Security Bars

* Re “Fire Kills Girl, 3, Injures 7 Others,” May 7: Children, like 3-year-old Richeana So and others, will continue to die locked behind security bars that have no mechanism for opening from the inside. These escape mechanisms are required on newer buildings, but the older houses and apartments in high-crime neighborhoods where security grates are so common often have no way out.

Laws have been proposed to require all existing dwellings to have at least one window in a sleeping room with security bars to open from the inside; unfortunately the laws have only made retrofitting optional. Good legislation has been beaten back by narrow interests that lobby against laws that cost even the scant amount of money security bar modifications would require.

Please, let’s put some public scrutiny on the process. It’s extremely difficult to enforce laws that make fire and building inspectors guess the age of a building--let the law apply in all cases.

WARREN CHASE

Topanga