Argiro denies Kindercare
Published on August 6th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - Citing a recent discovery that Franklin Street’s Kindercare contains materials that release toxic chemicals when on fire, Town Building Inspector Gene Argiro unsuccessfully appealed to the Board of Selectmen last Tuesday for more man-hours.
Requesting that the Town appropriate funding so that the Building Department can increase local Building Inspector Cheryl Noble’s work schedule by five hours and Argiro’s schedule by 2.5 hours, the Building Inspector warned the Selectmen that his department deals with important safety issues in Town.
“People don’t realize our job is more than inspecting decks. We have a lot to do with public safety and fire safety,” commented Argiro, who added that in light of a Medford Fire that killed a Tufts University student and Rhode Island’s fatal night club blaze, Massachusetts officials now place a lot of emphasis on fire prevention.
“The fact is we need to take care of these things. It’s an important safety issue we can’t ignore....Recently we had a facility built in Stoneham that houses little children and they had the wrong flame spread material on its walls. This particular material gives off a toxic fume when it burns,” claimed Argiro.
According to the Building Inspector, he denied an occupancy permit for the Kindercare facility when he learned that a reinforced fiberglass plastic installed in the learning center didn’t have the proper flame spread rating.
“This particular one had a flame-spread rating of II. It’s not an approved rating for that use in a corridor or means of egress,” said Argiro in a post-meeting interview, adding that the material needed a spread rating of III.
Although Kindercare appealed Argiro’s decision to the State’s Board of Appeals, his decision was upheld. As a result, all the materials must be removed from the building.
While Argiro claimed that Kindercares across the state utilize the same plastics, a California spokesperson for the child-care business disputed Argiro’s statements.
“As a result of this one incident we will not be using this material in any building from this point forward. In the past three or four years, we’ve only had three or four Kindercares built in the state that could contain this [material],” said Jill Eiland, who couldn’t specifiy where those sites were located.
According to Eiland, a contractor has already been hired to remove the materials from the Stoneham site. However, because only Argiro has voiced his concerns about the material, Eiland stated that other locations that contain the plastic will not remove the materials.
“It turns out there’s just one building inspector who’s concerned with the walls. So the only place we’re changing the walls is in [Stoneham]...Hopefully there are other businesses in Stoneham being subjected to this law,” remarked Eiland.
Asked whether Kindercare was concerned with the safety of facilities that contain the materials, Eiland responded no.
“The short answer is no. It’s been an accepted building material that many people have used,” said Eiland.
According to Argiro, while the fiberglass plastic does not pose an immediate threat to the Stoneham facility, it’s presence still presents a minor danger to the business.
“It wasn’t a situation where if there was an emergency someone would get burned or hurt. They have a means of egress in every classroom. That was one of the reasons the state allowed them to keep it in the classrooms,” commented Argiro.
Although the Town’s Selectmen agreed with Argiro that his department provided a valuable service, the Board unofficially denied his request for additional working hours. The Board also denied Argiro’s request for new computer software, which could cost the Town as much as $20,000.
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