the one that went for a swim
    in the MK pond. I'm sure glad it was there, it was a lot softer
    than the trees would have been.
    
    Nick

    The pond next to the Mill serves a couple of purposes.
    First it is a water supply for the Mill's fire suppression system.
    There are a couple large pumps that draw water from the pond to
    fill the sprinler system.
    Second it drives a hydroelectric plant within the facility.
    
     

        > the mill pond is also a stockroom >-

        I thought it was the Maynard branch of the Computer Museum!

                Mike    

	I've never even been to the Mill, so maybe I have no business
	butting in here, but if what .0 says is true, then the pond
	isn't going to do a d*mn bit of good if the firetrucks can't
	get to the building.  You people in the Mill need to start
	pestering your site security manager *NOW* to get the parking
	lots cleared of illegal parkers.

	Frank

The parking lot in question (Lower Thompson) abuts one end of building 5.
Fire trucks have easy access to all other sides of buiding 5, either
from Thomposon St., Walnut St., or the from the mill yard (with at least
three paths to the buiding from the street).

Also, when Maynard bought new fire equipment a few years ago, Dec bought
the old fire trucks and parked them in the mill yard.  I remember vaguely
reading of a fire-response team in the mill -- someone else would have
to supply details.

Martin.

      One difference between the Mill in Maynard and many other 
    mill complexes is the sprinkler system and fire alarm system.
    I heard one story that before the fire alarm system was in-
    stalled, an air conditioner in Building 21 caught on fire
    over the weekend.  The fire doors closed, the sprinklers came
    on and nobody knew about the fire until Monday morning.  
    
      So, even if the fire trucks couldn't get through Lower Thompson
    St. parking lot, water would be put on the fire by the sprinklers.
    Personally, if they got rid of the 40 or 50 "blue pass" parking
    spaces, I feel the parking crunch at the Mill would be eased
    somewhat.  
    
    Greg
    

    What is a "Blue Pass" parking space ?
    
    ??Joerg??

I doubt that the sprinkler system can come on without a *lot* of alarms
going off all over greater downtown Maynard.

Martin.

	  I don't know what the Maynard fire department's policy is, but I
     have seen:

       o  Oklahoma fire men calmly taking out the power saws used for very
	  quickly cutting through hard things, and removing about 1/4 of a
	  car that was blocking a fire hydrant to which they needed access;

       o  Worcester MA fire trucks not bothering to slow down for locked
	  and chained chain link fences on an emergency access road;

       o  Manchester NH fire trucks driving through and over a car parked
	  in a fire lane.

	  I do not believe that the Maynard fire department would let a few
     cars in their way bother them.

				   Brian Hetrick

    RE: .15
      The fire I recounted happened in either the 60's or early 70's.
    At the time, I believe DEC had a sprinkler system and fire doors,
    but neither were tied into the alarm system.  Now, a drop in 
    water pressure in the sprinkler system triggers the alarm and
    has caused a couple building evacuations = a real fire drill.
    
    Greg
    

    Hang on, tell me more about the chopper 'incident' - I have only
    been with DEC for 18 months, and I have never heard this story...
    
    Is this one of the 'perks' of working for the corporation???
    
    Peter Russell, Reading UK.
    

It is rumored that the Boston solution to cars parked in front of
fire hydrants is to run the hoses through the car (windows don't get
in the way for long).  And, if a few hundred gallons of water leaks
into the car, well that is the breaks.

For some reason, the fire-hydrant laws are about the only parking laws
that *are* obeyed in Boston.

Martin.

    RE: .18
      Talk to Nick Warchol.  He was on one of DEC's helicopters when
    it crashed after takeoff in Merrimack.  Actually, the pilot did
    the right thing - he found the softest landing spot nearby and
    set it down there.  No one was seriously hurt.  I was working
    with Nick at the time and remember his boss getting the call that
    Nick would be late due to a helicopter crash.  It was discovered
    later on that the fuel line on the chopper had broken and that
    Bell-Jet-Ranger had put out a low priority notice about this 
    problem.  
    
    Greg
    

    re .18
    
    Still off the topic, but helicopters are used between all the major
    facilities in Eastern Mass and Southern NH and Logan International
    Airport to ferry people to meetings, move packages, etc.  They are
    available to anyone on a reservation basis, no bumping (at least
    according to policy).
    
    As for the topic at hand, I worked at the Mill for 8 years.  There
    has always been a problem with people parking in the most inconvenient
    (and dangerous places).  The ticket you get from Security means
    practically nothing unless your manager uses a history of tickets
    on your review.  Maybe a towing policy would help.
    
    						Mike

    re: .20 Actually he set it down in the pond, on its side (the pilot
            side was down).  If I recall correctly Stan Olsen and a
            couple other biggies swam/rowed out to the chopper for rescue
            efforts.
    

You still have to worry about getting people to leave the buildings in case
of fire.  I was working in the Mill from 1980-1984 and one night after 5, 
there was a fire in the metal shop on 5-1.  On my way out, I poked my head 
in offices and told the occupants "there really is a fire" but none wanted to 
leave, even though smoke was starting to fill the 5-2 corridor!

CQ

re .17:

Not only are the sprinklers tied into the alarm system, the area where the fire
is (or pressure loss) can be pinpointed fairly closely (portion of a floor).
There are several fire pumps that feed the sprinkler system, and I believe
water is supplied by the town water supply as well.  There are also smoke
alarms in the newer renovated areas.

Most of the stories I've seen about old mills going up in flames were followed
with stories how the sprinkler system was nonfunctional/nonexistant or tampered
with.

-Mike

    
    As for the other topic going on here, (helicopter) Stan O. never got
    his feet wet. The helicopter settled onto its side after one of
    the best landings that pilot could have made, I owe him my life.
    He didn't swim well so another passenger and myself hauled him in
    with a life ring that was at the pond for safety reasons. Since
    we were taking a swim anyway it wasn't necessary for anyone else
    to jump in.

    Parking tickets in the Mill are a joke. Most of the cars that are
    parked in the fire lanes don't even get tickets. I agree that you
    can get to the other side of building 5 but it is a big building
    and access to both ends is needed.

    I've even noticed that people are blocking the fire lanes even when
    there are plenty of other spaces a little further away. Pretty lazy
    attitude.
    
    Maybe a call to the Maynard Fire Department on a particularly crowded
    day is in order. My calls to Security, Safety and Loss Prevention,
    and any other group I could think of had no effect.
    
    Nick

    re: .25, first paragraph--
    
    I watched the helicopter land, from the cafeteria.  It did land
    on its skids, and rolled over later, after everyone had gotten out.
    The pilot stayed with the craft until one of the passengers rescued
    him.  We speculated that the pilot might be unable to swim, but
    concluded (incorrectly, I now realize) that he had been instructed
    to stay near the helicopter in such a situation.  I didn't realize
    that *two* of the passengers rescued him (I only saw one).
    
    Apparectly security got uptight about the incident.  Spouses weren't
    allowed on the property that afternoon, and weren't told why.  That
    caused a lot of needless concern.
    
    re: .25--remainder
    
    Before I became a DEC employee I worked for DEC as a consultant.
    I had a very small car, so I was able to park in narrow spaces in
    the unmarked area of the large lot at building 5.  Once I parked
    in a space just six feet wide (I measured it).  I had to exit the
    car through the hatchback, but it was better than parking an
    additional quarter-mile away.  When I returned to my car I found
    a rather abusive note on it: someone was threatening to "get my
    badge" if I did it again.  Since I wasn't a DEC employee I ignored
    the note.  At a different time, when I had again parked in a narrow
    space, I got a parking ticket from security.  There are several
    standard violations that security can check off, and a place for
    "other".  Because there were no parking lines security had checked
    "other" and written "parked between two cars".  The next day I went
    to security and asked them about the ticket.  They seemed to recognize
    me (``Oh, you're the guy!'') but they didn't have an answer for
    my question: ``What am I supposed to do, park between three cars?''.
    
    I suspect the lot has since been completely marked with parking
    lines.
        John Sauter

  I knew that the Mill had sprinklers when I posted the note. I 
didn't know that the sprinklers drew water from the mill pond as
well as town water. Will the pumps operate if there is a power
failure? I assume the reason why they installed the pumps in the
first place is that the town water works might not supply water
fast enough if there were a big fire and a lot of sprinklers were
on.
  The suggestion to call the Maynard Fire Dept. (on the "business"
line) to check out the situation on a bad day is a good one. An-
other is for the fire dept. to try driving a fire truck to the
lower Thompson St. entrance during a fire drill. We had a fire
drill when I was at the Mill (1980-81) but I don't remember if
a town fire truck was there.

    Concerning the pumps for the sprinkler system, I believe that you
    will find deisel engine driven pumps somewher in bldg 21. When I
    used to work in bldg 1, I used to see them test those pumps on
    off hours (weekends?). They would shoot an impressive stream of
    water out into the pond.
    
    Bob Mc
    

There is a diesel pump in 1-1, near the passageway between 1-1 and 21-1.
I've seen this beast run when they were shooting streams of water over the
mill pond.  This thing is big!  There is another fire pump in the powerhouse,
and there are probably others I don't know about.  They don't need electricity
to run, and I assume are battery started, as well.

-Mike

     
          A few weeks ago one of the TA78 tape drives in our lab decided
         to fry itself on second shift. I was sitting behind a pole and
         couldn't see the above mentioned drive playing DECball when I
         thought I heard the other operator say fire. I looked at him
         and said "yeah" and went back to the 7th inning, comedy I thought
         to myself. "FIRE" he screamed, I looked at him again and his face
         was white so I gazed to the right of the pole and saw a cloud of
         smoke where he was looking. Now, I almost lost myself in a fire
         one evening and wasn't realishing the thought of going through
         another one so I put Carl Lewis to shame getting to the fire
         button and yanked it hard!   WWWHHHHHOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHH, WHUMP,
         SSSSSSIIIIIIIISSSSSSSS!!!!! 
    
                        The Halon tanks were empty, hadn't been checked
                       in 3 years and the entire system failed. Maynard
                       Fire Dept. was here in 2 minutes, I clocked them
                       from inside the lab, and the boys took over.
                          I was shakey for at least 4 hours and all it
                       was was a relay swich on the tapedrive that had seen
                       it's god. I was a hair embarrassed for a good few
                       minutes but when the reality hit me that if it had been
                       a major fire the S**t would've hit the fan so maybe
                       it was meant to be... WE didn't have any emergency
                       procedures either that I knew of. We did the next
                       day though!!
    
    Tom