The fire Thursday in Somerville ``is an opportunity to take a look at whether there needs to be regulations in place,'' said State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan. ``There should be a review of whether this is an industry that needs to be licensed or whether there is a permitting process'' that should be created.
Floor sanding and refinishing is performed in the city largely by unskilled immigrants with little or no training and, unlike construction, is subject to no oversight, The Boston Globe reported Saturday.
Somerville Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher said the state had seen ``a number of fires'' involving floor finishing and the industry needed to be scrutinized.
``This is an unregulated industry. These people worked very hard doing manual labor. They don't educate their workers,'' he said. ``These are just hard-working guys. They didn't do things right, but they weren't trying to do anything wrong.''
Katie Ford, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Public Safety, which includes the state fire marshal's office, said, ``We would agree with the fire marshal's reaction, which is whenever something happens like this that could have been avoided, we like to take the opportunity to take a look at our policies and procedures and regulations to make sure they are sufficient.''
Four men were refinishing a stairwell inside a home Thursday when fumes from the chemicals detonated, causing a fire that initially killed one man and left three injured. A second man died Friday at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Officials have not released the names of the victims.
But the Globe said the man who died initially was identified by family members and friends as Toan Bui, 37, a Vietnamese immigrant. The name of the second man, who died at the hospital Friday, was Ha Vu.
Huong Nguyen, director of economic development for Viet-AID, a community development agency in Boston's Dorchester section, said that about 127 of the 144 flooring contractors registered in the city are Vietnamese.
``When I speak to people, I ask them what their perception of the risks are,'' she said. ``They're close to the chemicals, which are flammable and produce noxious fumes. That's not a big priority to them. Their concern is, 'This is a lucrative business for us.' They can make anywhere from $60 to $80 a day.''
Coan and Kelleher said anyone using floor finishing chemicals should follow warning labels, make sure the area is properly ventilated, and ensure that all possible ignition sources - such as stove pilot lights and light switches - are eliminated before work begins.
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