BOSTON (AP) -- A number of fire doors in the Big Dig tunnels are either boarded up or missing and many others are blocked as a result of work to find and repair leaks, The Boston Globe reported Friday, citing its own survey of the $14.6 billion highway project.
The city fire commissioner said the fire department ''can live with the conditions.''
The steel doors, which are meant to stop smoke and flames for at least two hours, are the main escape route for motorists in the event of a fire in the Interstate 93 tunnels underneath downtown Boston.
The Globe reported the problem was more pronounced in the northbound tunnels, where one exit, its sign still intact, was boarded over with plywood.
City Fire Commissioner Paul A. Christian is concerned that some exits are blocked and some doors are missing, but said they do not need to be immediately replaced because the massive project remains under construction.
Approval from the city fire department was the last hurdle before the tunnel system could be opened to traffic, and that approval required that all fire doors be in place.
Asked why that requirement is not being enforced now, Christian said ''I'm not going to shut the tunnels down.''
''It is the position of the Boston Fire Department that these fire doors were not pivotal for the fire safety of that tunnel,'' he added. ''And now that these problems have developed while the tunnel is operational, we can live with the conditions.''
The fire department is the sole agency overseeing fire safety in the tunnels.
Project spokesman Doug Hanchett said the tunnels exceed federal standards for emergency exits, and that no operational emergency exits have been boarded up due to repair work. He said the doors not in use are due to unfinished work at the surface, and that their existence is known to fire officials. Some of the doors are located near the last portion of tunnel to be built, and will not be permanent exits, he said.
Robert Zalosh, a professor of fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said that the doors are an important aspect of fire protection in the tunnels. He said that the main threat to motorists in a fire is smoke, and although the project's ventilation system has been shown to be effective, people still need to get out.
''It's important to make sure that any defect with fire doors should be minimized,'' he said. ''If smoke got into a stairway, it could be an issue.''
The fire protection standards for the tunnel were created as it was built, and were inspired by tunnel fires in Europe that claimed lives. A fire in 1999 inside the Mount Blanc Tunnel connecting France and Italy killed 39 people.
Christian said the doors must be replaced and in working order by the time the project is complete in September.
