By Carl Lindquist
The York Dispatch
MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Fire Chief Richard Shank figures one day people will consider sprinkler systems as critical to their homes as smoke detectors.
The outgoing chief at Manchester Township’s Alert Fire Co. is supportive of a new building code that requires sprinkler systems in all new townhouses built this year in Pennsylvania. The systems next year must be installed in new single- and two-family homes as well.
In the 1970s smoke detectors were a fairly new safety measure to alert homeowners of fire, and they are now considered a necessity, Shank said. He thinks people will eventually come to look at sprinkler systems in a similar light.
“It’s another step in the direction we’ve been taking,” said Shank, who has been active with fire departments for more than 40 years.
Shank is among local fire officials who believe the new requirement will help save people’s homes from fire and prevent death or injury among firefighters and residents.
Challenge
The new code was adopted by the state last year, and last week survived a court challenge by the Pennsylvania Builders Association.
The association believes homeowners should have a choice to install a new system, said Louis Biacchi, executive vice president.
He said the new requirement will add thousands of dollars of cost to new homes.
“This is a very major addition to the construction codes and, in this particular economy, we don’t think the housing market can absorb it,” he said.
In court, Biacchi said the association challenged the process by which the codes were adopted. He said the state automatically adopts new codes as developed by the International Codes Council.
Instead, the association contends the General Assembly should be required to vote on new codes.
It’s hoping lawmakers will pass a bill to strike down the sprinkler requirement, he said.
Views
Fire Chief Terry McCandless Jr. recognizes the new requirement will add to the cost of a new home, but said from a safety standpoint he’s supportive.
McCandless said firefighters from his department — Lincoln Fire Co. No.1 of Thomasville — have responded to fires at homes with PEX plumbing, a newer type of plumbing material that can melt when exposed to heat. People’s homes have been inadvertently saved when the tubing melted, released water and put fire out even before the department responded, he said.
He imagines similar scenarios in new homes with sprinklers.
Shank argues the price of the sprinkler systems pales in comparison to the amount of damage they can prevent.
“When you look a the cost of putting sprinkler systems in the house and look at the cost of the home, it’s pennies on the dollar,” he said. “For that constant protection to be there, that’s just the best thing that can happen.”
He said the sprinklers are particularly important in new homes with lightweight construction that can burn quickly when exposed to fire. That can put both residents and firefighters in danger.
Sprinkler damage
The Pennsylvania Fire & Emergency Services Institute agrees, said Donald Konkle, executive director.
He said typically only the sprinkler head exposed to heat will turn on, which limits water damage. Most of the time it will extinguish the fire and prevent toxic levels of smoke from building up.
Most homeowners’ policies include coverage for water damage that would result if a sprinkler head turned on to fight a fire, said Rosanne Placey, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, a state agency that regulates insurance companies and agents.
The same coverage would also typically apply if a sprinkler head is accidentally broken.
She said people who own homes with sprinklers could possibly get reduced insurance premiums because of discounts offered by insurance companies.
Konkle said some insurance companies are already offering discounts, which help defray the cost of the sprinkler systems over the long term.
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