Fires can easily destroy our cultural heritage. Most societies use the legal system to protect against fire. However historic structures are not well protected by typical fire safety codes. First, fire codes are designed to protect lives rather than property. Second, older buildings are usually excused from full compliance with the codes. Third, actual compliance in older buildings may be spotty due to the way such buildings are used. 

Curators and those responsible for such buildings often have an unrealistically low estimate of the destruction that fire can cause, and may place unreasonable reliance on compliance with a code that is not actually designed to protect historical cultural structures.

Resolving this issue requires a novel approach to code compliance. A combination of modern technical analysis and the installation of a properly empowered fire safety controller can use the legal system substantially reduce the risk to our shared cultural heritage.