In Paterson, N. J. , last year, a series of weekend arson fires plagued the municipality. And on August 1, one of them turned several factory buildings, where windows had been sealed with cement and cinder blocks, into a collection of 20,000-cubic-foot ovens. In the original fire building, the fire spread speedily, defying the myth that mill construction is slow-burning. Fires in 75- to
... [Show full abstract] 100-year-old buildings of this nature are virtually impossible to put out once there's fire on more than one floor - especially when the sprinkler system has been shut down or partially dismantled, as it had been here. The collapse potential became so obvious that two water towers and an aerial ladder had to be repositioned.