Emergency Exit Signs Could Have Caused a Real Emergency Because Individuals Failed to Follow Codes.

By Nick Markowitz Jr.
Fire Investigator
www.securitymission.com

I was working in a personal care home that had been closed for several years in a larger city in Western Pa. I was helping to get it ready for re-inspection by city Fire Inspectors. There were painters and tile layers and all the usual minor remodeling and cleaning up activities going on to get the home ready for new occupants. I made sure the fire alarms smoke detectors were cleaned and working. I put new backup batteries in the main controls etc. and installed a new dialer for them to send an emergency signal to the central station. I also was making sure the backup battery lights were working and putting light bulbs in the older exit signs which used 2- 120 volt standard or what are known as Edison base lights bulbs. Those are the normal type socket you find in every home.

Most of the exit signs I put the bulbs in both sockets worked but in several of them the left bulb did not come on. So I started trouble shooting them and it looked like the 120 volt ac wiring was paralleled to both sockets but to my horror it was not. When I finally got the wiring harness apart I found 2 small orange and yellow wires and 2 thicker black and white wires. What had been done is the left socket required a standard based 12-volt DC bulb available at Recreational Vehicle supply stores that looked exactly like the 120-volt bulbs you buy at a hardware store. This 12 volt DC bulb was hooked to the near by battery backup pack and the socket had no distinctive marking warning to use only 12 volt dc bulbs in them like an RV does. Normally the DC backup bulb is much smaller and very distinct so you know they are coming from the battery pack. The danger with the setup I found was if someone were to accidentally screw a 12-volt dc bulb into the 120-volt socket the bulb would explode and catch fire. Possibly severely injuring the individual replacing the bulb with flying glass.

I took immediate steps to remedy the situation by disconnecting the left socket and wiring up as a 120-volt socket and then installing a 6-volt DC proper low voltage socket that is used in modern exit lights. When the Fire inspector’s showed up to do the walk through of the home I showed them what I had found and how I corrected it. They were extremely disturbed to find such a violation has existed for so long and all the different inspections over the years never caught the problem.

It was then a few weeks later when I was working in a old parochial school now a private school for at risk youth in the Mon Valley when I was upgrading the old 120 Vac only exit signs with proper 120 volt signs with 6 volt DC backup, plus adding exit and emergency lighting throughout the structure. I encountered another batch while tinkering with exit signs. The old exit signs had at some point been upgraded with luminescent panels that only worked on 120 Vac and had very poor lighting output. In fact many AHJ refused to allow this replacement panel to be used because of the poor light output. To make matters worse when I went to cut off the power to the old signs so they could be replaced I heard a loud relay like clunk in the boiler room near the breaker box. Upon further examination I found a 12"X12" steel junction box with a 12 volt gel battery a 12 volt to 120 volt automotive power inverter and a small plug in battery charger. Apparently someone was trying to make a home made emergency power backup unit. The problem was that none of the components were UL listed and approved for how they were being used. Additionally the Inverter and the battery are clearly marked they must have proper ventilation to prevent fire and explosion. Again someone decided they could remedy a problem without following the code. But of course this is common problem in parochial schools and church structures.

It appears AHJ’s give little care as to how work is done in church owned facilities. This entire 3 story school building had a total of 3 exit signs 1 emergency light in cafeteria assembly room and absolutely no exit or emergency lighting in the school or convent area and only 2 pull stations and 2 bells for a fire alarm which were 120 volts ac and had no supervision and were never used for fire drills because they had corroded shut. Once again I was able to prevent a tragedy from happening. This once again shows that only properly trained and qualified Electricians who get there work inspected on a regular basis and keep their training and code knowledge up to date should be doing electrical work, not someone who is a maintenance or handyman or has worked with electricity in the mill. As long as we allow these dangerous tinkers to play themselves as electricians keep on planning on seeing horrific fires caused by electrical malfunctions that were 100% avoidable.

Nick Markowitz Jr can be reached at nickmarkowitz@hotmail.com

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