Using an array of research in original sources, including newspapers, municipal records, fire-insurance documents, and risk management literature, James McSwain reveals how city officials in Houston, Galveston, New Orleans and Mobile created standards based on technical, scientific and engineering knowledge to devise politically workable ordinances that controlled the storage and handling of fuel oil. Throughout the twentieth century, these municipalities pursued the risk management of flammable and combustible liquids, adopting voluntary, consensual fire codes issued by code creators such as...