The December issue of Fire Sprinkler Initiative Update, our monthly e-newsletter, has hit the streets. (Read the issue or subscribe today - it’s easy and free!)
In this issue, we highlight a new two-part podcast that features Jamie Lyons, senior engineer at Newport Partners in Maryland and author of the Integration of Residential Sprinklers with Water Supply Systems. Jamie talks about how the research was conducted and the key findings from the report.
We also talk about a new USFA campaign to urge homeowners to install smoke alarms and residential sprinklers, and offer up a video demonstration of how to install and maintain smoke alarms.
And on our blog, NFPA’s Maria Figueroa takes on the facts about insurance and home fire sprinklers — and how amending model safety codes by removing sprinkler requirements could have a negative impact on your wallet.
December 10, 2009 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Hundreds of Chicago firefighters were needed to put out a deadly high-rise fire early Thursday morning.
Flames shot out of the condo building at 260 East Chestnut in the Streeterville neighborhood. More than 200 residents ran out into the bitter cold after the fire broke out shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday.
Investigators say the fire started on the 36th floor in the unit of the woman who died, 84-year-old Beata Bihl.
“She was found in the front of the apartment toward the door, trying to make an escape,” said Commissioner John Brooks of the Chicago fire department
An investigation into the evacuation of Wellton’s Microtel Inn and Suites on Sunday points to the possibility of a faulty sprinkler head, which caused a room’s sprinklers to be activated, investigators announced Tuesday.
Fire units from Wellton Fire Department responded to the motel at 9:02 p.m. Sunday in reference to a report of a fire alarm showing fire sprinkler activation, according to a news statement released Tuesday. They quickly determined there was no fire.
Guests safely evacuated the multistory building and there were no injuries reported, according the news statement.
The cause of the sprinkler activation is still under investigation, but authorities are focusing on the possibility of a faulty sprinkler head.
The hotel received a substantial amount of water damage to several rooms, according to the statement. The owner of the hotel, however, was unavailable to provide authorities with an estimated damage assessment.
Some fire-prevention advocacy groups are pushing for a measure that would require the installation of indoor sprinklers in most new residential buildings in Michigan
