captstanm1
04-10-2003, 12:15 PM
ST PETERSBURG TIMES--State Section
Fire safety law raises objections
Condo builders are required to do expensive retrofitting.
[/i]hters say it's necessary for residents' safety. [/i]
By MICHAEL SANDLER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 5, 2003
TALLAHASSEE -- When a new law took effect last year requiring that older highrise buildings install fire sprinklers, Glenn Caudell grudgingly accepted the cost.
He and his neighbors spent nearly $100,000 for sprinklers in common areas, new fire doors and a second alarm system at the 15-story, Prelude 80 condominiums in Clearwater.
To fully comply by the deadline in 2014, however, they must spend another $150,000 on sprinklers for each of the 53 units.
"Why wasn't that thought of years ago?" asked Caudell, president of the building's condominium association. "Thousands of condominiums in Florida and they are all being imposed upon to spend a lot of money. That's why there is the resentment."
The expense has prompted Florida lawmakers to consider easing a 1998 law aimed at protecting highrise residents and firefighters.
The law applies to buildings at least 75 feet high. If sprinklers are not installed by 2014, owners could face fines and condemnation. Since the early 1990s all new highrise buildings were required to have sprinklers.
Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Lauderdale, and Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, are sponsoring legislation to allow condo associations to sidestep the requirement with a two-thirds vote of members.
It's a property rights issue, they say.
Firefighters call it crazy and point to last year's Dolphin Cove fire in Clearwater that killed two people, injured two residents and five firefighters and caused extensive property damage.
Fire officials say the massive destruction from the June 28 fire, caused by a stove fire, could have been avoided if the 11-story building had sprinklers.
"A single head sprinkler could have extinguished the fire, or at least kept it to one room," said Clearwater fire marshal Randy Hinder. "As far as the proposed legislation, we are very concerned about it in the fire service."
Mack, who represents an area with many highrise buildings, said homeowners understand that risk and should have a choice.
He compared condominiums retrofitted with sprinklers to a Volvo, considered among the safest automobiles. If the state can require expensive fire safety standards, Mack wonders why the state also doesn't require everyone to drive a Volvo.
"We don't require them to upgrade," Mack said. "We leave those decisions up to people."
Lynn said firefighters have taken the law to an extreme, creating a cottage industry for sprinkler contractors.
Mack's bill (HB 165) has been approved by two House committees and is likely to reach the floor soon.
A Senate committee postponed taking a vote last week on Lynn's (SB 1978) bill. The committee did vote down an amendment by Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, that would have subjected the homeowner's vote to local fire department approval. The committee takes the bill up again Monday.
"The question comes down to whether or not safety is more important than the particular cost of retrofitting," said Campbell, who opposes the change.
Fire officials say lawmakers should listen to Campbell.
"It's a joke," said Dan Goff, fire marshal for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
National firefighter associations say there have never been multiple deaths from fires in buildings with sprinkler systems.
Firefighters say they face a higher risk of injury or death in highrise buildings without sprinklers. Condo owners who decide against sprinklers merely shift the cost to fire departments, they say.
"How can legislators sworn to protect the health and safety of their communities do this?" Hinder asked. "Where is their ethical beliefs? How can they sleep at night and pass this stuff? I've seen what happens when you have a highrise fire."
So has Rep. John Carassas, R-Belleair, who represents part of Clearwater. He supports Mack's bill.
"To say a homeowner is not capable of making a decision to protect their property is a mistake," Carassas said. "I think the firefighters have the responsibility to educate them."
Caudell, 72, understands the risk. He can see Dolphin Cove from his third-floor window two miles away.
But firefighters also encountered a dry hydrant fighting that fire, he pointed out, and that delayed dousing the flames. Some experts concluded the department made mistakes that contributed, too.
Caudell said many residents feel pressure to comply. "A lot of them feel that the fire department here has become really enthusiastic about everybody and their brother having sprinklers everywhere because of the Dolphin Cove fire," Caudell said. "A lot of firefighters got injured, but a lot was wrong, too."
The Prelude 80 condominium association sold a unit in the building to raise money for the first wave of sprinklers. Adding sprinklers to individual units could cost each homeowner up to $3,000. They might have to raise that through an assessment.
Many would like the law repealed.
"This building is 27 years old and has never had a fire," Caudell said. "I think, personally, we have a very good fire prevention system now."
Fire safety law raises objections
Condo builders are required to do expensive retrofitting.
[/i]hters say it's necessary for residents' safety. [/i]
By MICHAEL SANDLER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 5, 2003
TALLAHASSEE -- When a new law took effect last year requiring that older highrise buildings install fire sprinklers, Glenn Caudell grudgingly accepted the cost.
He and his neighbors spent nearly $100,000 for sprinklers in common areas, new fire doors and a second alarm system at the 15-story, Prelude 80 condominiums in Clearwater.
To fully comply by the deadline in 2014, however, they must spend another $150,000 on sprinklers for each of the 53 units.
"Why wasn't that thought of years ago?" asked Caudell, president of the building's condominium association. "Thousands of condominiums in Florida and they are all being imposed upon to spend a lot of money. That's why there is the resentment."
The expense has prompted Florida lawmakers to consider easing a 1998 law aimed at protecting highrise residents and firefighters.
The law applies to buildings at least 75 feet high. If sprinklers are not installed by 2014, owners could face fines and condemnation. Since the early 1990s all new highrise buildings were required to have sprinklers.
Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Lauderdale, and Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, are sponsoring legislation to allow condo associations to sidestep the requirement with a two-thirds vote of members.
It's a property rights issue, they say.
Firefighters call it crazy and point to last year's Dolphin Cove fire in Clearwater that killed two people, injured two residents and five firefighters and caused extensive property damage.
Fire officials say the massive destruction from the June 28 fire, caused by a stove fire, could have been avoided if the 11-story building had sprinklers.
"A single head sprinkler could have extinguished the fire, or at least kept it to one room," said Clearwater fire marshal Randy Hinder. "As far as the proposed legislation, we are very concerned about it in the fire service."
Mack, who represents an area with many highrise buildings, said homeowners understand that risk and should have a choice.
He compared condominiums retrofitted with sprinklers to a Volvo, considered among the safest automobiles. If the state can require expensive fire safety standards, Mack wonders why the state also doesn't require everyone to drive a Volvo.
"We don't require them to upgrade," Mack said. "We leave those decisions up to people."
Lynn said firefighters have taken the law to an extreme, creating a cottage industry for sprinkler contractors.
Mack's bill (HB 165) has been approved by two House committees and is likely to reach the floor soon.
A Senate committee postponed taking a vote last week on Lynn's (SB 1978) bill. The committee did vote down an amendment by Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, that would have subjected the homeowner's vote to local fire department approval. The committee takes the bill up again Monday.
"The question comes down to whether or not safety is more important than the particular cost of retrofitting," said Campbell, who opposes the change.
Fire officials say lawmakers should listen to Campbell.
"It's a joke," said Dan Goff, fire marshal for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
National firefighter associations say there have never been multiple deaths from fires in buildings with sprinkler systems.
Firefighters say they face a higher risk of injury or death in highrise buildings without sprinklers. Condo owners who decide against sprinklers merely shift the cost to fire departments, they say.
"How can legislators sworn to protect the health and safety of their communities do this?" Hinder asked. "Where is their ethical beliefs? How can they sleep at night and pass this stuff? I've seen what happens when you have a highrise fire."
So has Rep. John Carassas, R-Belleair, who represents part of Clearwater. He supports Mack's bill.
"To say a homeowner is not capable of making a decision to protect their property is a mistake," Carassas said. "I think the firefighters have the responsibility to educate them."
Caudell, 72, understands the risk. He can see Dolphin Cove from his third-floor window two miles away.
But firefighters also encountered a dry hydrant fighting that fire, he pointed out, and that delayed dousing the flames. Some experts concluded the department made mistakes that contributed, too.
Caudell said many residents feel pressure to comply. "A lot of them feel that the fire department here has become really enthusiastic about everybody and their brother having sprinklers everywhere because of the Dolphin Cove fire," Caudell said. "A lot of firefighters got injured, but a lot was wrong, too."
The Prelude 80 condominium association sold a unit in the building to raise money for the first wave of sprinklers. Adding sprinklers to individual units could cost each homeowner up to $3,000. They might have to raise that through an assessment.
Many would like the law repealed.
"This building is 27 years old and has never had a fire," Caudell said. "I think, personally, we have a very good fire prevention system now."