[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Additional question on fire sprinklers required for single family

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Becker, KC

I have additional questions which have to do with the cost and need for maintenance on residential single family home fire sprinklers. I'm told that indoor fire sprinklers need annual maintenance and if they aren't maintained or tested regularly, they
 leak or break.


In the case of multi family properties, especially those with property managers, this sort of maintenance does get done, but in single family homes it is much less likely to occur and therefore more likely to cause problems or be unreliable in case there
 is a fire. 


Is there any information on any of this? If home owners don't maintain the system, will the system still be effective in an emergency? Are sprinkler systems like fire alarms which typically tell you when something isn't working properly (for an alarm,
 it may be that battery needs changing. for a sprinkler it may be a leak or obstruction or I'm not even sure what) 


If regular maintenance is necessary, how are we assured that this takes place and therefore that the system is reliable? 


Chief Donner cited a statistic the other night and I want to make sure I'm getting it correct: In 95% of the case where there was a fire in a single family home with a fire sprinkler, the sprinkler put it out before it spread to another room, and in 98%
 of the cases, it stopped the fire before it spread to the second room. Is that right? 


Thanks for having this information available on 3rd reading.


KC


On Sep 4, 2013, at 10:49 PM, "Cowles, Macon" <CowlesM at bouldercolorado.gov>
 wrote:



The issue of fire sprinklers is going to be discussed again at second reading, in two weeks. Staff is going to provide Council with additional information that will be helpful to the Council
 in assessing the costs and benefits.


I would like to know the following:


1. In the service area of the Boulder Fire Department, how many single family residences have caught fire during the last 15 years, and where were the residences located?


2. What was the ignition source, and what were the additional contributing factors that fueled the fire?


3. Was there loss of life or were there injuries in the fire? What was the extent of damage?


4. Was the house equipped with any type of alarm system or sprinkler system, and were those systems functioning at the time of the fire?


5. Were there code violations that may have contributed to the fire?


6. How close was the burned structure to a hydrant, or to a fire station?


Thanks very much.


Macon Cowles
Boulder City Councilor