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SAWHORSE
Published: March 24, 2011
Fire officials went to most Orange County cities and asked them to consider also requiring remodeled homes to be retrofitted with fire sprinklers.
Plan for sprinklers fizzles for fire agencyBy SALVADOR HERNANDEZ
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
County fire officials didn't expect such a fight. But these weren't flames. It was politics.
"For over 20 years, we've been going back and forth," said Laura Blaul, assistant chief and fire marshal of the Orange County Fire Authority.
Fire agencies across the country have campaigned for years to have sprinklers required in newly built homes. On Jan. 1, the state's new fire and building code went into effect and mandated the sprinklers in new homes. But Fire Authority officials wanted to go a step further.
Fire officials went to most Orange County cities and asked them to consider also requiring remodeled homes to be retrofitted with fire sprinklers. The sprinklers, fire officials argued, would reduce the number of deaths and damage to homes during fires.
But the request was met with resistance in several cities. In a county that prides itself on a laissez-faire attitude about government regulations and businesses, fire officials said they faced an uphill battle in their petition, despite the arguments they made on safety. Prepared to discuss the benefits and costs of installing the fire sprinklers, several city councils instead debated the intrusion of government regulations on private homeowners.
"So we didn't get a heck of a lot," Blaul said.
For opponents of the measure, the added requirement would increase costs to construction and possibly deter homeowners from remodeling homes, hindering a construction industry already hurting in the fragile economy.
"For a number of years, we've been opposed to it," said Bryan Starr, chief executive officer of the Orange County Chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California.
POLITICS AND MONEY
Since late 2010, county fire officials approached 22 city councils. Under their proposed rules, remodeled homes that added 1,000 square feet to the property and one-third to the total floor space would have to add fire sprinklers as well.
The results were mixed.
Seven Orange County cities adopted the provisions. Nine city councils rejected them.
Some city council members were concerned about driving up remodeling costs. According to Fire Authority estimates they received from local contractors, adding fire sprinklers to a remodeled home would cost about $1.18 to $2 a square foot. But according to Building Industry Association estimates, the costs could run up to $5 a square foot.
"That's significant," Starr said, adding that the work needed to add the sprinklers, including demolition and unforeseeable work in some homes, could drive costs higher.
In response to Fire Authority efforts, the building trade group sent letters to council members expressing opposition.
"Our concern is that the risks will dominate homeowners' cost/benefit analysis and prevent them from moving forward on remodeling projects," one of the letters read. "The obvious fallout for our remodeler members is further decline in work."
The building group didn't send representatives to the council meetings, Starr said.
"We didn't think we had to," he said. "I think we were in line with what many of the councils were thinking."
For some city leaders, however, the issue was not money but political philosophy.
"The question is what we as a governing body will mandate," said Frank Ury, Mission Viejo councilman. "I see this as an initial encroachment to further tell people what to do."
His colleague Cathy Schlicht echoed his comments during a recent council meeting.
"I don't want to take away safety from anybody, but it should be an option," she said. "I think it's overkill. I think it should be an option to homeowners."
Council members didn't just reject the Fire Authority's proposal for remodeled homes in Mission Viejo, but voted in a symbolic move to remove any local requirement for sprinklers in homes, including new ones.
Under state guidelines, the homes would still require the sprinklers in new homes.
Similar conversations took place in other council meetings.
In Tustin, council members also said they were in favor of higher safety, but did not want to over-regulate.
Banning smoking at night, or barbecues and fire pits, would also create a safer environment, but Tustin Councilman John Nielsen said he wanted residents to be independent.
"I kind of wrestled with this but I think that is the common-sense choice," he said during the January meeting, when the council voted against the county fire recommendations and adopted the state guidelines.
THE MESSAGE
For county fire officials, the strategy from now on is clear, OCFA's Blaul said.
"I think we have to get the public to want it," she said.
Blaul touts the benefits of fire sprinklers in reducing damage and deaths in residential fires. According to an agency study of fires from 2004 to 2009, homes with sprinklers sustained 60 percent less damage than those without them.
In 1,529 residential fires, those without sprinklers had about $83,000 in damage on average; those with sprinklers, about $34,000.
Part of the problem is that getting information to the public about the benefits is difficult to do, said Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion. While wildfires garner media attention, and alert homeowners to the benefit of clearing brush outside their homes, sprinklers get little attention. The damage difference is seen to be minimal, and homeowners sometimes don't see the benefit.
In three years, the state's fire and building code will again be renewed and sent to cities to be adopted into their ordinances.
But before then, Blaul said, fire officials are hoping to convince homeowners that sprinklers are a benefit.
Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361
Fire officials went to most Orange County cities and asked them to consider also requiring remodeled homes to be retrofitted with fire sprinklers.
Plan for sprinklers fizzles for fire agencyBy SALVADOR HERNANDEZ
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
County fire officials didn't expect such a fight. But these weren't flames. It was politics.
"For over 20 years, we've been going back and forth," said Laura Blaul, assistant chief and fire marshal of the Orange County Fire Authority.
Fire agencies across the country have campaigned for years to have sprinklers required in newly built homes. On Jan. 1, the state's new fire and building code went into effect and mandated the sprinklers in new homes. But Fire Authority officials wanted to go a step further.
Fire officials went to most Orange County cities and asked them to consider also requiring remodeled homes to be retrofitted with fire sprinklers. The sprinklers, fire officials argued, would reduce the number of deaths and damage to homes during fires.
But the request was met with resistance in several cities. In a county that prides itself on a laissez-faire attitude about government regulations and businesses, fire officials said they faced an uphill battle in their petition, despite the arguments they made on safety. Prepared to discuss the benefits and costs of installing the fire sprinklers, several city councils instead debated the intrusion of government regulations on private homeowners.
"So we didn't get a heck of a lot," Blaul said.
For opponents of the measure, the added requirement would increase costs to construction and possibly deter homeowners from remodeling homes, hindering a construction industry already hurting in the fragile economy.
"For a number of years, we've been opposed to it," said Bryan Starr, chief executive officer of the Orange County Chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California.
POLITICS AND MONEY
Since late 2010, county fire officials approached 22 city councils. Under their proposed rules, remodeled homes that added 1,000 square feet to the property and one-third to the total floor space would have to add fire sprinklers as well.
The results were mixed.
Seven Orange County cities adopted the provisions. Nine city councils rejected them.
Some city council members were concerned about driving up remodeling costs. According to Fire Authority estimates they received from local contractors, adding fire sprinklers to a remodeled home would cost about $1.18 to $2 a square foot. But according to Building Industry Association estimates, the costs could run up to $5 a square foot.
"That's significant," Starr said, adding that the work needed to add the sprinklers, including demolition and unforeseeable work in some homes, could drive costs higher.
In response to Fire Authority efforts, the building trade group sent letters to council members expressing opposition.
"Our concern is that the risks will dominate homeowners' cost/benefit analysis and prevent them from moving forward on remodeling projects," one of the letters read. "The obvious fallout for our remodeler members is further decline in work."
The building group didn't send representatives to the council meetings, Starr said.
"We didn't think we had to," he said. "I think we were in line with what many of the councils were thinking."
For some city leaders, however, the issue was not money but political philosophy.
"The question is what we as a governing body will mandate," said Frank Ury, Mission Viejo councilman. "I see this as an initial encroachment to further tell people what to do."
His colleague Cathy Schlicht echoed his comments during a recent council meeting.
"I don't want to take away safety from anybody, but it should be an option," she said. "I think it's overkill. I think it should be an option to homeowners."
Council members didn't just reject the Fire Authority's proposal for remodeled homes in Mission Viejo, but voted in a symbolic move to remove any local requirement for sprinklers in homes, including new ones.
Under state guidelines, the homes would still require the sprinklers in new homes.
Similar conversations took place in other council meetings.
In Tustin, council members also said they were in favor of higher safety, but did not want to over-regulate.
Banning smoking at night, or barbecues and fire pits, would also create a safer environment, but Tustin Councilman John Nielsen said he wanted residents to be independent.
"I kind of wrestled with this but I think that is the common-sense choice," he said during the January meeting, when the council voted against the county fire recommendations and adopted the state guidelines.
THE MESSAGE
For county fire officials, the strategy from now on is clear, OCFA's Blaul said.
"I think we have to get the public to want it," she said.
Blaul touts the benefits of fire sprinklers in reducing damage and deaths in residential fires. According to an agency study of fires from 2004 to 2009, homes with sprinklers sustained 60 percent less damage than those without them.
In 1,529 residential fires, those without sprinklers had about $83,000 in damage on average; those with sprinklers, about $34,000.
Part of the problem is that getting information to the public about the benefits is difficult to do, said Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion. While wildfires garner media attention, and alert homeowners to the benefit of clearing brush outside their homes, sprinklers get little attention. The damage difference is seen to be minimal, and homeowners sometimes don't see the benefit.
In three years, the state's fire and building code will again be renewed and sent to cities to be adopted into their ordinances.
But before then, Blaul said, fire officials are hoping to convince homeowners that sprinklers are a benefit.
Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361
