Immediately after an abandoned warehouse in Worcester, Massachusetts burst into flames in December, 1999, two firefighters rushed into the building to search for survivors. But, without a floor plan, they quickly became lost in the dark and smoky corridors. So, four more firefighters followed the pair into the inferno. They, too, quickly became lost. Soon after, the warehouse collapsed, killing all six firefighters. Leaving a total of seven children fatherless, the disaster was the nation's deadliest for urban firefighters in 20 years.

Intensifying the tragedy of the firefighters' deaths was the experts' belief that the disaster could have been prevented if the firefighters had been given a floor plan of the warehouse. In all likelihood, they would have escaped the building in time to avoid its collapse.

Information and Education Gaps

Missing floor plans aren't the only types of information gaps that can compound the human and economic costs of industrial fires, explosions, spills, and other catastrophic events. Indeed, the effects of countless industrial accidents have been exacerbated by the lack of basic information and education about the locations of doors or shut-off valves, or the best emergency response options.