The article’s bibliography explains the extensive research that was put into the article. The resources used were not only online references, so they took time to gather.
The main arguments presented in this article is the history of disasters in the United States and the cause of buildings’ demise due to structural discrepancies. The historical accounts of the burning of the capital and the Iroquois theatre fire show how disaster investigation started and then evolved to the investigation of 9/11.
This article is referenced online, as well as in the History and Technology Journal published in 2003
The author is Scott Gabriel knowles he works for the department of history and politics at Drexel University. His area of expertise is risk and disaster in modern cities, technology and public policy.
Emergency response is not mentioned in the article, it is briefly mentioned on how each of the disasters were handled, however the article mainly focuses on the aftermath. What had caused these disasters? And what could have been done in the future to prevent them?
The data used to produce the claims in the report were investigations of past American disasters and how these shortcomings eventually lead to a failure for those investigating 9/11. Direct quotes and explanation of each of the historical events were also used to support the claims made.
“With this promising technology, though, arrived a whole series of risks,catastrophic boiler explosions being the most dramatic and the deadliest.”
“Dr. Astweh-Asel had no idea then how serendipitous and how surprisingly rare this meeting between investigator and wreckage would come to seem in the weeks and months ahead.”
“ No one argued with him over these reinventions in principal, but he was thwarted time and time again over the next fifteen years as he tried to defend them in practice.”
The three points that I looked up further was Dr. Alblhassen Astech Asl, Labtrobe, and the history of fire safety measures in buildings
The argument is supported using multiple historical accounts such as the 1850 Hauge st explosion where the boiler failure investigation consisted of people who were experts on the boiler, on the man who controlled the boiler and his habits. The disaster was blamed on those who were directly involved in the boiler’s sale, upkeep and use. Next the article uses findings of the Iroquois theatre fire and puts the people who designed the building at fault. Freeman, a well educated engineer analyzed the faults of the building and deemed that many factors caused the fire. The 1814 burning of the capitol is used as evidence because the government did not want to spend the time or money to build the building properly to prevent the fire. The investigation was spearheaded by Lathrobe who attempted to rebuild in the proper way, but ultimately failed due to political reasons.