Residential Fire Sprinklers .com

Protecting Your Home & Family

Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin

The Simcoe County Fire Chiefs have banded together to speak out in a unified voice in favour of residential sprinklers as a method of reducing loss of life and minimizing property damage. The Fire Chiefs say they support the legislation that will promise greater fire safety to all citizens.

On May 29, the Fire Chiefs are on the move to the Ontario Legislature for Second Reading of MPP Linda Jeffrey’s Private Members Bill 72, Municipal Residential Sprinkler Act, 2008.

“Evidence from other jurisdictions clearly shows that where sprinklers are properly installed and maintained in residential structures they save lives and reduce property damage” Tony Van Dam - Fire Chief, Springwater Fire Department /President, Simcoe County Fire Chiefs Administration Group.

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By Max Seigle

When a house goes up in flames like this one, firefighters race to the call with their hoses. But there’s another sort of hose that Belvidere could make a permanent fixture at home. “Most of the time one sprinkler or two will control and contain a fire and stop it from spreading.” Belvidere Fire Chief David Worrell is among the supporters of a proposed law heading to the Belvidere city council next week. It would require fire sprinklers in all new residential housing.

The chief says he’s not aware of these sprinklers in any local homes today. And adding them would provide an extra hand to his department. “With the growth, we’re getting back-to-back calls, it’s stretching our manpower thin,” Worrell said. But not everyone is board with this proposed law.

There’s opposition from those building these new subdivisions. “You want to be able to sell a home that people can afford to buy. You’ve limited your market now,” said Dennis Sweeney, President of the Homebuilders Association of Greater Rockford. Sweeney argues a fire sprinkler is an added cost that homebuyers should make themselves, not a municipality. “If a homeowner feels like they need the added protection, they always have the option of instructing their builder to install a sprinkler system,” Sweeney said. Sweeney also says new housing already comes with effective fire safeguards.

But Chief Worrell says a sprinkler can be even better. “It’s like having your own personal firefighter in your house,” Worrell said. The Belvidere City Council gets its first look at this proposed law at its Monday night board meeting. Further discussion on the issue is expected in the following weeks. We also checked in with Rockford and Freeport. They have no laws requiring fire sprinklers in homes.

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By JIM MANIACI- Mohave Valley News

LAUGHLIN - A sprinkler quickly doused a Wednesday morning fire in a room on the 24th floor of the Riverside Resort Hotel-Casino. There were no injuries, according to the Clark County Fire Department.

“It was a small fire, extinguished by our sprinkler system before the fire department arrived,” according to the hotel’s marketing department.

Clark County Fire Department Deputy Chief Girard Page said the fire, which occurred at about 8 a.m., ignited a curtain in a guest’s room, but the sprinklers did their job and put it out.

No injuries were reported..

He said the hotel staff followed standard safety procedures in evacuating everyone from the 23rd, 24th and 25th floors.

Page said investigators were checking to see what caused the fire, but as of early Wednesday afternoon, he had not received their report.

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By Paula Horton - Mid Columbia Tri-City Herald

Fire investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked a blaze that killed an 83-year-old Richland woman.

So far they’ve concluded the fire started in Isabel Arnold’s bedroom late Sunday and was accidental, said Richland Fire Marshal Kurt Hubele. But the cause still is “undetermined” and it’s not clear if a definitive cause will ever be known, he said.

A lamp being pulled onto the bed is one possible cause. Fire Chief Grant Baynes said they’re also looking into whether an electrical problem is to blame.

“It’s a tough one,” Baynes said. “The area’s very clearly defined, but there are a couple of possibilities in there.”

The fire already had built up in the one-story home at 1004 Smith Ave. by the time it was reported at 11:37 p.m. Neighbors across the street heard the home’s smoke detector sounding and saw the fire glow.

When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out the bedroom window. They were told someone was likely inside so one crew went in and quickly knocked down the bulk of the fire while another search crew looked for Arnold.

“It was just a matter of seconds and they found her,” Baynes said.

She was in the bathroom, which is just across the hall from the bedroom. The chief said she was likely trying to leave and just collapsed in the bathroom.

Medics immediately loaded her in the ambulance and rushed her to Kadlec Medical Center in Richland. The coroner said she had breathed in smoke and had first- and second-degree burns on about 35 percent of her body.

“Everything was done that could be done,” Baynes said. “… This was just a tragedy that she got caught in this fire.”

Seniors — those 64 and older — have one of the highest risks of dying in a home fire, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

In 2004, the most recent data available, seniors represented 12 percent of the U.S. population and accounted for nearly 32 percent of all fire deaths.

The risk goes up with age. People over 65 are twice as likely than the general population to die in a fire, and that number soars to 4.7 for those older than 84, according to the data.

“Older people are at a higher risk for many different reasons,” said Kathy Gerstner, the fire program specialist with the U.S. Fire Administration. “They often have disabilities … and they are more vulnerable to the injuries. The smoke and burns — it’s hard for them to recover.”

Fire safety officials say early alerts are key to surviving a fire.

The 972-square-foot home built in 1944 did have a working smoke detector in the hallway, but it’s not known if Arnold heard it right away.

Having a smoke alarm closer — officials now recommend one in every room — helps with early detection. People who have hearing problems can get smoke detectors with strobe lights to help catch their attention.

A fire suppression sprinkler system also can make a big difference, Gerstner said.

Gerstner also recommends having two ways out of each room in the house and practicing getting out, making sure windows open and windows, doors and hallways aren’t blocked by furniture.

“We don’t advocate practice jumping out of a second story window, but you should practice opening the window and knowing it would be possible to get out if you had to,” she said.

Good housekeeping — making sure there’s no tripping hazards on the floor — is also key because smoke can quickly fill a home and making it hard to see.

“The last thing you want to do is try to get out of the house and trip over something,” Chief Baynes said.

Preventing fires is the most important thing people can do, officials say. Using approved extension cords, making sure power strips aren’t overloaded, ensuring ovens and appliances are off before going to bed or leaving the home, and keeping flammable materials away from heaters are some simple prevention measures.

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By Erin Ailworth - Boston Globe

PEABODY - A roaring four-alarm fire that tore through a Peabody apartment complex Thursday, leaving 40 people homeless and displacing hundreds of others, is being blamed on a carelessly discarded cigarette butt.

Fire Chief Steve Pasdon said last night that a joint investigation by city and state officials “determined the cause of the fire to be the careless disposal of smoking material in the mulch, a cigarette butt.” He called the blaze an accident.

Pasdon said the fire ignited in the mulch next to Building 8 of the Highlands at Dearborn apartment complex near Route 1. It then traveled up the side of the building and apparently hit a natural gas line, intensifying the blaze. Building 8 was destroyed.

Yesterday, residents who lost their homes struggled to deal with the aftermath of Thursday’s inferno, which caused millions of dollars in damage.

Tears welled behind Gayle Gardner’s glasses as she talked about the mementos lost, especially the marriage quilt that her 97-year-old grandmother had made for her. The quilt’s light blue border and green, beige, lavender, and yellow pattern made the hand-knotted blanket look “like spring.”

Then there are the five rugs - one made out of Gardner’s old blue jeans - created on her great-grandmother’s loom.

And finally, the lifetime’s worth of family letters, postcards, and pictures Gardner, 37, had stored in two huge plastic bins. In one letter, Gardner’s deceased great-grandmother had compiled a list of all the things invented since the older woman’s birth.

All are gone now, turned to ash by the wind-whipped fire that consumed Gardner’s 36-unit building.

“I was like the family historian,” the now-homeless Gardner said yesterday as she waited at City Hall with her neighbors to find out what kind of aid they could get. “There’s so many things . . . it’s awful.”

Hundreds of residents - an estimated 750 were displaced when their entire 18-building apartment complex was evacuated - had gathered at City Hall to learn when they might be allowed to go home. Many weathered the night before with family and friends or in a hotel; less than a dozen stayed at a shelter set up at Salem State College.

“Many of you will be able to get back into your units this afternoon,” Spencer Welton, an official for Simpson Housing, a branch of the company that manages the Highlands at Dearborn complex, told the crowd.

Residents were asked to call a hot line at 978-535-3994 to check the status of their buildings, which fire and health and safety officials were inspecting for smoke and other damage. Meanwhile, the 43 residents from Building 8 will have to find new lodgings.

At the heated afternoon meeting, many questioned the safety of returning home, while others asked how to locate missing pets.

City Building Commissioner Kevin Goggin urged residents to push legislators to pass reforms that would tighten requirements on sprinkler systems and fire alarms in residential buildings, which are being formulated in the Legislature. Building 8 had a partial sprinkler system, although that system met state code.

The fire broke out just before 4 p.m. Thursday and firefighters battled shifting winds, water pressure problems, and a dry-heat index as they struggled to extinguish the flames and keep ash from igniting in the landscaping mulch. Utilities had to be shut off at the apartment complex, and Pasdon said it took firefighters some time to identify all the gas valves that needed to be dealt with. He said he did not think, however, that the time spent added to the fire’s overall intensity.

Rebecca Sargent was at home with her baby son when she realized her apartment building was on fire. “I thought someone was barbecuing and I opened the balcony door and smoke started coming in and all the fire alarms went off,” the 34-year-old recalled yesterday. “I’m totally overwhelmed. We just moved in there two weeks ago and we had baby showers and new baby furniture and clothing. It’s gone - all the baby pictures.”

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By Tim Smith - Greenville News, SC

COLUMBIA — The Senate today gave key approval to a bill that would give tax credits to those installing fire sprinkler systems.

Senators voted to give the bill final approval, and it now will go to the House for concurrence. Lawmakers are expected to adjourn for the year today.

The bill would give property owners a property tax credit equal to 25 percent of the cost of the sprinkler system and an additional 25 percent in state tax credits, if the law does not require the sprinklers to be installed.

The local government would have to agree to offer local tax credits before a property owner could also claim a state tax credit. The bill also requires that utilities charge actual costs for fees related to connecting the sprinkler systems.

Senators amended the bill Thursday with wording to try and protect small and rural water companies from having to build special water lines if they don’t currently have the capacity to provide lines for fire sprinkler service.

They also added a provision to allow churches to display live Christmas trees indoors.

The legislation was proposed following a series of fire tragedies involving South Carolinians, including a Greenville hotel fire that killed six, a Charleston furniture store fire that left nine firefighters dead and a beach house blaze last October that killed seven college students.

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More articles available regarding South Carolina Fire Sprinkler Tax Incentive

RICHARD GILBERT - Journal of Commerce, Canada

Building code regulations in Alberta are being beefed-up as a result of a major fire that destroyed dozens of homes in south Edmonton last summer.

The devastating residential fire occurred in Edmonton and destroyed a condo complex under construction, 18 nearby duplexes and damaged a number of other homes.

Firefighters blamed poor construction materials and lax building codes for the fire and said damage could have been minimized if building codes required a greater distance between houses and required certain types of siding to be used.

Arson was later determined to be the cause of the blaze.

In response to the fire, the Alberta government formed a working group to review data from recent fires in a number of Alberta communities.

It brought forward a report and made several recommendations for changes to the provincial building code.

The government announced last week that it was accepting most of the recommendations received from the High-Intensity Residential Fires Working Group, by taking action to reduce the effects of high-intensity residential fires.

The group recommended that the new code requires fire-resistant gypsum wallboard be used under vinyl siding instead of the faster-burning oriented strandboard.

“As an industry these changes that have been mandated are based on recent testing at the National Research Council, who did testing with the City of Calgary,” said Rick Gratton, chairman of the technical committee of the Canadian Homebuilders’ Association in Calgary.

“Under the new building code, the task group recommends that homes built 1.2 metres from the property line will not be required to use fire-resistant gypsum wallboard under vinyl siding or non-combustible sheeting, such as concrete board, masonry or brick.”

Gratton emphasized that homes built at least 1.2 metres from the property line will not be required to use non-combustible materials, although initial media reports stated the opposite.

The misinformation meant the majority of homes built in Calgary would be affected by the new code.

“There was a huge misinterpretation of the new code, which I am trying to clarify. In fact, very few or only about 20 per cent of homes are affected,” Gratton said.

The new code also aims to make new homes with attached garages safer by requiring fire detectors and gypsum wallboard in the garage.

“An attached garage must be lined with gypsum and heat sensors in the garage must be interconnected to smoke alarms in the home,” he said. “Basically, the incremental costs on this are very little and would total about $3,500.”

The group recommended that new multi-family buildings put in additional sprinklers in balconies, attics and crawl spaces in addition to those already required.

“The report has been received and we are doing a little leg work to see what the implications are. We welcome the report and are pleased to hear the government is following the recommendations,” said Vince Laberge, Alberta president of the Canadian Homebuilders Association.

“The MacEwan fire happened at the worst possible time, when there was little protection on the homes and there were 80 mph (128 kph) winds. It is pure speculation to say whether or not these changes would have prevented the fire.”

Under the new code contractors will be required to protect adjacent buildings during high-risk periods of construction, such as when the building frame is exposed. There will also be a new requirement for improved site security.

The government accepted 18 of 22 recommendations from the study group comprised of emergency workers, fire departments and members of the Safety Codes Council.

“Right now what will happen next is the recommendations will go before the fire and safety code council to make sure they are technically sound. A final revue for wording of the code will also be undertaken right away,” said Jody Korchinski, spokesperson with Alberta Municipal Affairs.

“The building code should be changed and put into legislation by early 2009.”

The working group included representatives from emergency services across Alberta, including municipal emergency services, the Edmonton and Calgary fire departments, the Safety Codes Council, municipal safety codes officers and Edmonton’s fire chief.

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Long Beach Press-Telegram

Residents of older high rises whose safety was the concern of a Long Beach City Council committee can breathe a sigh of relief, but not for the reason you might think. They didn’t seem to want the council’s help.

For good reason. The council’s Economic Development and Finance Committee had been considering whether or not to impose a requirement to install sprinkler systems that would protect residents in a fire.

The response they kept getting was, No, thanks, especially from residents of high rises, which would be the most expensive to retrofit. The cost for a 100-unit building could easily run $600,000, and for smaller buildings $3 to $5 a square foot.

Deaths from fire in high rises are rare, but it happens. On March 28 last year, fire in an apartment on the 18th floor of the Galaxy Towers on Ocean Boulevard resulted in one man’s death, and fire in the Paradise Gardens apartment building Dec. 28, 2006, killed two people.

The City Council in June approved changes in the building code that would require sprinklers in most new residential and commercial buildings, but referred the question of retrofitting older buildings to the committee.

Faced with opposition from almost everyone but firefighters, Councilwoman Rae Gabelich, committee chair, came up with an alternative Tuesday for existing high rises and other buildings with 50 or more units. Instead of sprinklers, owners could provide fire extinguishers in every apartment, an emergency evacuation plan, semi-annual emergency drills and semi-annual inspections of smoke alarms and fire extinguishers.

Even that might be overdoing it with the inspections, but otherwise it is much smarter than mandating costly retrofitting. The three-member committee, which includes Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga and Councilman Gary DeLong, gave the plan unanimous approval. Next, the Fire Department will meet with homeowner groups to work out the details. Then the full council will decide on what to do about protecting their constituents from fire.

But this time they’ll also consider what their constituents say they can afford.

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Josh Petray - Paso Robles Press

The Paso Robles City Council staved off making any changes to California Codes until it receives more information on topics of interest to local builders, homeowners and the City Council.

Last week, the council unanimously delayed introducing an ordinance to amend its municipal code to comply with certain state code amendments following uneasiness expressed about some of the proposed amendments. The state updates its codes every three years. The city adopted the codes and can make amendments based only on findings.

The staff reported May 20 that a complicated code item needed to include more information before the council made the necessary findings to move forward with the code changes. Significant discussion centered around a code amendment stipulating that automatic sprinkler systems would be required in new buildings 3,000 square-feet or more, or for buildings with new additions that create 3,000 square-feet or more of total building space with certain exemptions.

Mayor Frank Mecham questioned what the logic was in developing the 3,000 square-foot threshold.

“I just can’t quite understand the justification in the number,” he said.

City Councilman Duane Picanco questioned a building code amendment that addressed water-conserving fixtures and fittings, to which city staff answered that the item effectively falls in line with the energy requirements of the government.

The California Plumbing Code would be amended to include certain restrictions on how many gallons per minute can be delivered from shower heads, lavatory faucets, as well as certain requirements on automatic and coin operated car washes to recycle a minimum of 50 percent of the water required for their daily operation.

City Councilman John Hamon posed questions regarding temporary structures, in particular a statement that stipulates all tents and other membrane structures erected for less than 90 days shall comply with the California Fire Code. He questioned whether sprinklers would be required in a tent, for example, if a circus came to town. Staff responded by saying that things including hay on the ground and fire extinguishers would be included, but not fire sprinklers.

Nick Gilman spoke during public comment and made arguments against the fire sprinkler requirement for residential homes and in favor of using PEX for water insulation.

“It’s a Mickey Mouse thing,” he said. “Come on, guys, is this meaningful change?”

Estrella Associates, Inc. chief executive officer Dick Willhoit was the next person to speak. He said Gilman’s comments were “extremely appropriate.” Like Gilman, Willhoit said he’s fine with the commercial requirements for fire sprinklers, but said he disagreed with city staff on the residential requirement.

The Paso Robles Municipal Code requires the installation of automatic sprinkler system for commercial structures 5,000 square-feet or greater. There is currently no requirement for residential systems, city officials said.

Willhoit told the council that if it approved the 3,000-square-foot as a threshold, that it should consider extending that requirement to 3,500 square-feet. Paso Robles is the only city in the state to use the 3,000 square-foot threshold, he said.

Another member of the public spoke following Willhoit and urged for statistics showing that a 3,000 square-foot home is more prone to burn. Public comment then segued into council discussion.

City Councilman Fred Strong questioned why an apparently wealthier home is more worth saving than a less wealthy one.

“If we’re going to be sprinklering homes, why aren’t we sprinklering all of them?” he asked. “I don’t like the class concept that’s being projected here.”

Mecham iterated to Strong that it wasn’t necessarily about whether someone has an expensive home, but rather the cost relative to installation of the product.

City Manager Jim App said he urged Emergency Services Chief Ken Johnson to express his professional opinion, and that 3,000 square-feet was a compromise.

“We would prefer zero square-feet,” App said.

Strong said he would prefer having it as an option available for anybody who’s willing to pay for it.

Hamon suggested that staff come back with a schedule and show the council the changes, as well as how things would be implemented and work.

“Again, we’re looking at cost issues that the homeowner is going to have to bear,” he said.

Picanco said he supports the idea of requiring fire sprinklers on buildings that are adjacent to open space, but not outright. He also highlighted the cost of installing fire sprinklers on affordable housing.

“If you’re going to require sprinklers, you’re going to require them on a roof that’s adjacent to open space and vegetation,” he said. “And then of course if we start talking about dollars and affordable housing, if you add sprinklers that’s not going to make it any more affordable.”

Mayor Pro Tem Gary Nemeth said he thought that perhaps a 3,500 to 3,600 square-foot threshold might be appropriate and echoed the concerns of Hamon, who suggested staff bring back more information including but not limited to whether or not the state fire code requires fire sprinklers in residences of any size and whether PEX tubing might be allowed.

“For me, who isn’t a contractor, it would be nice to see a list of changes so that I could understand it a bit better,” he said.

Picanco echoed a similar sentiment.

The item was continued to a future City Council date to be determined.

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