By Gerard A. Dio

As Worcester fire chief and the recently appointed president of the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts, I am asking for public support for a very important bill that the association is seeking to have passed. The lifesaving bill would close a critical loophole in the state’s fire-safety regulations.

The fire chiefs group has been filing the Balser/Harkins Bill for the past eight years. For the first time in eight attempts, the legislation finally has received a favorable recommendation from the House Ways and Means Committee. It will go before the entire House of Representatives as House Bill 2284.

If passed, the bill would require that if any addition to an existing structure makes its total square footage exceed 7,500 square feet, the entire structure would be required to be equipped with a sprinkler system.

Here’s why: Under the existing state building code, any new construction over 7,500 square feet has to be equipped with a sprinkler system throughout the entire structure, but the code does not require the installation of sprinklers in any structure or addition that is smaller than 7,500 square feet. Therefore, under the existing code, business property owners can add on to a building as many times as they want and, so long as each addition is less than 7,500 square feet, the structure would not be required to have an automatic sprinkler system.

As a result of this gap in the code, numerous structures throughout the commonwealth that are well over a total of 7,500 square feet do not have and are not legally required to have automatic sprinklers.

These are not residential structures, but typically are buildings used for business purposes. Therefore, they pose a substantial risk because the people inside are likely to be infrequent visitors who are apt to be unfamiliar with the layout of the building. Leaving the current law as is would be an invitation to potential tragedy.

In fact, such a tragedy has already occurred. This legislation was born out of the avoidable tragedy that occurred in Newton on Feb. 9, 2000. Five people needlessly lost their lives when a four-story building of about 90,000 square feet in size — not equipped with an automatic sprinkler system — went up in flames. The owner of this building had added onto this structure numerous times, but since none of the additions was more than 7,500 square feet and the original building was built in 1960 — before sprinkler systems were required — no mandate existed for the installation of automatic sprinklers.

In addition to the potential cost of human life, there are economic considerations. After 29 years in the fire service I am all too familiar with the number of commercial buildings that have been destroyed in a fire and appreciate the collateral costs to communities — in tax revenue, in jobs lost and in the burden placed on communities by vacant and abandoned buildings. Very few businesses are able to recover from the financial loss as a result of devastating fires.

The Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts is asking for the community’s assistance in eliminating this loophole in fire-safety regulations. It is now time for the public to step up and fight to require businesses that seek to expand their facilities to take the necessary steps to better protect their customers and to preserve their businesses. Therefore, please contact your representatives and voice your support for the Balser/Harkins Bill and help make the commonwealth a safer place in which to live and work.

Worcester Fire Chief Gerard A. Dio is president of the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts.

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