By Jamie Thompson
FireRescue1 Editor
Full coverage of the sprinkler resolution debate
MINNEAPOLIS — As the fire chief for San Clemente in California back in 1980, Ronny Coleman helped the city become the first in the nation to adopt a fire sprinkler ordinance for new houses.
Fast forward nearly 30 years to last Sunday, and he was at the helm of the campaign that helped to secure code changes making sprinklers mandatory in new one-family and two-family homes across the United States.
“It’s for the simple reason that I like to finish what I start,” he said.
However, despite the resolution being passed at the International Code Council’s hearing in Minneapolis, the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition president said much work lies ahead.
United effort
The fire service, home safety advocates and building code officials united to push for a change to the International Residential Code, the model code governing residential construction in 46 states plus the District of Columbia.
But they faced strong opposition from groups such as the National Association of Home Builders.
“I think everybody needs to realize now that this should not be treated as a triumphant victory in the sense of beating somebody or defeating something,” Coleman said.
“What it is is the beginning of changing America’s fire problem.” Coleman said this change will only come about through an extensive amount of work in “building bridges” between all the groups that need to be involved in implementing the code at state level.
“It means not just working with builders associations, but working with industry, working with the private sector, working with community interest groups,” he said.
“My personal belief is that we’ve now laid the foundation; now we have to build the rest of the structure.”
 The cost to put sprinklers into the home where my daughter died would have been less than what I had to pay for the flowers at her funeral.  | ||
| — Kaaren Mann, Mother of fire victim | ||
Sunday’s vote was supported by 73 percent of the voting members in attendance at the hearing, surpassing the two-thirds majority required. Proponents had previously come up short in attempts to have the resolution passed, with voting at a hearing in Rochester, N.Y., last year falling just shy of the amount needed.
But since that vote, the IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition worked to secure more support for its efforts, gaining the backing of more than 100 national, state and local organizations. A major factor behind the support is statistics that show about 20 percent of all reported fires occur in one- and two-family structures, causing two-thirds of the fire deaths in the United States.
“This is a number one safety issue for firefighters as the most single dangerous occupancy for a firefighter is a single-family dwelling,” Coleman said. “Just look at the statistics — more firefighters are not only killed but injured in single-family dwellings than any other occupancy.”
As well as representatives from organizations addressing Sunday’s hearing, individuals spoke to support the resolution, too, including Kaaren Mann. Her daughter, Lauren Mahorn, died in a beach-house fire in North Carolina last year that also killed six other students.
Since the tragedy, Mann has become an active supporter of sprinkler legislation and campus fire safety.
During her testimony Sunday she said, “The cost to put sprinklers into the home where my daughter died would have been less than what I had to pay for the flowers at her funeral.”
Speaking after the vote, Maan said she wanted to keep her message simple in the face of numerous objections to the resolution from builders groups.
“They were coming up with all sorts of reasons against it,” she said. “I just wanted to say, ‘It saves lives’.”
With the resolution passed, Coleman said he is keen to stress that the fire service needs continued commitment to working with the code processes.
“Every single year there’s another set of code proposals, covering issues such as construction materials and roofing,” he said. “We have to be there for those hearings.”