Saturday, June 29, 2013

Elizabeth Fire Highlights Need For Residential Fire Sprinklers

from njtoday


opinion

by David Kurasz, executive director of the New Jersey Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board

A 17-year-old girl tragically lost her life in a quick moving fire that struck a rooming house on Saturday, June 15, in Elizabeth. A man in his 60s was also critically injured in the blaze when he jumped from the third floor of the house in an effort to escape the extreme smoke and fire conditions. Firefighters acted quickly and courageously but were unable to enter the structure due to the intensity of the blaze. The other tenants were able to escape without injury
The New Jersey Assembly passed bill A1570 in January and has recently introduced Senate bill S2273, which would make it mandatory for all newly constructed one- and two-family homes as well as condominiums and townhomes to be equipped with fire sprinklers. Fire sprinklers are the only proactive form of fire protection and can provide residents the time they need to get out and first responders the time they need to safely enter the structure.
I urge you to check your smoke detectors and to educate yourselves on how fire sprinkler systems can provide your family the time needed to escape and protections against the dangers of fire. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time.


Read more: http://njtoday.net/2013/06/29/opinion-elizabeth-fire-highlights-need-for-residential-fire-sprinklers/#ixzz2XcVik859
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Friday, June 28, 2013

Tougher rules for Sioux Falls apartment fire sprinklers

from argusleader




Group suggests trade-offs for builders

Jun. 26, 2013   |  
0 Comments

At a glance

The proposed ordinance changes would mean all newly constructed multifamily buildings with six units or more must install fire sprinklers.
A group determining which buildings should be required to have fire sprinklers has approved a list of cost-saving building trade-offs for developers.
The meeting Tuesday was the last for the city’s sprinkler task force.
The Council’s public services committee will now consider the ordinance changes. Following their action, the items go to City Council for final approval.
The trade-offs for installing sprinkler systems involve items such as eliminating heat detection and draft stopping in attic spaces, decreasing the required width of access roads and increasing the required distance from a multifamily residence to a fire hydrant, eliminating the need for developers to install private fire hydrants, which they would be responsible for paying for, said Dean Lanier, Sioux Falls fire marshal.
The trade-offs have been part of internationalbuilding code and usable by developers in Sioux Falls for a number of years, but are being given more attention and promotion by city officials now with sprinklers being required in more units, Lanier said.
Lanier estimates developers would save about $8,000 for every fire hydrant they would have had to install.
Trade-offs will assist in encouraging the building of smallerapartment complexes, and make them more affordable to construct with sprinklers, said City Councilor Kenny Anderson Jr., chairman of the Sprinkler Task Force.
Sprinklers cost from just under $9,000 for a four-unit building to over $20,000 for a 16-unit building, according to meeting information.
“When you start putting this into practice ... and begin eliminating hydrants, it really does provide some cost benefit for our developers to get out of the hydrant business,” Lanier said.
Task force member George Hahn of Keller Williams Realty said he has concerns about decreasing required access road width from 26 feet to 20 feet.
“Without fire code being applicable, the generally accepted civil engineering layout has been 24 feet for many years. If we reduce it to 20 (feet), you have a lot of new bumpers being paid for on an annual basis,” Hahn said.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Fire sprinkler issue heads to City Council

from argusleader.com 



A group determining which buildings should be required to have fire sprinklers has approved a list of cost-saving building trade-offs for developers.
The meeting Tuesday was the last for the city’s sprinkler task force.
The Council’s public services committee will now consider the ordinance changes. Following their action, the items go to City Council for final approval.
The trade-offs for installing sprinkler systems involve items such as eliminating heat detection and draft stopping in attic spaces, decreasing the required width of access roads and increasing the required distance from a multifamily residence to a fire hydrant, eliminating the need for developers to install private fire hydrants, which they would be responsible for paying for, said Dean Lanier, Sioux Falls fire marshal.
The trade-offs have been part of international building code and usable by developers in Sioux Falls for a number of years, but are being given more attention and promotion by city officials now with sprinklers being required in more units, Lanier said.
Lanier estimates developers would save about $8,000 for every fire hydrant they would have had to install.
Trade-offs will assist in encouraging the building of smallerapartment complexes, and make them more affordable to construct with sprinklers, said City Councilor Kenny Anderson Jr., chairman of the Sprinkler Task Force.
Sprinklers cost from just under $9,000 for a four-unit building to over $20,000 for a 16-unit building, according to meeting information.
“When you start putting this into practice...and begin eliminating hydrants, it really does provide some cost benefit for our developers to get out of the hydrant business,” Lanier said.
Task force member George Hahn of Keller Williams Realty said he has concerns about decreasing required access road width from 26 feet to 20 feet.
“Without fire code being applicable, the generally accepted civil engineering layout has been 24 feet for many years. If we reduce it to 20 (feet), you have a lot of new bumpers being paid for on an annual basis,” Hahn said. “Reducing it to 20 feet, I don’t see that as being practical. Cars are not getting any shorter, unfortunately, they are getting longer.”
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Illinois Home Day focuses on federal grants, residential sprinklers

from firechief .com



Jun. 25, 2013 | Fire Chief



One hundred people attended the eighth annual Illinois Fire Service Home Day on June 20, 2013, at the new Homeland Education Security Center located on the campus of the College of Du Page in Glen Ellyn, Ill. The event was sponsored by the Metropolitan Fire Chief’s Association of Illinois, which has partnered with FAMA and the Fire and Emergency Manufacturers Association (FEMSA).
Illinois’ Home Day was established to help state and local legislators better understand firsthand the importance ofgrant funding in Illinois. The three-hour event was co-chaired by Chiefs Tom Deegan and Tim Sashko of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs; Paul Darley, president, Darley and Co., and Janet Wilmoth representing FEMSA. In addition to congressional leaders and their staffers, also in attendance were 30 Illinois vendors (employing more than 100,000 Illinois employees) and more than 60 Illinois fire chiefs.
The event was held at the college’s $25 million HEC facility, completed in Q4 2011. It has 66,000 square feet and houses the college's Criminal Justice, Fire Science/EMS, Police Department and the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy. It is one of the few educational institutions to receive a relic from the Twin Towers following September 11, 2001, which is included in a permanent memorial display in the center.
Speakers at the event included Illinois State Fire Marshal Larry Matkaitis, Garry Briese, former FEMA VIII executive director and Don Mobley, FEMA program specialist. The state fire marshal presented the attendees with an update on his residential fire sprinkler campaign for Illinois. Matkaitis recently filed a new state fire code, the first change in 12 years, which would require fire sprinklers in all new single-family homes, including those built within Chicago city limits.
“As far as I’m concerned, everyone in Illinois deserves safe housing,” Matkaitis said.
Garry Briese in his keynote speech addressed educating legislators on fire and emergency service issues and, in particular, the value of federal grant funding.  Briese stated that the Assistance to Fire Grants funding is scheduled to cease in 2017, and the fire service needs to be prepared to act now to extend that deadline. 
Home Day concluded with outfitting the legislative staffers in firefighter turnout gear and having them enter a smoke-filled room to experience what it’s like to be a firefighter.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Fire Marshal Wants to Mandate Sprinklers in Single-Family Homes Sourc

from nbcchigago



Fire Marshal Wants to Mandate Sprinklers in Single-Family Homes

City of Chicago, claiming Home Rule status, says it doesn't have to follow state fire code

By Phil Rogers
|  Friday, Jun 14, 2013  |  Updated 8:38 PM CDT



View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.


The Illinois fire marshal says Chicago high-rises that don't have fire sprinklers must all be retrofitted, but the city claims it doesn't have to. Phil Rogers reports.
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After 12 years with the same state fire code, Illinois Fire Marshal Larry Matkaitis says it's time for an update.
And the one he's proposing is a big one: a first-ever requirement for fire sprinklers in all new single-family homes, including those built in Chicago.
"As far as I'm concerned, everyone in Illinois deserves safe housing," Matkaitis told NBC Chicago on Thursday. "Every state fire marshal in the country is trying to do the same thing that I am, for the same reason."
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The new move will do nothing to soften what is already a testy relationship between Matkaitis and the City of Chicago. The city insists, under home rule authority, it doesn't have to follow the state fire code at all. The largest sticking point: the state's contention that legacy residential high-rises in Chicago must install fire sprinklers, which building owners and even the city contend would be prohibitively expensive.
Matkaitis has plenty of company. When six people died in a fire in the Cook County Administration Building in October of 2003, an investigative commission headed by former FEMA director James Lee Witt concluded a major contributing factor was Chicago's refusal to follow the state code on the fire sprinkler issue.
"The thing of it is, if we don't start today, then it will never get done," Witt said in his report. 
It never was done. Nearly 10 years later, Chicago requires sprinklers only in new residential high-rises. Pre-1975 buildings are grandfathered and are not required to retrofit sprinkler systems.
"The statute applies all over the State of Illinois, whether it's Chicago or Cairo," Matkaitis said. "I want cooperation from everybody to save lives and property. Remember that. Save lives and property. That's the only thing that I do."
The current code, known as NFPA 101, dates to 2000. It was written by the National Fire Protection Association, as was the new 2012 version, which Matkaitis will submit for state adoption on Friday.
"There's no question that residential high-rises should have sprinklers," says NFPA President James Shannon. "Where sprinklers are involved, the chance that somebody's going to die in a fire in one of those buildings goes down dramatically."
But Chicago wants no part of it. Building owners say retrofit of older buildings would cost millions. Condo boards balk at the expense. And after the County Building fire, amid calls for tough sprinkler ordinances, the City Council punted, requiring instead that building owners only submit so-called Life Safety Evaluations of various fire parameters.
Even the deadlines in that ordinance have been repeatedly extended, and the city's ability to levy fines has been largely ignored.
"The City of Chicago's position is that our life safety code is equal to, or greater than the state's adopted fire code," said Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago. "These codes that they're coming up with, are they reasonable and are they necessary? At this time, we find them not necessary."
Santiago insists even with the lack of sprinkler requirements, Chicago's Life Safety Evaluations hold building owners to a tough standard.
"There's a lot of things," he said. "Smoke detectors, two way communications, automatic door locking. You go through a series of points and that gets you up to speed. And then we will go ahead and say if you are within our code, if you pass, yes or no."
Matkaitis calls the Chicago code deficient to NFPA 101, and he insists the city is on legal quicksand when it claims home rule authority to ignore the state law.
"The fire investigations statute which was written in 1909 specifically wrote out home rule," he said. "Home rule doesn't apply."
Reminded that Chicago insists that it does, Matkaitis bristled.
"They can say so, but there have been three court cases that say otherwise," he said.
Still, Matkaitis says his office has no authority to force compliance. Instead, he writes citations on fire buildings when inspectors discover they have no sprinklers. And many of those buildings insist they don't have to follow the state's code because of Chicago's less-restrictive ordinance.
The Fire Marshal said it would be up to Attorney General Lisa Madigan to try forcing the issue with the city. A spokesman for Madigan said Thursday they were unaware of the controversy, but if Matkaitis wanted to raise it with them they would examine the issues.
Matkaitis, of course, serves under Gov. Pat Quinn. Madigan is contemplating a challenge to Quinn in the upcoming Democratic primary.
Ironically, amid the debate, NFPA was holding its annual convention this week at Chicago's sprawling McCormick Place, a previous incarnation of which burned to the ground in a spectacular extra-alarm fire in 1967. The building lacked automatic fire sprinklers.
At the convention Thursday, Shannon, the NFPA President, said his organization's codes are written by hundreds of fire professionals from around the country. And he called deaths in non-sprinklered buildings "needless."
"Chicago should be the leader on this," he said. "This is probably the greatest architectural city in America. These are great buildings. They should be protected. But more importantly, the people who live in them should be protected."


Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/illinois-fire-marshal-sprinklers-single-family-homes-211501201.html#ixzz2X9YI48YK

Sunday, June 23, 2013

National Fire Service Organizations Applaud Introduction of Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act

from fireengineering

06/22/2013
On Thursday, June 13th, Senators Thomas Carper (DE) and Susan Collins (ME) introduced S. 1163, the Fire SprinklerIncentive Act.  The legislation was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.  Senators Carper and Collins both serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. 
The original measure was introduced in 2004 following the tragic nightclub fire in West Warwick, RI that claimed the lives of 100 victims.  Since then, the legislation has been reintroduced in subsequent Congresses with various changes made to address concerns raised by members of Congress regarding cost estimates.
Under the current legislation, automatic sprinklers could be treated as Section 179 property under the tax code.   Section 179 allows small and medium-sized businesses to write off the full cost of equipment purchases, up to $125,000, in a single year.  While automatic fire sprinklers are not currently classified as a Section 179 property, passage of the legislation would allow property owners to retrofit a large majority of high fire risk properties, such as certainoff campus housing, night clubs, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.   
The legislation would also create a financial incentive for high-rise building owners to install sprinkler systems by reducing the depreciation schedule to 15 years.  Currently the depreciation schedule is 39 years for commercial properties and 27.5 years for residential properties.  This reduction will also put sprinkler improvements more in line with the current tax code that allows 15-year depreciation for leasehold improvements.  

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Fire experts urge home sprinkler installation

from abcnews



Fire experts urge home sprinkler installation

Posted: Jun 19, 2013 8:24 PM PDTUpdated: Jun 19, 2013 8:49 PM PDT
By Nikki Gaskins
ngaskins@abcnews4.com
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — It's a startling number. Every 169 minutes someone dies in a house fire, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Experts say that number can greatly be reduced by simply installinghome sprinklers.
On Wednesday night, firefighters across the state in conjunction with South Carolina Sprinklers Association and the National Fire Protection Association conducted a firefighter demonstration at the Fire Museum in North Charleston.
Two makeshift rooms, one with sprinklers and one without, were set on fire. In no time, the room without sprinklers started to burn rather quickly and after just three minutes, the room was completely engulfed in flames.
"The sprinkler system is now the next phase above the smoke alarm," said Princella Lee-Bridges, whose her home in Greenville caught on fire 21 years ago. "As a result, I went back in to try and get my daughter and was burned on 49 percent of my body."
Working closely with the National Fire Protection Association, she's now on a mission to educate the community.
"Had sprinklers been in my home that evening, the outcome would have been drastically different," she said.
A second room, equipped with sprinklers, was then set on fire. In just under two minutes the sprinklers turned on, preventing the fire from spreading.
"At no point did that room become 'un-survivable' at any space," said Jonathan Jones, a Clarendon County firefighter.
Jones recently installed sprinklers in his own home.
"It was inexpensive; it was painless," Jones said. "It ended up costing us about $1.75 a square foot."
Both agree it's small price to pay for peace of mind.
"The fire doesn't just injure the individual; it injures all those who know the individual," said Lee-Bridges.

Put fire sprinklers in homes to save lives and property

from app.com


A fire began in a garbage can inside the structure of the SmartStopSelf Storage complex in Toms River at around 7:30 p.m. June 10. The sprinkler system worked to contain and extinguish the flames as first responders arrived and secured the scene, removing the smoldering plastic garbage can.
The system worked perfectly, by activating only the sprinkler head in the affected area and preventing further damage to the building and possible injuries to first responders.
The business was able to remain open after some minor cleanup of the affected area. Fire sprinklers have proven time and again that they are an effective and proactive form of fire protection.
Not only was the sprinkler system responsible for containing the fire to the area of origin, which drastically reduced the amount of damage to the business, but the system also provided first responders with the time needed to enter the structure safely and remove the charred contents.
Residential fire sprinklers provide the same lifesaving capabilities to homes, where people should feel the safest.
The New Jersey Assembly passed bill A-1570 in January and has recently introduced Senate bill S-2273, which would make it mandatory for all newly constructed one- and two-family homes, as well as condominiums and town homes, to be equipped with fire sprinklers.
Fire sprinklers are the only proactive form of fire protection that protects New Jersey residents, as well as the brave men and women who respond to these blazes, from the dangers of fire.
I urge people to learn more about the lifesaving capabilities of fire sprinklers and to ask themselves how prepared they would be if fire struck where they lived?
As seen in this case, fire sprinklers save lives and property.
David Kurasz
Executive Director, New Jersey Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board