Sprinklers save lives in fires
On Sept. 2, Chattanooga City Council members succumbed to the myth that requiring life safety codes is bad for business by overturning the 2011 fire code adoption that required sports bars and restaurants with live entertainment to install fire sprinkler systems.
In fact, an automatic fire sprinkler system will extinguish or contain a fire before firefighters arrive and with less water. It prevents toxic smoke and intense heat from hurting or killing the people in the building and the firefighters who are called to respond. Sprinklers not only save money in repairs and restoration but also significantly reduce the risk of injuries and deaths and the heartbreaking costs associated with them.
View the footage of The Station nightclub fire in 2003 which killed 100 and injured 230 people to see the reality of not having fire sprinklers in crowded businesses. The National Institute of Standards and Technology investigation concluded sprinklers would have given those patrons time to escape.
We would think the City Council members and business owners would hold the safety of their patrons, employees and first responders as their highest priority. Sadly, overturning the mandate implies otherwise.
AMY ACTON, VICKIE PRITCHETT, RONALD J. SIARNICKI
Global warming is man-made
The year 2012 marked the hottest year on record in the United States, and it looks as though 2013 is going to result in even higher temperatures. The National Organization for Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced that a rise in serious hurricanes will accompany the rising temperatures in 2014. Extreme weather conditions and rising temperatures are not only impacting the environment but are costing taxpayers money. Super storm Sandy, wildfires on the West Coast and a drought in the Midwest cost U.S. taxpayers over $100 billion last year. Yet government officials continue to deny the existence of climate change.
Representative Cory Gardner from Colorado was quoted as saying: "I think the climate is changing, but I don't believe humans are causing that change to the extent that's been in the news."
The science proves that Rep, Gardner is wrong. Ninety-seven percent of top climate scientists agree that man-made pollution is warming our planet. Visit RealtyDrop.org to get the facts.
NANCY SIENKNECHT
Bible clear on sexual sins
I am a Christian, perhaps not as dedicated as I should be, but I do believe that every word in the Bible is the inspired word of God. Consider these verses.
"Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." Leviticus 9:22. "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." Romans 1:24. My earthly father was a good and loving man however he set rules for me to live by. If I broke those rules he would punish me even though he loved me dearly. And so shall our Heavenly Father punish us if we break His rules.
DARDEN NEWMAN, Signal Mountain, Tenn.