BURBANK : Library Urged to Install Smoke Alarms, Sprinklers
Citing the 1986 fire that devastated the Los Angeles Central Library, the Burbank Fire Department has asked the city to immediately install sprinklers or smoke detectors in its main library, protection that was not included in a $500,000 remodeling last year.
The chairwoman of the Burbank Board of Library Trustees responded that the board will consider smoke alarms, for about $20,000, but sprinklers, at $100,000, would be too expensive. “In its present condition the Central Library is susceptible to a major fire loss if it is not detected in its initial stage,” Fire Chief Michael W. Davis said in a report to the trustees Wednesday night.
Burbank’s central library, which has 240,000 volumes, was renovated last year to remove asbestos and add earthquake-resistant bookshelves. Raymonde Izay, chairwoman of the library board, said it was not clear why fire protection was not included in the project.
Under city zoning codes, the library is not required to retrofit the building with sprinklers or smoke detectors.
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