``You want to talk about bad _ that's the way it was,'' Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., said Tuesday at a news conference on the safety upgrades being made in the sprawling Capitol complex.
A former firefighter, Weldon lambasted the lack of fire safety measures during his first term in 1988, when a fire broke out in a House office building. As smoke billowed, he discovered few working fire extinguishers and no alarm system or evacuation plan.
A decade later, problems persisted. The House inspector general reported in 1998 that poor fire safety in the Capitol and House office buildings posed an ``undue risk of loss of life and property.''
The Office of Compliance _ Congress' internal health and safety agency _ issued several citations as well as a 2000 report that concluded the level of fire safety in the Capitol complex was far lower than most American office buildings of similar age and size.
Alan Hantman, the architect of the Capitol, says that's all changing.
``I think it's fair to say we've come a long ways and we still have more to do,'' he said.
Working sometimes from dusk till dawn so as not to disturb the daily Congressional grind, the architect's office is gradually upgrading Capitol buildings as well as the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress.
Capitol Fire Marshal Ken Lauziere said the Capitol itself would be fully ``sprinklered'' in eight to 10 years, the Supreme Court in four years.
Despite the improvements, about 35 fireplaces still worry Lauziere.
Scattered in offices around the building, the fireplaces are used mostly during the winter for warmth and ambiance, with fresh wood being replenished overnight.
Lauziere, who has worked at the Capitol for 25 years, said he wants them shut down but has been unable to convince House or Senate leadership.
``It's hard to do,'' he said. ``We think some members of some committees would be upset.''
Apart from any fire risks, he said, the heat dries out paintings and can do irreparable damage to other historic elements of the building.
``We haven't had any problems and I hadn't heard about it,'' said Jo Maney, spokeswoman for House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., who regularly uses his fireplace in the winter.
