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firesprinkler.tv Fire sprinkler |
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GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 13 (UPI) — Fire sprinkler systems, smoke alarms and closed doors provide the time for dormitory residents safely to escape a fire, U.S. researchers said.
Fire researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology compared room fires in dormitory buildings with and without sprinklers.
For the study, researchers used a dormitory that included clothing, books and furniture typically found in student housing at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., which was scheduled to be replaced.
Dan Madrzykowski, an NIST fire protection engineer, said fires create hazards of high heat, loss of visibility and toxic gases.
The smoke alarms activated within 30 seconds after a trash container in a dorm room began burning.
Experiments 1 and 2 were conducted with the dorm room door and windows closed, while rooms for experiments 2 and 3 had automatic fire sprinklers. Experiments 4 and 5 were conducted with the door of the dorm room open and no sprinklers.
The researchers found smoke alarms, closed doors and automatic fire sprinkler systems the most effective in allowing students to leave safely.
The studies are at the Web sites: nist.gov/cgi-bin//get_pdf.cgi?pub_id=904640 and nist.gov/cgi-bin//get_pdf.cgi?pub_id=101409.
Ed Orcutt says barns and other agricultural buildings don’t need fire sprinkler systems, the same claim a Woodland couple has made battling Cowlitz County about reassembling a historic barn on their property.
Orcutt, R-Kalama, introduced a bill (HB 2975) last week that bans county or state sprinkler requirements for agricultural buildings. He said it’s not connected to Rena and Kent Bellika’s barn in rural Woodland. Instead, Orcutt was contacted about a proposed new barn near Woodland that might not go up if the owners have to meet sprinkler standards. The new barn was scheduled to be 3,600 square feet and anything more than 3,500 square feet requires a sprinkler system. Orcutt said the requirement adds too many costs to the project.
“I want to keep our farmers farming and not put them out of business,” he said. “If we could get someone to build a barn this year I’d certainly like to see that happen and I know our construction folks could sure use the business.”
The Bellikas ran into a similar problem with their 1920 barn which county officials wanted brought up to modern day standards. One of the main stumbling blocks was a sprinkler system that Rena Bellika said was too expensive and unnecessary in a historic barn.
Bellika hasn’t talked to Orcutt about his bill but said she’d be in favor of having the regulations for agricultural buildings eased. It’s unclear if Orcutt’s bill would help the Bellikas because their barn and building permit already are under way.
Cowlitz County Commissioner Axel Swanson hadn’t read the proposed legislation but said on its face it sounds like something he’d support to ease conflicts like the one the Rena Bellika brought to commissioners earlier this month.
Swanson organized a meeting with the Bellikas and county Building and Planning Department last week and said afterward that they believe they’ve found ways to meet most of the requirements without undue burdens.
Orcutt’s bill, co-sponsored by five lawmakers including Vancouver Democrat Deb Wallace, has been referred to the Local Government & Housing Committee for review.
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Several months after repealing an ordinance requiring businesses to install fire sprinklers, the City Council approved an incentive package to encourage businesses to add the sprinklers on their own.
The incentives will come in the form of adjustments to permit fee costs for the building and fire departments, and a limited waiver on city taxes. The breaks should not exceed $3,000 in taxes or $30,000 total incentives.
The goal is to help business owners bring their buildings into compliance with National Fire Protection Association standards.
People will have to apply to the building department to receive the money. The building and fire departments will review the applications.
On Monday night, the City Council also approved a bid for the installation of a sprinkler and alarm system in the downtown fire station.
The council voted unanimously to accept a $50,008 bid from BCI Integrated Solutions for a combined sprinkler and alarm system for Fire Station No. 2. The bid from BCI was not the lowest bid, but fire Chief Keith Williams said the firm won because it was the only company to submit all necessary materials with its application.
MONTROSE, Iowa - An inmate at the Lee County jail
By Gary Ludwig, Firehouse Contributing Editor -
Posted: Thu, 12/17/2009 - 12:03
Updated: Thu, 12/17/2009 - 12:29
When I learned in late October that the International Code Council (ICC) voted at its annual conference in Baltimore to keep residential sprinklers on the book despite strong opposition from the National Association of Home Builders, I could not help but think what the leaders of the home builders group were thinking. The conversation inside their cigar-smoke-filled offices at the home builders group might have gone something like this: “Mr. Moneybags, we have bad news from Baltimore. The International Code Council voted 7-4 to keep residential sprinklers in the International Residential Code. This takes effect on Jan. 1, 2011, and requires sprinkler systems in new single-family homes after this date.”
“What? How could this happen, Daddy Warbucks? You know how much money we’ve paid to fight this. We don’t want residential sprinklers in the new building code for 2012. This is going to cut into our profits, deter people from building homes and make the cost of homes out of reach for first-time buyers.”
“But Mr. Moneybags, there was stiff opposition from the fire service. They argued that residential sprinklers will save lives; hold down the loss on fire and might even save firefighters’ lives. They had statistics that showed that about 79% of all people who die in fires die in their homes. The firefighters also have data that about 77% of all structure fires last year occurred in homes. Mr. Moneybags, it gets worse. Statistics demonstrate that there has never been any multiple loss of life in a fully sprinklered building. Property losses are 85% less in homes with fire sprinklers compared to those without sprinklers. The combination of automatic sprinklers and early-warning systems in all buildings and residences could reduce overall injuries, loss of life and property damage by at least 50%.”
On Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 4:20 a.m., the South Walton Fire District (SWFD) responded to a fire alarm activation at Emerald Coast Wine & Spirits located in the Watercolor Crossings shopping center.
The crew from the Watercolor station responded and arrived to find smoke issuing from the building. Upon entry into the building, the crews found that an electrical short had set several boxes on fire, which in turn, ignited the wall behind them.
The resulting heat from this fire activated a single sprinkler head located nearby, which extinguished the fire. SWFD crews were able to confirm that the fire had been completely extinguished and shut the water supply to the sprinkler off to minimize any damage caused by the flowing water.
Having a fire is every homeowner
The Alaska Division of Fire and Life Safety and the Mat-Su Fire Chiefs Association will light two fires at the fair Aug. 29 and Sept. 2 at 6 pm, showing a live audience how fast a home fire will spread.
Fairgoers at the Alaska State Fair will see for themselves how fast a home fire will spread and how well a home fire sprinkler performs. The Alaska Division of Fire and Life Safety, part of the Department of Public Safety, and the Mat-Su Fire Chiefs Association will light two fires at the fair Aug. 29 and Sept. 2, both at 6 pm, before a live audience at the Alaska State Fair grandstand area.
“Sometimes people just need to see it to believe it,” said Mahlon Greene, coordinator of public education for the Alaska Division of Fire and Life Safety.
Home builders and fire safety officials have been butting heads over a potential mandate for residential fire sprinkler systems, and the debate was being brought to Lansing today.
The state Legislature is considering mandating that all new single-family and two-family homes have a fire sprinkler system. Supporters and naysayers were gathering today to argue their side before the state Building and Code Committee in Lansing, which will make a recommendation on the mandate in the coming months.
The International Code Council, which Michigan and 45 other states use as a basis to set construction codes, adopted a sprinkler mandate last year. Michigan, in its regular three-year review of the code, can adopt it all or in part, cutting unwanted sections.
Proponents believe sprinklers save lives. Those opposed say mandated sprinklers will increase housing prices and handicap an already-struggling building industry.
The sprinklers are not essential, according to Todd Hamstra, a member of Muskegon’s Shoreline Builders Association board of directors. In homes with functioning wired smoke detectors, people safely escape the fire more than 99 percent of the time, he said.
“We would be the first ones to jump on the bandwagon if it were a real safety issue,” Hamstra said.
Hamstra, a director of the Michigan Association of Homebuilders who planned to attend the forum in Lansing today, believes mandated sprinklers would drive up insurance and housing prices.
Price projections for installing sprinklers vary and depend on the system used and whether the home uses a well for its water. Some believe it will make up approximately 1.5 percent of the home’s total cost. Hamstra puts it at $6 per square foot or higher.
“Lower income owners might not be able to pay,” Hamstra said. The extra cost for sprinklers “may be the amount that kicks them off the edge,” he said.
Muskegon Fire Marshal Major Metcalf said more research needs to be done to determine the true cost of fire sprinkler installation.
“I don’t believe it’s as expensive as homebuilders believe it is,” Metcalf said.
Hamstra said water damage from sprinklers would cause higher insurance rates, but Metcalf does not believe they would increase. He said there is a common misconception that sprinklers cause excess water damage.
Each sprinkler head is individually activated by heat, and fire officials say they are not likely to go off for minor issues like burned toast.
Metcalf said fire sprinklers can help curb property damage, citing an apartment fire at 1249 Peck this month that ended in a total loss of the building.
Metcalf and Norton Shores Fire Marshal Norm Hosko, president of the Michigan Fire Inspectors Society, both planned to attend today’s Lansing forum. Hosko said the 3,000 to 4,000 Americans that die in house fires each year are mostly people who struggle to exit the home quickly.
“It’s the 5- and 6-year-olds, the 75- and 80-year-olds that can’t get down the steps and get out the door,” Hosko said. “A sprinkler system may not put the fire out, but it buys time…to get out of the home.”
E-mail Jeff Engel at jrengel@muskegonchronicle.com