Posted Aug. 7, 2014 @ 12:01 am
Updated at 7:08 AM
The Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) recently released a white-paper report with their claims that the expense of installing a fire sprinkler system in three- to six-unit residential buildings is just too high and that not enough people are killed or injured in multi-unit residential fires to justify the requirement.
On July 10, seven people, five from a single family, were fatally injured in a multi-home residential apartment building in Lowell. The building was housing nearly 50 residents at the time the 4 a.m., fire spread and smoke alarms, though properly installed, failed to warn residents of danger.
Many thousands of people across the commonwealth live in multi-unit residential homes, including many in the dense Cambodian-American population in Lowell who experienced the brunt of this horrific fire. The BBRS has staked its claim in the fight against the protection of the Massachusetts populace which lives in multi-unit residential structures by siding with home-builder profit margins over the safety of these hardworking families.
I urge you to contact Brian Gale of the BBRS to express your concern for the members of our valued community that these fire codes have been created to protect. He may be reached by email at building@townoforange.org.
JOHN GRANT
Milton fire chief
President, Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts
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