In december1994, a fire starten in the gymnasi-um of a large high school in the Midwest and spread rapidly, resulting in a multimillion-dollar loss before the fire was brought under control. Litigation followed, which brought out many theories of the fire experts involved relative to the fire's origin and, more importantly, its rapid spread. The gym was a two-story structure that included on one side a mezzanine in which lesser gym activities could be conducted. A retractable wood curtain wall divided the mezzanine gym from the main floor. Telescoping benches were stacked up against the wall on the main floor as well as on the mezzanine. During basketball tournaments, the curtain wall was folded back, and the telescoping benches were pulled away from the wall downstairs on the main floor and upstairs as needed in the mezzanine, providing seating for more than a thousand visitors. At the. time of the fire, the benches were stored against the wall, and the curtain wall closed off the mezzanine from the main gym.
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