Residential Fire Sprinklers .com

Protecting Your Home & Family

By Lew Sichelman – Los Angeles Times

Six people were in the St. Michaels, Md., house when the smoke alarm went off two summers ago. The sound woke one, who was a light sleeper, according to news reports. And she managed to rouse two of her friends. But three others died in the blaze.

The house was just outside the town limits of the Eastern Shore getaway, which had recently adopted an ordinance requiring all new homes to have a sprinkler system. Consequently, it didn’t have one.

Advocates of sprinkler systems say that sprinklers not only would have saved the lives of those three people but damage to the property would have been minimal.

It is the same argument sprinkler proponents have been using for years. And they’ve finally been heard.

In an overwhelming 1,283-470 vote late last month, the International Code Council (ICC) meeting in Minneapolis mandated that sprinklers be required in all one- and two-family homes and town houses built to the International Residential Code (IRC) as of Jan. 1, 2011.

Builders who have been adamantly opposed to sprinklers cried foul. After years of beating back sprinkler advocates, the deck was stacked against them this time when 900 fire officials showed up unexpectedly to vote for the proposal.

The National Assn. of Home Builders won’t talk about the decision. “We are not doing any interviews,” said public affairs representative Donna Reichle. But in the association’s weekly online member newsletter published shortly after the vote, Pinopolis, S.C., builder James Anderson, chairman of the NAHB’s Construction, Codes and Standards Committee, had this to say:

“We welcome the insight and experience that fire officials bring to the code-development process because our codes are focused on life-safety issues. However, it seems clear that these particular officials were focused on one issue only without the benefit of perspective regarding how such mandates jibe with hundreds of other code proposals considered at this hearing. That’s unfortunate, because such reasoned discussion is what the model-code process was designed to accomplish.”

In a statement to the media, NAHB President Sandy Dunn, a builder from West Virginia, said her members were not opposed to sprinklers per se. Rather, they are rankled by mandates “because the evidence is clear that [sprinklers] are not the right solution for every home.”

Even with the code council’s approval, the long-running battle over residential fire sprinklers is far from over because IRC codes aren’t enforceable until they are adopted by local jurisdictions.

“Our members will continue to advocate for cost-effective construction and life-safety measures through the model-code process,” Dunn said in her statement.

The sprinkler mandate will first appear in the 2009 IRC, which will be published by the end of the year. That gives states two full years to adopt the requirement. Forty-six states use the IRC as the basis for regulating residential construction.

The NAHB says its opposition isn’t about money. But isn’t it always about money?

Based on an average cost of $1.50 per square foot and an average house of 2,340 square feet, the typical sprinkler system would add $3,510 to the price of a typical house. And that’s not counting the usual 10% markup.

It’s a small price to pay, fire-safety advocates counter, to save just one life. “The cost to put sprinklers into the home where my daughter died would have been less than what I had to pay for the flowers at her funeral,” Kaaren Mann, a Simpsonville, S.C., mother of a fire victim, reportedly testified at the ICC meeting.

The housing lobby favors hard-wired, interconnected smoke detectors, which are already in the building code, over sprinklers. The rules call for the alarms to be installed in every bedroom and on every floor.

Today, it’s estimated that more than 95% of all homes have smoke detectors. And fire-safety experts say they’ve been a godsend.

Fire deaths have declined dramatically over the last three decades as the detectors have become more common, they say. But they also offer up these sobering statistics: More than 3,000 people die each year from fire, and a home burns every 80 seconds.

Residential sprinklers are the only fire-protection technology that works to rapidly contain fire, effectively giving families more time to escape the deadly heat and poisonous gases of an unchecked blaze, according to the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition, an association of more than 100 fire services, building-code officials and safety organizations in 45 states.

The potential impact of this code change is discussed at “Residential Fire Sprinklers Market Growth and Labor Demand Analysis“

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The Residential Fire Sprinklers Code has passed!

See the article “ICC Approves Residential Fire Sprinklers in the International Residential Code“

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With the International Code Council (ICC) hearings in progress at the Minneapolis Convention Center, September 14-23, 2008, the Wall Street Journal featured the article Mandating Fire Sprinklers for the Home. This timely article puts residential fire sprinklers in the national spotlight as a critical vote approaches.

Starting on the evening of September 20, 2008, members of the ICC will vote on the proposed amendment to the International Residential Code (IRC) that, if passed, will require the installation of residential fire sprinkler systems in all one and two family houses and townhouses.

Over the last several years the support for residential fire sprinklers has been gaining momentum as hundreds of cities and counties adopt local ordinances requiring their use. The Residential Fire Safety Institute, a nonprofit that promotes fire safety, says it has a record of 400 counties and cities that have passed ordinances requiring sprinklers. Eight years ago, that number was only 200, says Roy Marshall, the organization’s director. He adds that “most of the movement has happened in the last two or three years.”

While local ordinance adoption has been a huge step forward for the fire protection community, adopting of residential fire sprinkler requirements in the IRC takes home fire protection to an entirely new level. The IRC is the model code governing residential construction in 46 states plus the District of Columbia. Once residential fire sprinkler requirements are included in the IRC it will be a challenging uphill battle for opponents to get the requirement removed at the city or county level.

The push for amending the IRC is headed by the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition, which has the backing of more than 100 national, state and local organizations including the IAFC, IAFF, NVFC and the National Association of State Fire Marshals.

We are at a pivotal point in home fire protection. Considering the high number of home deaths and injuries currently experienced in the United States, this code change has the power to alter the future of public safety.

“If the sprinkler resolution passes so that the IRC requires residential fire sprinklers in all new homes, in the next few years we will see a transformation in the fire sprinkler industry like no other to date”, says Ryan J. Smith, President of Fire Smarts, LLC. “Home fire deaths and injuries will start to decline and the fire sprinkler industry will experience a rapid growth in demand that will be a welcomed challenge to it’s already limited supply of skilled labor.”

The supporters of residential fire sprinkler requirements have good reason to be optimistic. The last time this proposal was voted on it missed a 2/3 majority vote by only less than 100 votes. This time, thanks to the unifying effort of the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition, attendance from voting members of the ICC that support the proposal should be at an all-time high.

Thousands of individuals wait anxiously for this weekend when the final vote for the 2009 edition of the International Residential Code takes place…hopefully confirming once and for all that residential fire sprinklers are essential life safety devices for all homes.

It may be of interest to you that on the Internet you can view a webcast of the hearing from the comfort of your home. While there is little entertainment value here, you do have an opportunity to watch the course of home fire protection forever change.

View live webcast of ICC Final Action Hearings

By Sean Myers – Calgary Herald

Builders say changes to the provincial building code designed to improve fire safety will cost new homebuyers thousands of dollars and create as many problems as they solve.

The Alberta chapter of the Canadian Home Builders Association sent copies of its critique to its 1,500 members Tuesday, hoping to rally enough support to force the province to revamp the code again, before it’s implemented early next year.

“The challenge for us is the Alberta government didn’t follow the normal National Fire Code review process and didn’t give stakeholders the opportunity to take a real close look at it,” said Michael Nyikes, the association’s director of safety and technical services. “As a result, there might have been a couple things overlooked.”

One of the key changes the building association challenges is the new standard of installing a fire retardant material such as gypsum under vinyl siding.

According to Nyikes, industry analysts and technicians say the drywall material may slow the spread of flames but could also break down under Alberta’s weather cycles, trapping moisture and causing a potential mold problem.

“We may be solving one problem, but are we creating another problem?” said Nyikes.

The changes to the building code are aimed at averting fires that rapidly spread from building to building. Fire chiefs across the country have been calling for changes to construction standards they say have led to fires rapidly engulfing multiple homes, including several incidents in Calgary and Edmonton.

The new National Fire Code won’t be finished until 2010 — too long to wait, say Alberta fire officials.

“We’re very pleased with the revisions for the Alberta Building Code,” said Calgary fire Chief Bruce Burrell. “We’d like to see it done as rapidly as possible.”

Burrell said two fires on Aug. 17 that destroyed three houses and damaged another three in Citadel and Douglasdale were examples of the type of high-intensity blazes the new code is meant to avert.

The province took action to address building standards following a massive blaze in an Edmonton neighbourhood in July 2007 that destroyed nine duplexes and damaged another 76 homes.

The legislature passed the altered building and fire codes in May with implementation planned for January.

New rules include restrictions on windows; adding sprinklers on balconies, attics and patios in multi-family buildings; and using gypsum wallboard and heat detectors in residential garages.

“What we’re saying is here’s what we’ve seen in the fire industry and here’s what we can do about it,” said Burrell.

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By Jeff Mores – Northwest Arkansas’ News

BENTONVILLE – Normally, firefighters are the only people who get excited about indoor sprinkler systems. As Aug. 1 – the day the updated Arkansas Fire Prevention Code goes into effect – approaches, sprinklers are grabbing the attention of plenty of city planners, potential developers and investors.

Among the long list of code requirements, there’s quite a bit of ink dedicated to changes concerning sprinkler systems in both commercial and residential buildings. For instance, when the new Chick-fil-A on South Walton Boulevard in Bentonville opened earlier this year, it was not required to have an indoor sprinkler system because its dining area seated fewer than 300 customers. On Aug. 1, however, new restaurants and other businesses will be required to install a fireprotection sprinkler system if they seat 100 or more customers or employees.

While that’s a significant change and could translate into added expense for projects that have not yet rolled through the planning process, the issue has been attracting even more attention from those interested in renovating and adding to historic downtown areas, such as those in Bentonville, Rogers and Siloam Springs.

“What surprises me is how quickly the code changed,” said Troy Galloway, Bentonville director of community development. “In my opinion, it went from one end of the spectrum to the other. In downtown areas, where you might be looking at offices and businesses on the bottom and turning the space above into loft apartments, you’re probably going to run into a big hurdle now. I think these changes could prohibit some people from developing or redeveloping in downtown areas. This is significant, in my opinion.”

In the Bentonville downtown fire district, which extends several blocks in every direction from the Bentonville Square, the new fire code would require any new residential structure or unit – apartments to single-family homes – to have indoor sprinkler systems. Existing homes and apartments within the district would be grandfathered in. But if the use of any existing structure changes or the building undergo significant renovations, it will, in most cases, be required to install a sprinkler system.

And it could get even stickier if there are multiple uses or owners within the same building.

“Say someone is interested in purchasing the upper level of a downtown building and wants to turn one of the spaces into an apartment,” Lt. James Birchfield of the Bentonville Fire Department explained to the Bentonville Committee of the Whole on Monday night. “You wouldn’t just need to sprinkle the one apartment. You’d have to sprinkle anything in the building, from the bottom up. We’re talking about whatever business or businesses are below – anything inside that building.”

City officials, firefighters and those with a stake in downtown agree that the upcoming building-code changes will undoubtedly establish safer buildings, particularly in densely developed areas. But there’s a cost associated with that safety. Some believe there are more cost-effective steps that could be taken.

But on Aug. 1, these will be the rules.

“The core of all these codes is for public safety,” Bentonville Mayor Bob Mc-Caslin said. “There are some changes – and ‘changes’ is an underlined word. But I don’t think this should be construed as a bad thing. On Monday, we tried to get the word out there about these upcoming changes. I think this is terribly important, and I wish more people would have been there, but the city of Bentonville is doing everything it can to make sure no one is surprised by what’s happening.”

City Hall sent out approximately 100 invitations to property owners, developers and others with a stake in its downtown area prior to the Building Code Forum, held Monday. According to city officials, only three individuals attended the forum, during which Fire Department officials outlined the code changes.

Rustin Chrisco, whose company Main Street Builders focuses on renovation and construction work in historic districts, was among the few attendees.

“I’m not at all opposed to reasonable changes to the code that increase the level of safety,” Chrisco said. “But I do think this situation will cause some economic problems in the downtown development district. For some, this will drive the cost up to an unsustainable level, in a time when the industry and the economy are already depressed.

“You really don’t know what the impact will be until it happens. I can’t imagine it wouldn’t have a significant impact on cost of construction. You’re probably talking about driving the cost up 5 percent or so to build or renovate a home. I’m going to have to adjust my budget to counter that, but I think there’s a lot of people who won’t be able to make that adjustment.”

Several developers and investors interviewed for this story suggested that indoor sprinkler systems would add from $ 2 to $ 10 per square foot to construction or renovation costs. Ken Dunk, owner of Dunk Fire and Security in Springdale, said those estimates would be accurate in some circumstances. But several factors, ranging from whether the structure is existing or new construction, to the water system and pressure available in the area, drive the cost up or down.

“One thing to consider here is that there may be some tradeoff in going to a sprinkler system that works to a developer’s advantage,” Dunk said. “If you have a sprinkler system, you may not be required to have as much fire separation. You may be able to change some of the materials you use in other areas. Fire doors and other items may not be required. There are a lot of schools that have done the studies and learned they actually save on construction costs by installing sprinkler systems.”

It’s a matter of striking a balance.

“Fire code is constantly a balance between safety and cost,” Bentonville Fire Chief Dan White said. “How much needs to go into the cost of safety ? Sprinklers are proven to save lives and property. The new fire code is making some pretty big steps in extending the requirement for some occupancies to be sprinklered, and we want to work with developers to help in any way we can.”

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Residential fire sprinklers are proven life safety devices with a little dose of eco-friendliness to go along with it. My grandmother use to say, “An ounce of prevention, out weighs a pound of cure.” Still to this day, I hate cough medicine, so those daily vitamins go down much easier.

Not only are residential sprinklers a head above the rest in improving fire and life safety in the homes and not to mention property liability but it is (in my mind) a real chance to make a conscience decision to improve our already depleted natural resource…water. Do I have your attention Nader’s Raiders?

Here in the west the cries of water conservation are heard everywhere. For those not familiar with the Wild West, a vast part of our lands are deserts and dry climates. Reports of record dry conditions in the forest and high desert areas are causing hundreds and thousands of wild fires a year. Let’s make no mistake that these fires have and will continue to be a natural disaster that simply can not be avoided. As our population grows and so our consumption, we as caretakers of this country and earth need to make provisions for our safety and survival. Our lakes, streams and watersheds are at record lows and those who are nature lovers can vouch for that. Even in the wake of massive floods in some areas and returning water levels, it is still imperative that we continue to conserve. This is not a cry of a bleeding heart, but just a suggestion that the fire protection industry, which has little to do with the environmental movement, can make a serious contribution to our planet’s future.

A lot of statistics are thrown out on the life safety issues, but I wanted to take a look at a different benefit in having residential sprinklers. So, I’ll get down to the nuts and bolts…or dare I say pipes and couplings. With a growing population and increasing water demand, is it not our responsibility to respond to the need to cut water usage as an industry? According to the NFPA, their studies show that when fire sprinklers are present in the home, 91% of the time the sprinklers will control the fire at or near the point of origin. So, it would be safe to say that it is probable that 9 out of 10 times only one fire sprinkler head discharges during a home fire. Let’s do the numbers, the average fire sprinkler discharges 10 to 26 gallons of water per minute. Let’s say it takes this one fire sprinkler 5 minutes to control and then ultimately extinguish the fire in most cases. By this time the average emergency response team is on site and clears the residence of any additional danger from the fire hazard and proceeds to shut the water off. We’ll assume that the fire sprinkler has been spraying water in upwards to 20 minutes. 20 minutes multiplied by 10 to 26 gallons of water per minute comes to 200 to 520 gallons of water used to contain and extinguish the home fire.

Let’s say the same home does not have fire sprinklers and the emergency response team arrives to fight the blaze. Let’s take into consideration that the fire has been ablaze and unabated for 5 to 7 minutes before response teams can arrive. We now have a fire that is probably in the range of 1200° within the home. Given these circumstances fire fighters are more than likely fighting the flames with 2 to 3 hoses. But for comparison purposes we’ll say only one hose is needed to contain the fire, to just the one home and extinguish it entirely within 20 minutes. The average interior hose used by a fire fighter discharges 125 to 200 gallons of water per minute, yes a minute. It would take you 36 to 57 weeks to drink that amount of water if you drank the recommended amount of 64 ounces a day. One minute of water flow from a hose could equal the amount of water you would need to drink in a year. So, for those from the field services end (like myself) and you’re not an engineer, that comes to 2,500 to 4,000 gallons of water in a 20 minute span from one hose. Remember that a home that has been engulfed by flames is probably not going to be fought with just one hose or for just 20 minutes for that matter.

USFA reported that there were 396,000 reported fires in 2006. Based on that data and the use of just one fire hose per house fire, the water usage is staggering. That’s almost 1.6 billion gallons of water used every 20 minutes. That’s the equivalent of a person flushing a standard toilet 100,000,000 times. Anyone want to give that a shot? I’ve heard of stranger Guinness world records.

What if the home was located in a rural area with wild brush or forest? The dangers that await a rural family intensify due to the longer traveling distance for emergency response, prolonged reporting time of fire due to lower population density, water availability issues and open areas that are more affected by winds that can spread the fire. What type of environmental danger are we placing in the surrounding areas and other rural homeowners?

In closing, I think we do ourselves just when we can use less and waste less. In this case less really becomes more. With the improvements in residential fire protection and with the use of fire sprinklers, the extra water we’ll be saving can be put to good use…towards those lives that are saved.

Jason Williams has been in the fire industry for almost a decade now, serving as a Field Lead, in project/program management and in fabrication. Currently, Jason manages field service crews and many projects for a number of big box retailers nationally. Prior to accidently finding himself in the fire industry, Jason worked for his family’s small plumbing and electrical company in Arizona as a technician. There he started his unexpected journey into the fire industry by working with residential and commercial above/underground electrical and water systems. His background in plumbing, electrical and building construction eventually landed him in the fire protection industry and working for one of the “industry giants”. Jason hopes to continue and contribute for many more years in the industry that he has found a real passion for.

By Paul Rogers – San Jose Mercury News

When Ed Kanner decided to build a new home in the foothills just south of downtown Los Gatos, he chose an unusual roof. Steel, painted brown to blend in with the oaks nearby.

Originally the idea was environmental efficiency – steel reflects heat and will keep the house cool. But it also has another benefit, fire safety. Starting Tuesday with new statewide building standards, fire-safe materials are about to become a lot more common around California.

“If there’s a fire, stuff up here goes up fast,” said Kanner, a CPA who also didn’t mind a Los Gatos rule that he also install fire sprinklers. “I think I’m not only saving my own life, but probably somebody else’s.”

As wildfires burn across California this summer, the new codes will include some of the strictest standards in the nation for people constructing new homes in high-fire areas from the Oregon border to San Diego and the Sierra to the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The rules require the highest-rated roofing materials: double-pane tempered windows so the glass doesn’t shatter in heat; fire-resistant materials for decking and siding; and mesh screens over attic vents to repel flying embers, a common way firestorms spread.

“We have been looking at how we can make houses more resistant to fire. Embers are the real culprit,” said Ernylee Chamlee, chief of wildland fire prevention engineering for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The new building rules are part of a two-pronged state strategy following historic blazes in 2003 that killed 24 people and burned 3,600 homes in Southern California.

The strategy is simple. It is politically impractical to ban all construction in fire-prone areas – just as it would be to ban all construction in earthquake hazard zones. So state authorities hope instead to reduce the chances of homes burning once fires start.

The other component requires rural homeowners to clear brush and trees 100 feet around their homes, rather than 30 feet, the previous standard. Although Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed that “defensible space” law in 2005, state and local fire departments have written almost no tickets for violators. But that’s changing, too. Fines go up to $500.

“This year, we will be more aggressive. If necessary, we will take enforcement actions to see that the work gets done,” said Cal Fire director Ruben Grijalva.

“Defensible space doesn’t mean clear-cutting everything down. It means thinning. It means being lean, clean and green.”

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The first automatic fire sprinkler system was patented by Philip W. Pratt of Abington, MA, in 1872, although Henry S. Parmalee of New Haven, Connecticut is considered the inventor of the first practical automatic sprinkler head.

Parmalee improved upon the Pratt patent and created a better sprinkler system and in 1874, he installed his fire sprinkler system into a piano factory he owned.

The first battery-operated home smoke detector was not patented until ninety-five (95) years later in 1969 by Randolph Smith and Kenneth House and are now required in every residential property built today.

With all the tout across our nation about being “GREEN” to aid in the health and conservation of the environment and the economy, I’m glad that most everyone is finally catching up to fire sprinklers.

5. Fire Sprinklers have been saving treated water by the millions (probably billions) of gallons.

4. Fire Sprinklers have been reducing the amount of toxins introduced into the environment and atmosphere by extinguishing fires while they are in the incipient stage or still small.

3. Fire Sprinklers have been saving the amount of damage caused by fire which significantly reduces the use of our natural resources to rebuild the burned out structures.

2. Fire Sprinklers dramatically reduce the amount of waste piled into our landfills from burned out structures and personal property.

1. More importantly and last but not least is LIFE SAFETY. Fire Sprinklers allow the time for occupants to escape a burning structure.

For the last 134 years (thank you Henry Parmalee) the Fire Sprinkler Industry has not only been saving lives, but has been FIRE SPRINKLER GREEN!

Gary D. Turner is the Owner and President of Urban Fire Protection since 1993 with corporate offices located in Mesquite, Texas and one branch office located in Houston, Texas. Gary worked as a structural steel detailer for seven years preparing fabrication drawings for fabricators of heavy steel for projects like the World Trade Center, Dallas, Texas and the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Station, Glen Rose, Texas prior to entering the fire sprinkler arena. Gary began his fire protection career designing fire sprinkler systems in March of 1979. Gary currently holds a NICET Level III Certification in Automatic Fire Sprinkler Layout, Texas State SCR License, Texas State RME License with a GD attached suffix designation for Residential Fire Sprinkler System Inspections and is a Vice President of the Texas Fire Sprinkler Contractors Association (TxFSCA). Gary is a member of NFPA, AFSA, NFSA, NAHB, TxHBA, TxFSCA.

 

Building Safety Week in the United States is May 5 – 11, 2008, to promote the achievements and benefits of building and fire protection codes. I’ll bet some readers right now are rolling their eyes at what appears to be another marketing ploy of creating a “recognized” day of the year (in this case an entire week) to get you to buy something. I understand the sensitivity, but let me share with you why I am jumping on the bandwagon to recognize and even promote Building Safety Week. (I promise there are no greeting cards or gifts required)

Building Safety Week was first observed almost 30 years ago in 1980. Since that time, local governments, building departments and fire departments have dedicated this week to raise public awareness on best building safety practices and to recognize the important role that building and fire prevention codes have in standardizing building safety for everyone.

The theme of this year’s program is, “Building Safety Where You Live, Work and Play.” This theme is intended to send the obvious message that most people spend a majority of their time inside some type of structure so the topic of building safety deserves a moment of your time. For most people, when you enter a house or building you’re not thinking about whether it is properly constructed and safe. This fact alone is a testament to the high level of trust we place in our building and fire prevention codes and the assumption we have that our public servants are properly updating and enforcing these codes.

The sponsor of Building Safety Week, the International Code Council (ICC), along with other code development associations like the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), create the building safety and fire prevention codes that address all aspects of construction. This includes items such as structural soundness of buildings, reliability of fire prevention and suppression systems, plumbing and mechanical systems, and energy efficiency and sustainability. To ensure buildings are safe requires the active participation of property owners, building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, builders, engineers, and others in the construction industry.

This year’s Building Safety Week is especially meaningful to the ResidentialFireSprinklers.com community as the International Building Code (IBC) is at the center of attention with proposed code changes pending that would require fire sprinklers to be installed in all residential structures. The recent US Fire Administration’s official endorsement of these residential fire sprinkler requirements has fueled the intensity of this debate. (For more information on the USFA’s official position click here for the full article)

In greater numbers than ever before, fire prevention departments across the United States are utilizing Building Safety Week to raise public recognition and support for the use of residential fire sprinklers.  Although we have achieved a high standard for building quality in the United States, there are still some proven fire protection benefits commonplace in commercial buildings, that are still missing from that building we value most…our home.

Brought to you by Residential Fire Sprinklers .com – “Your Voice in Home Fire Protection”