Home Fire Sprinklers

Staff writer John M. Glionna has, in recent weeks, reported on challenges to the Encinitas fire sprinkler ordinance by the group calling itself Taxpayers Against Sprinklers.

In both articles, the head of this uninformed group, Mr. Wayne Holden, has been quoted making statements regarding residential fire sprinkler systems, which I feel mislead the general public.

The June 1 article, (“Ruling Upholds Encinitas Law Requiring That New Homes Have Fire Sprinklers”), states that Encinitas was one of the first communities to pass an ordinance requiring residential fire sprinkler systems. In fact, the cities of San Clemente and Fontana have had ordinances on the books for as long as 10 years.

Mr. Holden states that the cost of such systems is prohibitive. In fact, a typical system costs less than carpet in a home, between 80 cents and $1.25 per square foot.

Mr. Holden state that 96% of fires occur in older homes, where faulty wiring exists in attic crawl spaces. Even if the statement was true, wouldn’t the homes being built today be 20 years old in 20 years? When should we start to employ newer, proven fire safety methods into construction?

In fact, the National Fire Protection Assn. statistics for residential fires show that attic crawl spaces account for fewer than 10% of area of origin. Living rooms account for 41%, bedrooms account for 27% and kitchens accounted for 15%. Regarding ignition heat sources, faulty wiring accounts for fewer than 3% of residential fires. Smoking materials top the list at 36%.

In this country:

Fire will break out in one of every 10 homes. Each year, there are about 7,000 fire deaths, about 30,000 fire-related injuries and about $6 billion in property damage.

Fire sprinklers are the only time-proven, cost-effective means of reducing our nation’s fire loss.

We must learn from our past mistakes. Our fire marshals are charged with the responsibility of preventing fire and loss of life. Let’s not allow special interest groups to mislead us into another decade of record fire losses.

ROBERT G. CAPUTO, President, San Diego Fire Protection Assn.