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John Stossel Takes on the Insidious Anti-Fire Lobby

	This is John Stossel for 20/20. Fire. For years, doctors and bureaucrats have been telling us it's bad. But is it really? Or are we just the unwitting dupes of anti-fire special interests? That's the claim put forward by Melvin Roaster, president of Flame International, and the story he has to tell may shock you.
	John, the media constantly shows us negative images of fires. Like Bambi's forest burning down, or Union troops torching Atlanta during the Civil War. But the media doesn't show fire toasting marshmallows, burning thousands of useless logs every year, bringing families together. According to our research, more people have died of leprosy in the last 50 years than have been injured by fire.
	I've never heard this kind of stuff before! Has that research appeared in any peer-reviewed scientific journal?
	No, because the scientific community has a well-documented anti-fire bias. Not to mention all of those limousine liberals in Washington who get tons of money each year from the radical anti-fire lobby.
	If fire is as harmless as you say it is, who could possibly be against it?
	There's a lot of fat cats who stand to lose a lot of money if the truth about fire gets out there. There'd be no more cushy jobs for those lazy firemen and their yappy Dalmatians. And did you know that nearly every major hospital in this country has something called a "burn unit"? Those greedy quacks won't go down without a fight!
	But surely there are examples of people who have lost homes or businesses because of a fire.
	Technically, you're correct, John. But you can't necessarily look at that as a bad thing. We prefer to think of fires as pyrotechnical market corrections. As we all know, markets operate best when they're free and unfettered. And yet the government just has to stick its big nose into everything and send out some bureaucrats with hoses every time a fire pops up. Our feeling is, if a house isn't strong enough to stand up under a few flames, then it doesn't deserve to be saved. A stronger, more capitalist-friendly house will rise in its place, and we'll all benefit. We call it the Sizzle Down Theory.
	My interview with Mr. Roaster was truly an eye opener. His research showed me I'd been wrong about fire all along! And yet, we're constantly told that fire can hurt you, possibly even kill you. And for what? Just to save a few precious do-nothing jobs? I interviewed Frank Elwood, a fireman at a local volunteer fire department, in the hopes that he would come clean about the extreme biases of the anti-fire lobby.
	Mr. Elwood, your organization promotes the false idea of fire as a major public health hazard. And yet according to this study by Flame International, fire is the 729th leading cause of death in this country, well behind whooping cough and tennis elbow.
	First of all, I'm pretty sure those figures are inaccurate. Second of all, that report is written on construction paper in crayon.
	Mr. Elwood, I think the medium of this report is irrelevant. The fact remains, there is not a single shred of evidence that fire has damaged any property in the last 20 years.
	I am 100 percent sure that fire has caused major damage to property throughout history.
	If you're so sure, tell me this: have you ever actually seen a fire burn a house down with your own eyes?
	Yes, constantly. It's something I see on the job nearly every day.
	Has it occurred to you that these fires might have gone away by themselves if the meddlesome government hadn't sent you and your so-called "firefighters" to muck up the situation?
	That had not once occurred to me, because that is insane.
	Mr. Elwood, I have to tell you, I find your claims much harder to believe than those of a firm believer in free enterprise like Melvin Roaster.
	Seriously? Are you aware that Melvin Roaster is wanted in numerous states on several dozen counts of fraud?
	Oh. Fraud is bad, right?
	Yes. In fact, Flame International is an elaborate front for a scam. The company sets up fraudulent fire policies on other people's houses, burns them down, and then collects the insurance money. It's a pretty despicable act.
	Mr. Roaster, what do you say to charges that your company is merely a front for a scam?
	Look, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that fire is 100 percent good for you. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that everything my company does is perfectly legal. I'm also not going to sit here and tell you that I've never killed anyone. Because I have. Dozens and dozens of people. And I don't mean, like, I ordered someone else to kill them, or I shot them from far away. I mean, I have murdered guys with my bare hands. But the fact remains that I am rich and alive, while nearly all of my critics are dead. I think that speaks volumes.
	20/20 tried to contact Frank Elwood to rebut Mr. Roaster's claims, but shortly after our interview, his beaten, charred body was found in a ditch. In this reporter's opinion, his unwillingness to talk demonstrates that Mr. Roaster's success has the powerful anti-fire lobby running scared. Or at least lying lifelessly at the side of road scared. Next week, part seven of my special report: how the global warming myth encourages illegal immigration.

Posted 05.31.08 10:31am * Permalink

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