Big Dig affirms the fire safety of I-93 tunnels
Big Dig officials affirmed the fire safety of the project's tunnels yesterday and said no fire exits have been blocked or removed because of work to repair recent leaks.
The Globe reported yesterday that some fire exits had been boarded up or fire doors removed as a result of the repairs. But yesterday Fire Department Captain Richard Quinlan, who monitors the project's safety issues, confirmed that no working exits have been barricaded as a result of leak repairs.
The Globe acknowledges in an editor's note today that there were significant errors in the story. ''Friday's story did not meet our reporting and editing standards, and we regret that," said Martin Baron, editor of the Globe.
The tunnels -- which carry more than 200,000 vehicles every day -- meet or exceed all federal fire safety standards, project officials said.
''This is still one of the safest tunnels, not only in this country, but in the world," said Mariellen Burns, a project spokeswoman, who said the Globe ''did a disservice to the public and caused undue alarm."
Fifty-seven of the 70 escape routes that will be available when the Big Dig is completed in September are now open, Burns said. They include all 21 exits that lead above ground, she said.
Currently, 13 of 49 eventual passageways to adjacent tunnels are barricaded, Burns said, because they lead to areas of the Big Dig that are still under construction.
Three of those passageways are located in the northbound tunnel and lead to an Interstate 93 onramp, which is under construction, Burns said. Five others are found in the southbound tunnel and lead to the same onramp, she said.
The final five are located in the southbound tunnel and are inaccessible because a pedestrian walkway and barrier have yet to be built, Burns said.
Even with the 13 barricaded escape routes, working exits can be found about every 300 feet throughout the tunnels, Burns said. That spacing compares with a US rule requiring tunnels to have exits every 1,000 feet, she said.
The fire exits and passageways are a secondary escape route, officials said. In the event of a fire in the tunnels, drivers should seek first to go out the opening through which they entered and use the exit doors as a backup, officials said
The Big Dig has other fire safety systems at the ready, Burns said.
They include fire alarms, video monitoring devices, powerful ventilation fans, carbon monoxide detectors, and two-way radios for emergency responders. The Fire Department approved the systems in 2003, before Big Dig officials opened the tunnels to the public, Dig officials said.
An exit shown boarded up in a photograph in the Globe yesterday was properly blocked because it leads to an area where work is underway, Burns said. 