Monday, April 28, 2008

Inn Fire

Last spring a Budget Inn in a South Atlanta suburb caught fire. According to the news reports, the fire started on a stack of discarded mattresses behind the building, near a gas meter. Arson is suspected.

Most of the occupants of this Budget Inn were residents. No fire sprinklers were installed. A family of five was trapped in a second floor room and failed to be rescued in time.

It is stunning to me that in the city that lays claim to the deadliest hotel fire in US history (the Winecoff, December 1946) we still allow hotels to operate without adequate fire protection.

These pictures were taken after the fire investigation ended and before the demolition crew arrived.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of those who died. I support efforts to require commercial residences and hotels to have adequate fire suppression equipment, and be maintained and inspected properly and regularly. I hope these pictures help drive that point home.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The Lost Japan Photos

I went back through my photos of Japan and came up with these unpublished ones. Beyond these I have some more from my last day and one other Kyoto temple that I never posted, so I might do yet another posting later on.

Enjoy!