Residential Fire Sprinklers .com

Protecting Your Home & Family

By Annie Hamilton – York Weekly

HAMPTON — Review of the plan to demolish the Riviera Motel and residential buildings to make way for a condominium complex was continued to the Planning Board meeting on Aug. 20.

The applicant presented the fire safety specifications of the proposed building at the board’s meeting on Wednesday, July 16. Bob Cummings of Fire Protection Engineers has worked with Hampton Fire Prevention Officer Jonathan True on fire safety elements to the proposal for the condominiums at 431-435 Ocean Blvd.

Improvements within the building include a sprinkler system, smoke vents in the ceilings of the two stairwells and a fire alarm system that connects directly to a central station, which then could notify the Hampton Fire Department.

True’s exterior recommendations include non-combustible siding rather than vinyl due to the fact there is not enough space for a fire truck to get to the back of the building. True also asked for escape ladders from the fourth and fifth floors, because a standard rescue ladder is only 34 feet long and will only reach to the third floor.

Attorney Steve Ells, representing applicant Kier Family Entrepreneurs Inc., said the developer would respond to the recommendations.

Kier Family Entrepreneurs Inc. initially brought the proposal before the Planning Board on March 5. At that meeting, the board took jurisdiction of the plan and sent it out for a department review to be revisited at the April 16 meeting. At the April 16 meeting, the applicant requested a continuance to the May 21 meeting and at that meeting, the applicant requested a continuance to the June 18 meeting.

It was at that meeting that Ells noted there were fire protection issues with the plan. They recruited Cummings of Fire Protection Engineers and Mike Wicher of Wicher engineers to address those issues.

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By Jonathan Lockett – San Jose Mercury News

PINOLE — An accidental fire temporarily displaced residents of a retirement home early Friday, fire officials said.

The fire at Bay Park Retirement Residence occurred around 12:08 a.m. when an overheated refrigerator evaporator in a second floor apartment caused a fire in the space between the first and second floors, according to a Pinole Fire Department spokesman.

The building’s sprinklers contained the fire until firefighters arrived at the Appian Way building at 12:13 a.m. The fire was contained at 12:30 a.m.

“It would have been a very nasty fire without the sprinklers,” said Fire Chief Ron Gesner.

Gesner estimated smoke and water damage at about $20,000. The displaced residents were put in other rooms, according to residence staff.

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By Howard Fischer – AZ Central.com

Avondale voters made it clear three years ago they did not like a new city ordinance that required sprinklers in all new houses when they voted down a ballot measure requiring them.

Now, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge will have to decide if that precludes city officials from enacting a less-restrictive version of the same requirement.

The court’s decision could have implications beyond Avondale. It could set a precedent for the powers of city councils throughout the state to second-guess residents.

The original ordinance would have required sprinklers in all single-family houses built after it passed in 2005. However, foes of the bill, largely developers and others in the real-estate industry, collected enough signatures to refer the measure to the ballot and, in September 2005, voters repealed the sections.

The City Council adopted a new ordinance in March 2006 that requires only model homes and new houses 5,000 square feet or larger to install sprinklers. Sprinklers must also be offered as an option in all new houses smaller than 5,000 square feet.

Connie Wilhelm, president and executive director of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, said her organization was willing to live with the new restrictions.

But her concern, Wilhelm said, is that city officials contend that “spec” houses – built without a specific buyer in mind – are model homes. The city won’t issue building permits for spec homes without sprinklers.

This presents a big problem for developers, Wilhelm said, because they often want to finish the last few houses in a subdivision even though no one has contracted for their construction.

The organization asked attorney Steve Tully for help. Tully filed suit to have the entire 2006 law voided.

Central to the question is a state constitutional provision that says lawmakers may not alter any measure approved by voters. Tully said that applies not only to initiatives – laws that voters craft – but also to referenda in which voters decide whether to keep something lawmakers have passed.

The provision applies to Avondale, Tully said, because its city charter requires the community to live by the same constitutional provision.

Tully is charging that parts of the repealed 2005 sprinkler code were “illegally repealed” by the 2006 law because the City Council overrode the voters’ decision.

Tully said he is not arguing that the 2005 referendum prohibits Avondale from addressing the issue of sprinklers. But he said that these particular restrictions on residential construction are now forever beyond the reach of the council.

He is asking Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Swann to rule on the legality of the 2006 ordinance and to block the city from enforcing it while the case is decided.

Pier Simeri, Avondale’s public information officer, said no one from the city could comment on the issue because of the ongoing litigation. She provided a copy of a press release issued by Fire Chief Paul Adams in March 2006 defending the new law and the council’s decision to adopt sprinkler regulations despite the 2005 election.

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By Diane Pottorff – Point Pleasant Register

POINT PLEASANT – Residents who live in the Twin Rivers Tower Apartments complex were able to sleep in their own beds Sunday after being awakened by the fire alarm earlier that morning.

Around 7 a.m., members of the Point Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department responded to the apartment building for a small kitchen fire, according to Chief Jeremy Bryant. The fire apparently started in an oven.

Bryant said the building’s sprinkler system activated and put out the fire quickly.

“The sprinklers put the fire out but made a mess,” he added.

Water damage was reported on four floors, said Libbi Stewart, manager of the apartment building. No injuries were reported among the residents.

“The residents were great,” Stewart said. “They were cooperative and helped their neighbors. And with the sprinkler system working, the fire department did not have to pull out their hoses.”

She said the reported fire was only the second one in the building in more than 30 years.

Twin Rivers Tower Apartments has a state-of-the-art fire protection system with alarms and sprinkler system, Stewart said. Also, members of management conduct fire drills every three months so residents know what the alarm sounds like so that they can be better prepared and avoid panic if a fire occurs. It’s also a way for them to learn the procedures.

Once members of the fire department finished their duties and left, cleanup began. Stewart said two maintenance workers from Pleasant Valley Apartments as well as her own maintenance and housekeeping staff began the cleanup process. Scott Jordan and Keith Rice from Pleasant Valley Apartments as well as maintenance man Harold Thomas and housekeeper Debbie Patterson came in on their day off to help clean up.

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By Shane Benjamin – Durango Herald

A sprinkler system may have saved a woman’s condo Monday on Main Avenue.
Durango Fire Marshal Tom Kaufman shows the water sprinkler head that deterred a fire that started in a condominium bathroom at 2855 Main Ave. on Monday. The sprinkler is positioned outside the bathroom door, and more sprinklers are in the apartment. Firefighters say the sprinklers helped limit the damage.

Durango Fire Marshal Tom Kaufman shows the water sprinkler head that deterred a fire that started in a condominium bathroom at 2855 Main Ave. on Monday. The sprinkler is positioned outside the bathroom door, and more sprinklers are in the apartment. Firefighters say the sprinklers helped limit the damage.

The fire occurred at 3:36 p.m. in a second-story condo at the Uptown Durango Condos, 2855 Main Ave.

Firefighters suspect a hair dryer or crimping iron in the bathroom ignited the blaze. The devices possibly melted a butane lighter, which didn’t help matters, said Dave Abercrombie, spokesman with the Durango Fire & Rescue Authority.

No one was home at the time, so firefighters broke through the front door, he said. Inside, the condo was filled with smoke, but the sprinkler system had extinguished the blaze, he said.

“Thank goodness for the sprinkler system,” Abercrombie said.

“Sprinklers save property, period.”

The owner of the condo declined to comment.

Firefighters said the fire occurred in unit 206B, which is owned by Jenny Stollar, according to La Plata County’s GIS Web site.

A property manager confirmed that the condo was owner-occupied.

Two dogs were rescued from inside the condo. They appeared in good condition.

The apartment is surrounded by two other condos, and it sits on top of two businesses, both of which sustained water damage.

Abercrombie said there is several thousand dollars worth of water damage, but had the sprinklers not been installed, the damage could have been much greater.

“Sprinklers are a tremendous asset to at least control the fire, if not put it out,” he said.

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Oakville Beaver

An early morning fire has claimed the life of a man.

The Oakville Fire Department responded to a 9-1-1 call that came in at 5:13 a.m. Tuesday morning reporting a house fire at Unit 48-223 Rebecca St.

The home was occupied by a male and female, according to Michael Harrison, public education/special projects officer with Oakville Fire Department.

The female escaped and notified a neighbour, who proceeded to call 9-1-1. Firefighters were notified by the caller that the male resident may still be in the house.

When firefighters arrived on scene at 5:17 a.m., they found a two-storey brick townhouse on fire with smoke coming out of several windows on the main floor.

They quickly removed one male occupant from the home.

“They got him out right away,” Harrison said.

The victim was transported to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital by ambulance in serious condition.

He died in hospital as a result of his injuries.

The fire was quickly brought under control and extinguished by 5:29 a.m.

Damage is estimated to be about $50,000. It is not known if the fire was contained to the one unit.

Oakville Fire Department and Halton Regional Police Service remain on the fire scene.

The Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal has been notified and will be attending to conduct the fire investigation.

A smoke alarm was in the house, but was not in the vicinity of the start of the blaze, Harrison said.

“One smoke alarm did operate, but we don’t know where it was at that time,” he said. “It doesn’t look like it was in the area where the fire started.”

Although the cause of Tuesday’s blaze is not yet known, a number of recent fire fatalities have been directly linked to cooking.

“If people are cooking, they try to carry the pot from the stove to the sink and dropping it, or people leave their pots on the stove and go to sleep,” Harrison said. “That is a big push we have right now for public awareness is that people are careful when it comes to cooking fires.”

The Oakville Fire Department reminds residents to ensure that smoke alarms are properly located in the home, correctly installed and working at all times.

They also recommend residents have a fire safety escape plan for their home.

“It is so very important that the smoke alarms do work all of the time,” Harrison said. “There should be one on every level at least and they should all be working. People need to be diligent in testing them.”

The fire department also stressed the importance of residential sprinkler systems.

“If residential sprinklers were installed in this building, which is probably more than 10 years old, this may have had a totally different outcome,” he said.

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By Alicia Myers – KOLN

As many as 40 people have to start over after a fire destroyed their apartment building. Now some our wondering, could sprinklers have stopped the blaze from spreading?

Just after 6:15 Saturday morning, the Thomasbrook Apartments near 60th and Normal caught fire from an improperly disposed cigarette. The building didn’t have a sprinkler system due to its age. Now, inspectors say that could have minimized the damage by thousands of dollars.

Years of memories burned in just a few moments. The fire was like several around the capital city in the past where hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage was done. According to fire inspectors, a simple add of sprinklers could have minimized the damage.

A simple spray from a sprinkler system could have helped minimize the Thomasbrook Apartment fire from more than $1.5 million worth of damage to a mere $5,000, according to Fire Inspector Bob Fiedler.

“We’ve had several apartment fires with fires on the balconies, and the residential type sprinkler system protects the interior portions of the building and keeps it confined to a room or an area within the apartment,” Fiedler said.

“If this was a sprinkled building with a fire in a unit, it probably would have confined it to a bedroom or to a kitchen before it even got into the corridor system, which everyone uses to get out of the building.”

Because the building was constructed in the ’70s, sprinkler systems were not yet required. In the past three decades, however, fire codes have changed tremendously, helping improve the safety of residents.

“If the balcony would have been sprinkled under the new 2006 code, which has been in effect about six months, everything built here and after would have to have sprinkled balconies. That would have controlled the fire prior to its getting into the attic,” Fiedler said.

That’s one of several reasons sprinkler systems are so important. Fire inspectors say asking about a sprinkler system should be one of your top priorities while searching for a new apartment.

“As a fire inspector, that’s what I would be asking for. There’s never been a multiple fire death in a sprinkled building, regardless of whether it’s been residential or commercial,” Fiedler said.

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By Heath Urie – Colorado Daily

A four-story apartment building on Marine Street near Lincoln Place in Boulder burned for hours Saturday, displacing dozens of University of Colorado students and about 50 residents in all.

More than 50 firefighters from Boulder and neighboring agencies responded to the scene of the three-alarm fire, which began about 5:15 p.m.

Firefighters said late Saturday the fire was contained to the roof of the building — 949 Marine St., known as the Hill House Apartments — and that crews would stay through the night to ensure the blaze didn’t spark up again.

Boulder Fire Chief Larry Donner said he was initially concerned that the entire building might burn, though it appeared late Saturday that at least some units can be salvaged.

“I’m still optimistic,” Donner said about an hour into the battle. “We’ll have to see how it goes.”

Fire investigators said they did not know Saturday what sparked the fire, which spewed smoke and ash throughout the immediate area and forced several nearby homes to also be evacuated.

Donner said the fire was “one of the larger ones we’d get in the city of Boulder.”

One firefighter suffered heat exhaustion, Donner said. There were no reports of other injuries.

Apartment resident Jacob Graham said he was the first to call 911 when his neighbor’s porch on the top floor of the structure’s north side caught fire.

“We were sitting in our living room and heard some crackling,” Graham said. “Our porch was on fire.”

Graham said he and his roommate used a fire extinguisher on the flames but could not put them out. He said they ran down the hall, alerting neighbors to leave the building.

The blaze left as many as 50 people displaced for the night. The property management company that owns the building made arrangements for some residents to stay at a hotel overnight.

The Mile High Chapter of the American Red Cross plans to offer a service center at 1 p.m. Sunday for residents who want to apply for long-term aid, although a location for the center had not been determined late Saturday, Boulder police and fire spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said.

According to Huntley, there is a sprinkler system installed in the building, but not between the ceiling and roof.

“That would have been really helpful,” Huntley said, although the building was constructed before modern fire codes would have required fire-suppression systems in uninhabited parts of the building.

Ryan Lackman, a 21-year-old senior at CU, was on the bottom floor of the building when smoke began filling the air.

“I was just watching TV and saw the fire truck come in,” he said. “The police told us to get out.”

Dozens of people lined the sidewalks to watch firefighters tackle the inferno with towering ladders and jets of water.

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Centre Daily Times

STATE COLLEGE — What was intended to be a fire safety measure for multiple-story rental homes in a section of borough code isn’t really providing much added protection.

As such, borough staff has recommended that Borough Council repeal a clause that requires two-story residential properties to install sprinklers or a second means of egress as fire protection for tenants who live on floors in which the windows are at least 20 feet above ground.

At a public hearing Monday night, several property owners agreed and told council members the rules simply aren’t feasible for some properties.

At Anita Genger and Eric Boeldt’s historic property at 400 S. Gill Street, for example, the third floor serves as an apartment.

There are no sprinklers, but the tenant has access to the second floor exit as a second egress.

But to comply with the code, it first appeared that the couple would have to install a sprinkler system or another stairwell, which would be “ugly beyond all belief,” Genger said.
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“It doesn’t quite fit the rules,” she said.

If council keeps the 20-foot rule, borough staff recommends giving landlords other options to comply, such as allowing them to install an aluminum ladder that pops out with the push of a button.

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By KRISTIN DANLEY-GREINER – DesMoinesRegister.com

Johnston’s fire code and developers’ desire for lower construction costs have ignited discussion among city officials and leaders of the Home Builders Association of Greater Des Moines.

Johnston code calls for sprinkler systems in townhome buildings with a total of 8,000 square feet or more. Leaders with the home builders group met with the Johnston City Council during a work session last month to ask them to review the sprinkler-system requirements and consider changing them to match what neighboring suburbs require.
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“We would like to see uniformity for the western suburbs,” said Creighton Cox, director of government affairs for the home builders association, in a recent interview. “The eastern suburbs have different policies and Des Moines doesn’t have the policy at all.”

Johnston’s townhome sprinkler policy raises costs that must be passed on to buyers, Cox said.

“You’re spending approximately $5,000 to $6,000 more … on a townhome in Johnston because of this policy. So we’re essentially telling home buyers that you can go to Johnston schools and buy the same townhouse in Urbandale for less money than in Johnston. This becomes a competitiveness issue for cities and builders.”

Johnston Fire Chief Jim Krohse said the city’s current sprinkler requirements have been in effect since October 2006. West Des Moines’ sprinkler rules have been in place since 1992, he said, with requirements in place since 2000 in Urbandale and Clive but only since 2006 in Grimes.

“Other communities, like Urbandale and Clive, allow townhomes that are open on two sides to not have sprinkler systems,” Krohse said.

“For me, this fire code is important for many reasons,” Krohse said. “When you look at apartment buildings and condos, every community requires them to have sprinklers regardless of how large they are and they are categorized as multifamily units. I view townhomes the same way. Anything larger than a duplex with three or more units is a multifamily building.”

Cox said builders want to see consistency in cities’ fire codes.

“We need a single uniform policy among the communities,” he said. “We’d like to see an allowance for the fire wall, which, according to international building code, is sufficient to protect adjacent residents from the fire spreading and isn’t a life-safety issue to the neighbors residing within the same complex.”

Krohse said townhomes should be required to have sprinkler systems because the residents are relying on the “fire-safety consciousness” of neighbors.

“In a single-family home, you do your best to avoid problems, but you’re not responsible for your neighbors,” Krohse said, “which is why in Johnston, condos and townhomes have this requirement.”

Minutes from the work session note that council members said they had questions about the sprinkler policy.

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