Man's love of reading costs him his home
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Thu, 26 Jul 2007 03:28:21 GMT |
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WILKES-BARRE, Pa., July 25 A bookstore owner's obsession with the written word has cost him his Pennsylvania home after local officials deemed his book collection a fire hazard.
Authorities in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., condemned John Puchniak's apartment this year when a routine inspection raised concern the bookstore owner's collection of nearly 3,000 texts could cause a fire, The (Wilkes-Barre) Times Leader reported Wednesday.
Puchniak now resides in a local hotel, while attempting to limit the stacks upon stacks of books that decorate his condemned apartment.
But even if he can restore the apartment to acceptable living standards, Puchniak has said he cannot afford to appeal the city to reopen his home.
Attorney Jim Hayward has become a champion for the troubled literary fan, attempting to convince local officials to let the 59-year-old store his growing collection as he sees fit.
"Their (the city's) priorities are wrong. This is not the guy they should be going after," he told the newspaper. "The average person may not agree with how John stores his books, but does that mean it's wrong?" Copyright 2007 by UPI
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Maybe
By:
Ian ,
Sun, 29 Jul 2007 13:52:32 GMT
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Maybe the local Fire Marshall confused bundles of newspapers with books.
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Get off my property.
By:
Michael Price ,
Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:49:32 GMT
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The claims that his books blocked an exit leads to the question, so what? He's the one who has to get out so it's his problem. If anyone voluntarily enters his home they voluntarily take on the risk. It's none of the government's business how much of a risk that is.
Oh and BTW reading every Ayn Rand book? That's what I call creul and unusual punishment.
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Books
By:
Ed Jones ,
Sat, 28 Jul 2007 15:37:27 GMT
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Let's face it the authorities do not like books. If they had their way they would burn them all.
Books are dangerous. They point out the stupidity and corruptness of politicians, and the bankruptcy of their ideas.
Books encourage people to think for themselves. Hell, we can't have that. People might start to see through all the crap they've been fed by politicians, not least the nutcases in the Bush administration.
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Relative risks
By:
John David Galt ,
Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:20:05 GMT
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The major risk here is neither the alleged fire hazard nor anything else specific to this case -- it's the fact that most people accept (and thus allow) government having the power to tell anyone what he can keep in his home.
Any power given to government will be misused.
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Responding to Jim Davis
By:
Herratik ,
Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:41:41 GMT
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"ho cares about what the average person thinks about how John stores his books"
Thank Ho for me.
Now. Lets look at the issue here. A man was removed from his home (which was an apartment) because his books "...could cause a fire." Maybe we need to be worried about this. Imagine the danger that libraries pose! And bookstores?!!? Holy hell, that's a conflagration waiting to happen! Point is... first they came for the books, to keep us safe from fire. We did nothing. Then they came for our brains, to keep us safe from ourselves...
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Moral relativism is behind *every* corner?!?
By:
Droflim ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:51:21 GMT
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Wow. The "moral relativism and situational ethics are going to destroy society" brigade must really be wanting for expressive opportunities, if they feel the need to beat their already-overused drum over an issue like this. Speaking in terms of moral "right or wrong" about methods of book storage is downright silly.
There are simply more-risky and less-risky ways of storing books. The relevant question here is not a black-and-white moral one. Rather, we need to ask at which point on the risk continuum public-safety officials should be allowed to intervene at all, and at which point they should be permitted to take such severe action as removing a man from his home. Our personal answers will depend in part on where we sit on the political spectrum, but should be guided most of all by the particular facts of this case -- which not all of us know (myself included).
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Man's library...
By:
CynthiaLR ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:09:24 GMT
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All I can say about these 'officials' is they are a bunch of ill read philistines! 3,000 books are NOT a lot of books and, if John is like me, those books become one's friends. There is little fire hazard it's just a case of, once again, the powers that be concentrating on a matter that should be of no concern to them. The more I see of this modern society, the more I come to believe the bumper sticker I once saw which read "if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle em with bs".
I'd like to know what happened to the credo of our founding fathers that government was best which governed least?
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Automatic Assumption Machines
By:
Chris ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:22:58 GMT
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It's amazing to see everyone jump on the side of a man without knowing the state of the matter. I would imagine that the books were not deemed a fire hazard because of the possibility of them catching fire, but instead as a means of blocking an exit. Without a picture of the organization of over 3000 texts, it is possible, if not likely, to imagine that they could have been in a state of disarray. Anything, beyond an overtly temporarily placed object blocking a doorway or window can be deemed a fire hazard. It's not on the premise that it would START a fire, yet that it would hinder escape and possible rescue attempts. The apartment community has every right to refuse tenancy to a person who creates a fire hazard which could endanger the other residents. Don't be so quick to assume that this man has a perfectly cataloged array of shelving and storage. It is quite possible that this is a 59-year old with a psychological need for collecting books.
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POLICE STATE
By:
Jeff ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:21:27 GMT
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These local official morons are so power hungry they will force someone out of their home for no reason just so they can feel important. I just love living in a Commie Police State!
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BOOKS
By:
DAVE ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:25:54 GMT
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I AM GLAD I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA. SINCE WHEN DOES THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAVE THE RIGHT OF INSPECTION OF YOUR RENTAL. THEY DO NOT HAVE THAT HERE. PLUS I HAVE MORE THAN 3000 BOOKS MY SELF
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Fahrenheit 451
By:
Anders Chydenius ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:08:06 GMT
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Ray Bradbury -- for those of you who still read books -- had a solution for this.
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Think
By:
Milford Douglas ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:03:00 GMT
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Either he's right or wrong, there's no subjectiveness to this issue. With that kind of mindless philosophy, anything goes.
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Burn Baby Burn
By:
Al Coholic ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:56:06 GMT
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Maybe the books were "hot"? lol
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Sad and scary at the same time...
By:
Anna ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:43:34 GMT
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Does this hint of Fahrenheit 451 to anyone else?
If they are very concerned about this issue (which I can see a genuine concern, but it's been blown out proportion), they should research it before insanely criticizing it and causing undue stress on the man. Why couldn't he use similar techniques as a library? It's obvious they house so many more books than this man does. Like someone said, a sprinkler system is within reason and not cost prohibitive. Just leave the poor man to his books!
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What Were They Thinking?!
By:
Rob ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:10:39 GMT
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Go condemn the properties of people who play computer games, watch tv, listen to their stereo and run a fan all at the same time, all on the same outlet/extension cord. You undoubtedly won't find any books, but maybe you can find a REAL fire hazard... Those involved in the eviction of this man should be ashamed of themselves. Perhaps they're jealous of his literacy?
Thanks Jim Davis, hahaha.. No truer words have been spoken (this year).
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'Fire hazard'? Have you ever tried to burn a book?
By:
steve ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:06:14 GMT
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Books do not burn easily. Unless you open them and separate the pages, it is almost impossible to light a book on fire. Books are just too densely packed to let enough air in to sustain a fire. Don't believe me? Hold a lighter to a closed book and see what happens. The edges brown a bit and that's that. Even if it does catch, it will burn for a second or two, then smolder, then go out.
I knew a professor in college who had way more than 3000 books in his home, filling mostly homemade shelves that essentially lined probably half of the available wallspace in his house. When the fire department saw it, his house was actually rated as a LOWER fire hazard, because the books would burn far slower than any other part of the house - and his insurance rate dropped.
Books a fire hazard? What a joke. Whoever made this decision should be fired, pilloried, and forced to read every Ayn Rand book ever written.
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Hm
By:
Chris ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:31:21 GMT
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On the one hand, 3000 books seems small to me--15 bookcases, max, and a lot less if they're all paperbacks on optimized shelving. I have a great deal more than that and would be worried if I lived in range of this fire department. On the other hand, if this guy has a one bedroom gas-heated apartment with 3000 books in stacks on the floor, I can easily imagine it being fantastically dangerous.
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Sprinkler Syetem would solve the problem
By:
b brickey ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:11:43 GMT
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If he installed a home sprinkler system it would solve the problem. It's about the same price as replacing your carpets. It will make the fire risk drop dramatically and save him money on his homeowner insurance.
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How does a book CAUSE a fire?
By:
Mark Cherry ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:49:43 GMT
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This is an outrage!
The article doesn't state the condition he stored the books in, but I'm going to assume it was semi-orderly. No one reads that much and keeps it disorganized - I have trouble with the 70 or so books I have at home if I let them get disorganized. I'm sure there was shelving and that they weren't just ground into the carpet.
So now the question comes up; how are books in danger of STARTING a fire? To quote, "the bookstore owner's collection of nearly 3,000 texts could cause a fire," I've never heard of books causing a fire. Should houses made of flammable material be banned? How about people who have a lot of clothes?
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Scary
By:
Jane McCallio ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:31:40 GMT
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Condemning someone's house for having books inside? Surely if it's his private property, it's his problem and his choice? I Daren't think how they'll treat libraries.
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Johns Books
By:
Jim Davis ,
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:19:01 GMT
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ho cares about what the average person thinks about how John stores his books, the average person in 2007 is semi retarded, and are yet to touch something that resembles a book other than the TV guide since leaving school.
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