firesprinkler.tv Fire sprinkler

The City of Hot Springs is a governmental member of the International Code Council (ICC) and utilizes the building codes published by the ICC, as does the State of South Dakota and 47 other states. California and Wisconsin do not currently use this code.

The City currently utilizes the 2003 Editions of the residential and commercial building codes (IRC & IBC) and is expected to update to the current edition early in 2009.

On Sept. 21, 73 percent of the voting members of the ICC voted to support two code proposals requiring fire sprinklers in one and two-family dwellings and townhouses covered by the IRC. The first proposal added the requirement for fire sprinklers in townhouses that fall within the scope of the IRC beginning in 2009, the second added the requirement for one- and two-family dwellings effective January 1, 2011.

The primary function of any fire sprinkler system is fire containment, to keep the fire from spreading. Through suppression and containment there is less smoke and fewer toxic gases, and thus fewer cases of smoke inhalation. Fire victims succumb to smoke and heat first; it is then that they are taken by the fire.

The effectiveness of fire sprinkler systems is proven and isn

A woman escaped serious injury in a fire at Sheldon Towers in Rutland that started when a cigarette she was smoking in bed came in contact with an oxygen tube she uses to breathe, according to fire officials.

Rutland Fire Department responded Saturday night to a bedroom fire at Sheldon Towers. Firefighters received the call at 9:39 p.m. and within two minutes responded to the 10-story tower, said Chief Robert Schlachter.

When firefighters arrived, they could see smoke pouring out of a seventh-story window, and because the elevators were not functioning, firefighters climbed the stairs to apartment 708, the source of the smoke.

Schlachter said firefighters forced the door open and found that while the room was filled with smoke, the building’s sprinkler system had extinguished most of the fire. Schlachter said because the fire was mostly extinguished, he did not issue a mutual aid call to departments from other towns.

Schlachter said the tenant from 708 was not in the apartment when firefighters arrived, but they later located her in the hallway. Schlachter said she had suffered light burns and some singed hair, but she declined medical treatment Saturday night and again declined treatment Sunday.

Schlachter said the victim uses oxygen to breathe, and while lying in bed she removed her oxygen tube and left it resting on her chest because she wanted to smoke a cigarette. Schlachter said the lit cigarette came in contact with the oxygen tube, igniting it, the woman’s dress and her bed.

The woman was able to remove her burning dress without inhaling the flames and exited the apartment, Schlachter said.

Firefighters threw the woman’s bedding, including her mattress and box spring, out the seventh-story window as they extinguished the remaining blaze, then performed a room-by-room search of the building looking for anyone suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, Schlachter said.

While firefighters searched the apartments, a few of the tenants watched from outside while others waited in the ground-floor lobby. By 1 a.m., with the fire extinguished and everyone accounted for, the tenants were allowed to return to their apartments.

“She’s the luckiest person around,” Schlachter said of the victim. While it is unlikely the oxygen tank itself would explode

Firefighters from throughout the metropolitan region converged in Anne Arundel to support legislation requiring sprinklers installed in houses there, a bill home builders have openly opposed.

This year, incidences of students covering their smoke detectors have been reported at a much higher rate than usual, causing University officials to consider revising the punishment for such actions.

On Nov. 5 and 6, the University Environmental Health and Safety Department, along with Facilities, Public Safety, Residence Life and the Waltham Fire Department, conducted biannual fire drills.

Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan told the Justice that it appeared that many people were not evacuating the buildings during the fire drills in Rosenthal Quad. He explained that when the Waltham Fire Department went into different suites, they found several smoke detectors that were covered. He said that their curiosity peaked when they realized that students were violating fire safety procedure.

Erika Lamarre, director of student conduct and development, told the Justice, “The University has the potential to be fined $1,000 per covered smoke detector [by the city of Waltham].” She said that the amount of danger that it poses to the entire building when even one smoke detector is covered “is enormous. And the possibility of injury or death in case of a fire with a smoke detector that’s covered is something that I can’t emphasize enough.”

Dean of Student Life Richard Sawyer said that Brandeis has been fined.

Callahan told the Justice that since the University was in violation 23 times for each of the covered smoke detectors, it is possible that the city of Waltham could “cite us $23,000 worth of fines.” He said that during the drill that took place over Nov. 5 and 6, the “majority of the violations” were in Rosenthal Quad.

Lamarre wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, “The fire chief is not happy with us right now.”

In an e-mail to the Justice, Lamarre revealed that Waltham Fire Chief Richard Cardillo sent a letter to Vice President of Campus Operations Mark Collins summarizing the concerns of the fire drill. Cardillo elaborated that the letter included details about the $1,000 fine per covered smoke detector that the University will have to pay. He also explained that individuals responsible for disabling fire protection may face a year in jail according to the state law.

Cardillo confirmed the 23 violations and explained that the “smoke detectors were covered with bags in rooms and hallways.” Andrew Finn from University Services, who was present at the drills, revealed in an e-mail to the Justice that covered sprinkler heads, propped-open fire doors and a variety of decorating lights hanging on sprinkler pipes were also found.

Finn wrote that the “University Environmental Health and Safety Department and the Waltham Fire Department were dismayed and very concerned when the scope of the covered smoke detectors was realized by the end of [Nov. 6].”

Sawyer revealed that [Student Life] “has been concerned with covered smoke detectors for a while.” Lamarre explained in her e-mail that five times as many students “have been referred for fire safety violations” this semester than for the fall semester of last year. Sawyer said that students in the past who covered their smoke detectors were referred to the student judicial process.

Daniela Montoya-Fontalvo ‘11, who lives in Rosenthal East, told the Justice that she and her suitemates were written up for covering their smoke detector this October when they were throwing a birthday party for a friend. She explained that they covered it because they didn’t want the birthday candles on the cake to set the alarm off.

Brian, a member of the Class of 2009 who wished to remain anonymous, said that he covered his smoke detector during the second half of his sophomore year and again in his junior year. He said that he covered the detector so that he could burn incense and smoke inside his room. He recalls being told by the police to uncover the smoke detector, but admitted, “then we put it right back on.” Although Brian was aware of the “irresponsibility” of the act at the time, he reasoned that “if there’s a real fire, the bag [covering the smoke detector] would actually probably melt and the sprinklers will go off first.”

However, Finn wrote, “Keeping the smoke detectors uncovered is critical to the early-warning nature of the detectors in discovering smoldering fires for the safety of all building occupants.”

Finn elaborated in his e-mail that on Nov. 14 of this year, Fire Safety Think Tank, a panel hosted by Lamarre and attended by representatives from various departments, discussed the “root causes and methods to help educate students.” The issue was also raised at the Personal Safety Committee meeting. Callahan, who is the chair of the committee, said that the committee is interested in creating posters to make the student body aware of the fire safety procedure, wrote Finn.

Callahan explained that the University is exploring a variety of different options in order to respond to the smoke detector issue. He said, “I believe that the office of student affairs is looking to initiate fines for situations when they discover that people have covered their smoke detectors.”

“Everyone should understand that disabling, bypassing, destroying or tampering with a life safety device is not only against the law but it puts everyone in the building at risk,” wrote Finn.

A fire at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house early yesterday morning was caused by an electrical overload, according to the Division of Public Safety.

The fraternity house, located at 4040 Walnut St., was evacuated at about 3:30 a.m. when brothers reported seeing smoke billowing from a second-floor bedroom.

All of the residents - 20 to 25 people - were evacuated from the house and one resident was taken to the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation, said Sgt. Joe Risoli of the Penn Police.

The fire was contained in one bedroom on the second floor, said Eugene Janda, chief of fire and emergency services for the Penn Police.

The blaze was caused by a circuit overload, due to a large number of electrical devices plugged into power strips, according to Janda and Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush. The circuits overheated, causing a mattress to ignite.

Rush said West Philadelphia’s power grid is not equipped to handle setups in which multiple refrigerators and microwaves are located in each bedroom - the situation that caused yesterday’s fire.

The student was in stable condition by mid-morning, Rush said.

Pi Kapp President and College junior Dan Kroese said a few people broke down the door to the student’s bedroom, where the fire reportedly originated, and pulled him out.

“We pulled him from the room and we pulled him outside,” said Wharton sophomore Brandon Bagley, a Pi Kapp brother.

Kroese added that he spoke yesterday afternoon with the student and he had been released from the hospital.

A Pi Kapp brother who lives in the house and wished to remain anonymous said many brothers ran in and out of the building multiple times to make sure everyone was out.

He added that firefighters also climbed into the second floor via ladders, breaking windows in the process.

The residents and others who were woken up by the commotion gathered in small groups outside the house where two charred mattresses lay on the sidewalk.

House residents were allowed back inside relatively quickly, though an Allied Barton security guard was stationed at the building.

Risoli added that Campus Apartments, the landlord of the residence, was notified.

To prevent electrical fires, Janda said students should not attach power strips to other power strips and should plug large appliances, like refrigerators, directly into wall outlets.

Rush added that the students affected by the fire were “very fortunate” the house had a “state-of-the-art protection system in place.” Both the fire alarm and sprinkler system were activated.

Damage was mostly limited to one room, but there was minor water damage in the rest of the house, Kroese said.

“By Monday when we get back, the house should pretty much be as good as new,” he added.

Authorities have charged a man with arson in a fire in an office suite on Washington Street.

Twenty-six-year-old Brian Lee Beemer Sr. of Hagerstown is also charged with other offenses, according to court records.

Firefighters responded to the blaze about 9 p.m. Monday in a fifth-floor office. The fire was limited by the building’s sprinkler system.

Representatives of 28 national and international organizations concerned with residential fire safety held a National Residential Fire Sprinkler Summit to discuss opportunities for cooperative advocacy at the state and local level.

“It

In the future, when Lawrence homeowners talk about their sprinkler system, they may not be talking about the one in their yard.

Instead, new single family homes in the city may be routinely equipped with fire sprinkler systems.

The country’s largest building code organization recently approved new regulations that would require all single-family homes constructed after 2010 to be equipped with sprinkler systems.

The new regulations set up a big decision for city commissioners because the city can choose to exempt itself from the requirement.

“There obviously will be opponents to it,” said Rich Barr, the city’s fire marshal. “And I’m not sure there will be a lot of proponents, other than the fire service.”

The issue, primarily, is financial.

Bobbie Flory, executive director of the Lawrence Home Builders Association, said her group would vigorously oppose the regulation. She said her group is concerned the new requirement could add several thousand dollars to the cost of a new home during a time when new houses already are tough to sell.

“I don’t really know how it could be a worse time to add this,” Flory said. “This is a horrible, horrible housing market.”

Estimates for how much a sprinkler system would add to the cost of a home vary. A study sponsored by the Fire Protection Research Foundation found that the average cost to install a sprinkler system in a new home was $1.61 per square foot, or $3,220 for a 2,000 square foot home. But Flory said a survey by the national homebuilders association found costs to range from $2.66 per square foot to $6.88 per square foot. That would add $5,000 to $13,000 to a home’s price.

Barr, who has sprinklers in his home, said the costs are manageable and could, if buyers choose, be offset by making choices in others areas of construction, such as choosing a lesser grade of countertop or substituting carpet for wood floors.

And Barr said there is no doubt that fire sprinklers are among the most effective ways to protect lives and property.

“It’s like having a firefighter in your house 24 hours a day,” Barr said.

Flory said builders do understand the life-safety benefits of fire sprinklers, but said there may be more cost-effective ways to promote safety.

She said the National Center for Health Statistics reports that over the last 20 years fire-related fatalities have decreased by 54 percent. She credits less expensive regulations - such as requiring hard-wired smoke alarms and the use of building materials with higher fire ratings - for the decline.

“We don’t oppose everything because it adds costs,” Flory said. “But we do want to strike a reasonable balance between cost and benefits.”

Barr, though, said fire sprinklers provide the added benefit of protecting property by putting out or containing fires before they turn into a blaze. That, in turn, makes it less likely that firefighters are injured battling a fire, he said.

Currently, the city does require fire sprinklers in any new apartment buildings of three units or more, and in most commercial and industrial buildings.

City commissioners likely won’t start seriously debating the issue of whether to require sprinklers in single family homes until late 2009.

Automatic sprinklers flooded the stage where Mr Rudd was due to open the Asia-Pacific military center in Queanbeyan.

About 100 people were forced to leave the building, many copping a spray from the fire extinguishers.

The Prime Minister is now holding the media event on the stairs of the building.