Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.COM (05/13/88)
The plot seems to thicken.... Illinois Bell has tossed in the deck and said rehab of the old switch is impossible. Since they are getting a new one, they are going with a #5 ESS from AT&T which was delivered to the site on Friday afternoon. Working around the clock, they say it will be operational for most subscribers by the end of May, and for all subscribers by mid-June. Several additional emergency communication trailers have been installed in the area, bringing to eight the number of such locations in the west suburbs where calls can be made. In addition, various company facilities in the area have opened their doors to the public and installed several lines where calls can be made. In a distressing development, Vice President of Operations Jim Eibel admitted in a press conference Thursday that there had been a *40 minute delay* in calling the Fire Department. The [Chicago Sun Times] had testimony from an 'unnamed executive' earlier saying the delay was more like an hour... The timetable for the afternoon seems to go like this now -- At 3:50 PM, Sunday, May 8, a technician in Springfield, IL got an alarm trip from Hinsdale, saying a fire was in progress. *THAT PERSON CHOSE TO IGNORE THE ALARM*. Due to the heavy rain and high winds, it was 'assumed' the alarm was false. Shortly after 4:00 PM, other alarms in Springfield induced our technican person to think the matter over more carefully. A decision was then made to call the weekend duty supervisor in Chicago and ask what it was all about. Where the newspapers and others in the media had first been told that the employees *on location in Hinsdale* had discovered the fire, now we find out that in fact NO EMPLOYEES WERE ON DUTY. THE BUILDING WAS DESERTED. The duty supervisor drives over and goes inside; discovers the fire -- then apparently well under way -- and goes to call the Fire Department. At this point, about a quarter past four, it is discovered by the duty supervisor that they cannot call for help *because the phones were already dead, and apparently had been dead all over town for several minutes at that point.* Around 4:20 PM, someone sticks their head out the front door and says to a passer by, 'Will you please call the Fire Department to come here.' This passer by may or may not have bothered; no one knows who it was. Let's give the person credit in assuming they probably went to the nearest pay phone and *tried* to call; but finding the phone dead walked away bewildered by it all. A little while later, the person in the doorway is able to convince a motorist driving past to go to the Fire Department. That person does so, and around 4:30 PM the first firefighters show up on the scene. What an utterly wasteful, ineffecient approach. We might term this the hour that cost several million dollars, since this delay probably cost them their switch. The new #5 ESS is coming from AT&T. Although Jim Eibel refused to discuss the cost, communications experts familiar with similar equipment from other manufacturers/distributors estimate the cost at sixteen million dollars. Eibel would not confirm or deny this estimate. Here are some questions you won't hear asked/answered on the Illinois Bell Communicator Line (312-368-8000) -- 1. Why did the person in Springfield who first got the alarm tripping decide that a fire alarm did not mean a fire was in progress? Why would a fire alarm mean anything other than a fire? 2. Whether it meant fire or not, why wasn't a call placed to Chicago immediatly, instead of several minutes later when other alarms had begun tripping? Why did the Springfield person need several symptoms of trouble before being induced to call for help? 3. Why, when the Springfield person called the duty supervisor in Chicago did s/he not also call the Fire Department and report the possibility of a serious problem, and advise them a supervisor was on the way to meet them at 120 North Lincoln Street in Hinsdale? *That would have saved about half an hour right there -- and maybe saved the switch.* 4. When the duty supervisor arrived at the site, seeing as how Springfield had not bothered to tell police/fire personnel to meet them on location, how come that person did not immediatly try to phone the Fire Department? Or did they? This is not yet known to me. Apparently the supervisor did attempt to call in a minute or two, but the phones were already dead. (Remember now, at this point the fire had apparently started nearly 20 minutes before, if the alarm trip in Springfield is to be believed.) 5. Why was there no one on duty at Hinsdale? Not even a watchman? Is this lack of any personnel on duty part of the 'economy' Bell talks about when they put so many major operations all under one roof? While many's the night and weekend a watchman would sit and do nothing, his salary would have been paid many times over before last Sunday night was ended. 6. Having discovered (a) the fire, and (b) the phones all being dead, why didn't the duty supervisor *immediatly* leave the premises, get in their car and drive to a police/fire station for help? Why didn't they drive 90 miles an hour, drive through red lights, honk their horn continously, yell and scream at the top of their voice as they were driving, and otherwise get help in there fast? Instead, the supervisor leans out the front door and asks a passer-by to call for help...a few minutes pass, and a motorist going by is also asked to secure help. The motorist, name unknown, did go to the Fire Department, and should be praised for this help. But it was no skin off his nose. What if he had ignored the plea like the first one did? 6. Why the lack of adequate fire protection in the building? I can understand why automatic ceiling sprinkers would be frowned upon: if activated, they would do as much damage as the firemen did, if you want to think of the firemen's heroic efforts as 'damage' under the circumstances. I have splendid news for the heirarchy at IBT: Halon has been invented! This charming chemical can be sprayed in *great quantities* on everything in sight and its endearing charm is that it *makes fast work of fires*. Halon can be dispensed from the ceiling, through piping just like conventional water sprinklers. But what did Bell say when asked why Halon was not in place if they were so concerned about potential water damage to the switch? Well, said Jim Eibel, it would have cost too much money also.... Well now folks, you see what your false economy has cost you in real terms. And its not a matter that you could write a check today for 20 million dollars or so and like magic have everything operational tomorrow. And quite frankly, 20 million is a *low -- very low -- estimate* of the cost to Illinois Bell, to say nothing of the tremendous economic hardship caused in the areas affected. Like I say, these questions are not likely to be answered with any candor anytime soon. It may well take a forced confrontation to get the answer, which isn't likely to be broadcast on the Communicator. I began entering this message with the idea in mind that I would conclude with a demand that Jim Eibel, and the people who report immediatly to him either resign or be fired. Now I am not so sure. Maybe there are valid reasons for the 40-60 minute delay which caused the worst disaster in the history of the telephone industry to occur last week. If there are valid reasons, perhaps Jim Eibel will see this message and kindly enlighten us. But in the event Bell decides to try and recoup its losses from this event through its rate base instead of its stockholders, then I think without question Eibel and the people around him who set policy which even begins to tolerate the sloppy handling of last weekend's emergency have got to go. Spiegel Catalog is located in Oak Brook. Hundreds of employees laid off work for the duration....the phones are their lifeblood. Eight telemarketing firms in the area closed until further notice. An insurance claims processing center. Numerous sales and service organizations doing business on the phone. Travel agencies; theatres and restaurants taking reservations. All in a bind. When asked about restitution to the community, Eibel noted that the affected subscribers would receive credit on their phone bill. No one has to pay for the period - now up to a month in some cases, ha ha! - when service was not operative....as for other restitution, Eibel says its not corporate policy. No, and I can't blame him on that point: no one has a constitutional right to phone service. No one has a right to be that reliant upon it. But it was the fault of his own people -- and the policies he helped write -- which made the disaster as bad as it was. We do not have a right to demand phone service at all times; we do have a right to expect the telco to take prudent and reasonable steps to provide continuity of service; something apparently lacking in priority when 'the economy involved in operating a central office' was considered in the operation of Hinsdale.