Robert H. Gates: Better building alternatives

The wood industry, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has done a remarkable job of convincing the public and code officials that wood framing is an acceptable and safe way to build multi-story, high-rise institutional and residential construction projects.

Across the country, regularly reported catastrophic fires like the one in Raleigh last week suggest otherwise. Wood burns. Masonry, concrete and steel do not.

Robert H. Gates