City may mandate sprinklers

South Portland ordinance change would require systems in all new buildings, including residences.

SOUTH PORTLAND — South Portland is mulling a complete “repeal and replace” of its Fire Protection and Prevention Ordinance and, although there are a host of changes, the one referred to by city officials as “the big, scary one” would mandate use of sprinkler systems.

If the changes were adopted, any new construction in South Portland would require installation of a sprinkler system. Although existing homes are exempt, any renovation that increases a building’s living space by 50 percent would likewise trigger the requirement.

Sprinkler systems already are required in South Portland wherever a home is located more than 500 feet from a hydrant.

Placement of sprinkler heads would be dictated in the ordinance. However, Deputy Chief Miles Haskell, who spent nearly 18 months drafting the new rules, summed them up this way: “Essentially, any place you lay your head to sleep will require a sprinkler,” he said, during a workshop session of the City Council on Monday.

The sprinkler requirement would bring the city in line with national fire codes, said Fire Chief Kevin Guimond. He added that similar rules already are in place in Portland, Scarborough and Gorham.

“We had a fire the other night out to Red Oak Drive,” Guimond told councilors. “It was a serious fire in the kitchen, with about 20 people in that building, and the sprinkler put the fire out. It saved lives.

“You are better off being alive and having a little water damage than not being alive,” said Guimond.

According to Haskell, 78 percent of fires and 80 percent of fire-related deaths occur in residential structures, which are targeted in the new ordinance.

“That usually happens when people are sleeping, or defenseless,” said Haskell.

The deputy chief also noted that “flashover” – the time it takes for a room to become fully engulfed on flame once a fire starts – can occur within six to 10 minutes. Ten minutes, he says, is the average time it takes a fire crew to arrive on scene, while sprinklers generally kick in within two to five minutes.

“Survivability is 95 percent if the sprinkler system is there and working,” said Haskell.

According to estimates given at Monday’s meeting, installation of a sprinkler system under the proposed ordinance (which would allow plastic pipes) would range from $1.70 to $3 per square foot. Haskell said inclusion of a sprinkler system would add about $3,000 to the cost of a new home, based on the average house size in South Portland.

“Good job on this,” said Councilor Tom Coward. “I’m fully in favor of residential sprinklers. I think that’s what it’s coming to. It’ll be a big improvement, I think.”

But not everyone agrees, including some who build homes for a living. Larry Duell owns Father & Son Builders in Lebanon and sits as president of the Home Builders are Remodelers Association of Maine, a group that has fought making sprinklers part of the statewide building code.

“So far, only two states, California and Maryland, have mandated that,” he said. “The other 48 states have repealed it out of the [national] code. That tells you, basically, that no one in the country wants it.

“Our biggest concern is the affordability issue,” said Duell. By his estimate, sprinkler systems cost between $4,000 and $8,000 – adding about 3 percent to the cost of a $200,000 “entry-level home.”

“That takes affordability for the purchase of a house away from many Mainers,” said Duell. “It knocks a lot of people right out of the housing market, especially with the tight credit market right now.”

Duell said he gives his customers the option of adding a sprinkler system and, to date, “not one person has ever taken it.”

The reason, he says, is that hard-wired smoke detectors – which are required under the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code – are “99 percent effective.”

Duell characterizes sprinkler installation as a “personal responsibility” issue that municipalities needn’t mandate. While his group has fought spinkler requirements, it “probably would” support rules requiring hard-wired smoke detectors in all homes, “although it’s hard to tell somebody what to do with a home once they own it.”

“Maine has the oldest building stock in the country and, when you look at the statistics, it’s generally not the new homes that are burning,” he said.

According to City Manager James Gailey, the new ordinance will not go before the council for a first reading until its July 18 meeting, at the soonest. The ordinance would require a public hearing and final reading before adoption.

A CLOSER LOOK

Other proposed changes to South Portland’s fire safety ordinance include:

• Giving the fire chief a second hat as director of Emergency Management (with four pages of instruction on how he or she will function in that role);

• Authorizing the fire department to erect color-coded signs on vacant buildings, indicating its response in case of a fire (a red sign, for example, means firefighters will not enter the structure);

• Updated codes for installation, wiring and testing of fire alarm systems;

• A ban on the use of combustible mulch, open fires (without a permit) and burning of “domestic refuse;”

• Controls on the location and design of so-called “recreational fires,” and bonfires, including submission of a written request 10 days before igniting the latter;

• Rules on the maintenance of private fire hydrants;

• A ban on automatic handles on all gas pumps;

• A requirement that all marinas report the number of boats and people living on site during the winter months, and a ban on allowing anyone to live on board a boar year-round if it is moored more than 200 feet from shore;

• A requirement of double-walled construction on all fuel tanks between 700 and 25,000 gallons in size;

• Fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 per day for each violation.