Dear Editor of the New York Sun
Thank you for published the article of Miss Rachel Kovner , the first
American journalist having the bravery to investigate and write an
article regarding the case of the ZEC high-rise evacuation technology in
the USA. Since October 2001.
I am writing like if I was declaring under oath in front of a court of
justice pleading for moral justice and expecting as result to motive the
American opinion to joint my efforts to keep away the non evacuation
nightmare in a period of declared war.
There is not place for hypocrisy. Urgency is to appeal to the public
opinion when official position is questionable and thousands are at
risk.
I ask to the New York Sun to publish this letter in response to the
official rebuke expressed in Miss Kovner article regarding the ZEC
technology, under my only personal moral, scientific and regal
responsibility.
Sincerely
Gerard Zephinie
Inventor and developer of the ZEC technology
###
The 2002 statements from the New York fire authorities and NFPA
regarding the ZEC obviously remain unchanged since 1977: an obstinate
official ignorance of the subject or a willingness to keep defaming the
ZEC- technology using the pernicious artifice of confusing this
particular technology with other chute system of not comparable design.
It is sincerely impossible to evaluate presently if the systematic abuse
of power used in the late 70's by the late NY fire commissionaire Burns
consisting to intimidate any American companies including United
technology for not getting involved with ZEC technology in the USA and
active of retired fire officers to support the project, remains a
traditional position of the NY fire authority or have been replaced by a
plain ignorance of a singular technology that is presently of public
domain and remains unique of it kind.
I solemnly underline: when I do mention " the NY fire authorities (NYFA),
is not in my mind possible confusion with the immense majority of brave
men and woman heroically devoted to service of the community, that
constitute heroic corps of the Fire department of New York.
Anyone has no doubt regarding the fire engineering competence of the NFPA 's technical commissions but definitely can
doubts regarding the eventual independence of such commissions from the
leading industrial interests controlling forces in a given period.
Back In 1977, week of researches allowed me to identify more than twenty
members of NFPA technical commissions related with the ATO International
group of companies.
No matter how excellent could be NFPA's codes, the NFPA remains an
industry sponsored non profit association founded on the belief that
competition forces will guarantee the impartiality.
In 1977 ATO International later renamed Figgie International was
controlling the key US industries of sprinklers and fire rescue
apparatus. Figgie will loose the power only after 1998.
The actual US official "ignorance" of the Zec technology after a quarter
century have to be son of later officially explained for the following
reasons:
How to explain the NFPA and NYFA obstinate refusal to assess in the USA
a breakthrough new life saving technology having yet been certified in
Europe and marketed by a major US corporation in Europe.
How to explain the NYFA abnormal offensive and coarse refusal to meet
with the Inventor of the ZEC bearing personal introductory reference
from the French chief commander of the national firefighting
organization. (General Gers)
How to explain that the board of United Technology Corp. has censured
abruptly the on going plan of Mr. H. Faure (President of Otis Elevator
World operations) to organize in New York and other cities, public tests
of the ZEC and a press campaign to inform the American public opinion
about the new high-rise building evacuation option.
As so far United technology has refused to give a reason.
The plan was designated to oblige the NYFA and the NFPA to take an
official and responsive position regarding the ZEC.
Later UTC treated me to discredit the ZEC dropping the commercialization
if eventually said incident was made public. Now UTC-Otis can anymore
damage the ZEC without damaging by the way their international image.
Time is the only impartial judge.
The vicious circle of intimidation has been secured for 25 years
awaiting thousands of Americans suffering a wrong death because the only
available evacuation technology was not present in the late WTC in
Sep.11, 8 years after the first 1993 attack.
I brought to an end the ZEC marketing effort soon after my last intent
to contact the NY World Trade Center via the WTC of Mexico. The project
of testing the ZEC-ME first warmly accepted the Mexican chief fire
Engineer of Johnson Control locally in charge has ended after reporting
to NY the project. The guy will never accept to talk with me again. At
this time the WTC was probably still the property of the NY Port
Authority
There not room for an eventual excuse eventually based on ignorance,
skepticism, doubts, incertitude regarding the eventual efficiency of the
ZEC back in 1977, but definitely the knowledge that any formal
engineering review in the USA could, but confirm scientific evidences
resulting of years of public tests having finally obliged, under the
public opinion pressure, the French ministry of Interior to certificate
the efficiency of the ZEC.
To expect to shoot down the ZEC technology in fair and open technical
battle ground was and remains impossible. Consequently the NY
commissionaire in Power in 1977 has chosen the alternative of using
"Intimidation" or whatever you want to name it, toward any American
companies having interest to market the ZEC in the USA.
Any company dealing in safety, elevator, air conditioning in the USA
can't take the risk to " get into troubles" in all the East Coast mega
metropolitan area unpleasing the NY fire commissionaire, because all
those activities are subject of fire inspection.
Ignoring the existence of ZEC, makes possible to keep an official
unaccountable confusion, regarding the ZEC with other "escape Chute"
that are technically absurd regarding tall building evacuation like the
late WTC.
As result: The life safety code published by the National Fire
Protection Association a nationwide standard says the devices havenıt
been proven safe or effective, as mention Miss Kovner's article: but
American safety experts call them unproven at best.
The objectivity of those experts will remain in the category of
perspicacity having been opposed Dr. Semmelweis , who fought his life
time to promote that hand washing could prevent thousands of patients
death in medical practice.
Decade of statistical proofs will never help, because statistics
resulting from other country were dismissed in other and local official
expert will carefully forbid any test control. Semmelweis was a
foreigner. It is a handicap to be a foreigner for engaging a fight with
official authority regarding public health or public safety interest.
Actually for many reasons I should be American citizen for years, but I
am of the maverick kind. I really don't attach importance to
nationality, race, title, etc. because I believe that scientific
competence, honor and honesty can be appreciated anywhere by those
sharing the same asset.
Definitely I did and will continue to do my duty as if I was American
citizen .
"Patriotic" reason to tolerate wrong doing is amoral and not acceptable.
I understand that this story confront the a moral responsibility of the
NYFA in the wrong death of thousand of innocent American including 300
brave Firefighters among them Donald Burns with whom many time I spoke
at the phone.
The ZEC is also an essential tool for the firefighter safety in
high-rise fire fighting. It allows wounded or exhausted fire fighter
effortless evacuation. To live eventually the inferno using a particular
method to speed up in the ZEC up 6ft/s. (The ZEC friction constant
parameters exclude acceleration).
I am expecting from the American experts the professional courtesy to
publicly let know the reference standards applied to what they call
"unproven at best".
The ZEC since 28 years has been used over 1,000,000 times only in France
(1987 government figures). illegal marketing has started since 20 years
in Asia where 3000 installations are claimed that correspond for the
less to 400<6,00,000 uses.
The ZEC has been probably used over 2,000,000 times. Unauthorized use of
the ZEC in some office place as "6 PM" escape route has been estimated
over 10,000 times, considering the wiring of the Kevlar sleeve.
It was reported peoples having sex inside the ZEC and the real problem
presented by people performing escape completion first head diving,
particularly in nursing home has obliged to install electromagnetic
lock, etc
The ZEC also has been used in real fire emergency, certified as
preferential mode of exit for handicapped in the French fire code in the
1980's, included in the AFNOR Standard in the 80's. (Obvious the
National French Association of Standards issue standards "on unproven at
best" or "devices havenıt been proven safe or effective")
The thousand of installations sold by Otis in Europe have been made
without exception in coordination with the local fire departments since
1976.
indeed, the American "experts" are free to believe that hundreds of
clinics hospital, handicapped, nursing home, etc, have been equipped of
an "unproven as best" French code unforced complementary exit, billed
and guaranteed by UTC-Otis Elevator 26 years during.
I have yet and I do reiterate to meet in a televised debate any American
safety experts willing to challenge the inventor of ZEC-technology in
matter of high-rise evacuation.
American fire experts relaying on their colleagues expertise, allows
unclear denigrating statement such as: "the devices havenıt been proven
safe or effective" as Mr. Greg Harrington, A senior fire engineer at the
National Fire Protection Association has declared to the New York Sun.
Please, could the New York Sun eventually ask to Mr. Greg Harrington to
confirm his declaration identifiably naming the Zephinie Escape Chute
technology as "a devices havenıt been proven safe or effective"
The ZEC like any human inventions can't claims for absolute perfection,
but it is as so far, the only available technique that could be easily
retrofitted to evacuate tall building like the WTC in case of abnormal
extreme emergency.
The ZEC have been many thousand times publicly demonstrated and soon or
later the irrefutable proof hereby stated will be personally tested and
experienced by hundreds of thousands of American citizens to judge by
themselves as did 27 years ago hundreds of thousands French citizens,
allowing the ZEC technology to be today an uncontestable high-rise
evacuation available reality.
Since technology allows an efficient evacuation of building as tall or
taller than the late WTC it is a matter of human rights to have a
opportunity to escape from martyr to be trapped over the fire without
escape and finally falling to deaf during interminable seconds has have
been the fate for thousand sep.11.
Mr.Jake Pauls, said a chute system would require special training to
operate, Have trouble evacuating many people, and risk catching on fire.
Itıs not very reasonable and itıs not very common, either,² he said. ³To
expect it to be used in case of emergency is a real stretch.²
Obviously Mr. Jake Paul ignores the ZEC technology and Itıs not very
reasonable and itıs not very common in technological matter to give an
opinion based on the ignorance of the subject.
Beside very few individual of the NYFA first hand informed of the
development of the ZEC in 1974, American fire safety experts simply
ignore or prefer to ignore the ZEC evacuation technology.
It is evident that any American fire safety experts who could have
eventually joint my efforts in the past would had lost credibility in
the east Cost when Figgie and Burns were arbitrating the ball game.
Including myself I had been obliged to keep silence to avoid the United
Technologies threat to discredit the technology in case of scandal.
When officials have unfairly declared that something is ridiculous for
decades, the public credibility of the institution that they represent
is in jeopardy if they admit the error that obviously has been funded on
unethical motivation.
How could a ZEC-ME catch fire?
The ZEC-ME High-rise evacuation installation includes the most
sophisticated fire protection technically available: (1) the NFPA 2<4
hours stairway's enclosure standard. (2) the application of Husson's wet
cloth effect (note.1)
The installation engineering of the ZEC back in 1973-75 has yet
optimizing the system operation regarding abnormal and incontrollable
fire situation such have been the case in the WTC.
The ZEC installation design is protected by a sprinkler head from the
main installation and an interior sprinkler felt by an independent water
line.
Air pressurization:
The ZEC-ME module has only 3 cubic meters volume allowing and
independent air pressurization eventually in bacterial menace
anticipation.
The ZEC has to be installed close the extreme corner of a building. Like
for foxholes, dispersion concept is essential.
Any tactical attack must focus on the core of the building to neutralize
stairway and water supply and high enough to be out of reach of ground
fire engines water supply.
The priority of a ZEC-ME installation is to evacuate the people
eventually trapped over sinister floors. A WTC like tower require a
minimum of 20 units. Even if 5 units would have remaining operational an
extra capacity of 10,000 evacuation/ hour would have been available to
save the population trapped in the top part of the building. Even a
single surviving ZEC-ME would have makes the difference.
The Israeli college of Paris has been equipped in 1978 of ZEC-SE for
being an evident terrorist target. A special training under the embassy
security personals has shown to reach an average 19 second per group of
30 teenagers that corresponding 7,389exits/hour for a ZEC-SE basically
less efficient than a ZEC-ME.
The value of 30 persons/ minute is kept for installation definition
allowing a large evacuation over capacity in case real emergency. A
stairway "unit" give 3<4000 persons/hour.
A ZEC unit basically occupy 10<12 q/ft and 7 q/ft in a multiple units
module.
Automatic controlled landing is available using a special pneumatic
computer controlled chute, one among 11 different escape chutes designed
back in the period 1968-1975. A tedious patent research in 6 languages
back to 1880 has shown previous 183 failed escape chutes projects. The
ZEC is the result strict R&D analytical methodology.
The ZEC-ME concept is a survival unit, like a life boat is designed to
be used when the ship is lost and going to sink. Naval engendering
include the most sophisticated fire engendering expertise however any
naval fire expert will be ashamed to claims that a ship have any chance
to be lost in a fire and life boat has to be banished. .
Everywhere in the world most "Top" fire officers are hired after
retirement by the world leading safety industries that are incidentally
Americans, including in France, for that reason the French Navy has been
the godfather of the ZEC technology.
American fire official seen having forgotten that they have declared
years ago that any high-rise fire out of control over a period of 20
minute would require a full evacuation and also have forgotten that they
have leaded press campaign to say that high-rise building are
technically impossible to evacuate to support the NY Local law#5. The
general public has been conditioned to believe that evacuation was not
the priority.
If a fire is not under control within 20 minute is because the planned
fire self-defense plan has felt. Fire self -defense planning are
excellently engineered and works but evaluation of abnormal situation
like: terrorism, mass killer decency, biologic or nerve gas spread
trough air conditioning building system never have been ignored and a
WTC disaster estimated. The insurance industry will not get broke for
this reason.
To think that "buildings to have all sorts of redundant super-expensive
safety type features" is keeping greediness blinding the fact that
EVACUATION is a human right priority if technically possible.
Mr.Jake Pauls, said a chute system would require special training to
operate!
The extreme apparent simplicity of the design has leaded too many just
not understand how the ZEC-ME works.
The ZEC-ME operates within the range of two conditional limits: empty
and saturated. In case of massive evacuation emergency the ZEC is
saturated that excludes any training at all. You can trough in babies,
unconscious people, handicapped, cats, dogs. Ground fire rescuer require
training to efficiently help evacuees to clears the landing area, take
care of handicapped peoples, Etc.
Extremely simple training is only required for drill or fun usage.
Millions public uses a proven that two or three instructive sentences
were sufficient. In any building equipped of ZEC evacuation, all
permanent occupants are logically informed and this is enough to inform
the visitors that eventually have never heard about the ZEC.
The ZEC is not perfect like any human invention,100% efficiency and
infinite capacity are not claimed. It is good enough to avoid eventually
a WTC non-evacuation holocaust.
U.S. fire officials doubt the chutes would work in a high-rise fire. The
technology has never been used in a building approaching the World Trade
Centerıs 116 stories.
It is impossible to understand how a 116 stories ZEC-ME could works not
understanding how a 116 stairway works. Any diagram makes it evident.
let say that a zecway is similar to a stairway . A ZEC-ME floor module
includes a ZEC Sleeve and a stairway landing access like a stairway
module includes two slops and stairway landing access. Both use the same
fire code protection and can pile up the same way. The ZEC-ME has been
the first ever operative not slop based escape system including the main
characteristic of an enclosed stairway.
The load transfers is independently supported on itch floor by a 10<15
feet ZEC sleeve having a breaking strength around 14 tons.
A three floors stairway can't works differently than a three hundred
stories stairway. So a three stories zecway can't works differently than
a three hundred stories zecway.
A 116 stories ZEC-ME unit can carry a human load of 174 tons with a
safety Coefficient of 10. Up to 400 evacuees can will result a
vertically packed in a form human "sausage" of 28 tons Linear speed can
oscillate between <1>3Ft/s at the basic 1800p/h rate and up <1>6ft/s in
extreme emergency up 3600<4000 p/h that depending how the rescuer will
force the evacuation flow.
However the evacuation flow been constant the evacuation speed can stall
for period due that the ZEC-ME like a stairway is slowed by a number of
intake eventually superior to output capacity. The ZEC-ME is designed to
work under firefighter guidance determining level priority.
The ZEC eventually present problems that I have analyzed and worked out
to minimize and I keep for years many patentable improvements on the
technology.
Cold and pneumonia is a serious problem in a situation obliging to use
the Husson-Zephinie wet protection.
If the Titanic would not had hurt an Iceberg the deficiency of means of
evacuation that could had circumvent the holocaust would never been
brought to the public opinion knowledge.
History shows that "could be avoided holocausts" have originated the
evolution of fire safety regulation traditionally confronted with
contradictory particular interests.
In the 1970's the scandalous catastrophic safety situation of the New
York's high-rise building was exclusively due to a traditional well know
corruption of the political system neutralizing the state laws fire
prevention application in the city high-rise building owned by major
political-financial power.
The evacuation impossibility was the keystone concept for an eventual
state law compulsory retrofitting of scientifically absolutely justified
fire extinguishing equipment. The ZEC was and remains in the naval
concept of the "life boat evacuation" when abnormal events have made
eventually inefficient the most sophisticated fire prevention equipment
in a ship.
Obviously the personality of late Fire Commissionaire Burns and the
member of the Figgie family running ATO were not people intellectually
inclined conceder high-rise building evacuation a matter of human right
what ever could be the short term business impact ( long term
consideration could be only positive to the safety industry) .
The official self-congratulation regarding the disastrous evacuation
results of the WTC is misinforming the American public opinion.
Only a democratic investigation and/or legal actions from the parents of
the victims of the wrong death caused by the non evacuation circumstance
can finally oblige to reconsider the High-rise evacuation problem in the
USA.
The American public at large include sufficient number of competent
engineers and architects independent of industrial or/and local
political particular interests to constitutive and competent jury in the
ZEC-ME case.
Any one that claims expertise and official responsibility in matter of
public safety have the duty to assess, analyze and test any new live
saving technology.
To ignore this duty during 28 years it is now a matter that concerns the
judgment of the public opinion in the USA.
Please fill free to contact me trough the web site:
Sincerely,
Gerard Zephinie
Note.2.
The early critical analyze of the ZEC-SE Single entry fiber glass
protection has good but not sufficient in abnormal condition.
Water protection should be added to the fiber glass. Late Admiral
Vasilieff ( Fire engineer director to the firefighting service of the
French navy) and myself decided to check the result from inside the a
100 feet ZEC in contact 30 gallons gas oil fire. The experience has
reported by the press.
Colonel Jean Husson (retired director to the French National Laboratory
of Fire )called Zephinie to share experience about wet cloths as fire
barrier.
Before to die, he asked Zephinie to develop the application of the
"Husson wet cloth effects."
The fire engineers Col. Husson
and Command Etienne, both ex director of the French National
Laboratory of Fire offered fundamental moral support for the
development of the ZEC
Zephinie started to design air hangar using the Husson -Zephinie
automatic fire enclosure. The project was killed like other
projects consequently of the situation.
Based on Husson wet protection effect, the ZEC is able to keep
working in the event that an entrance door would let in over heated
air/gas penetrating a ZEC-Module.
The Husson wet protection use approximately 20liters/m2/minute
giving a redundant 2 hours protection withstanding eventually flame
contact.
The Husson-Zephinie wet protect also assure a not negligible degree
of toxic aerosol or gases protection acting like a water washed
industrial filter.
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