Home sprinklers seen as great way to prevent fires

Fire marshal faces opposition in getting them added to codes

The Lake Oswego Review, Jul 29, 2010 (2 Reader comments)

SUBMITTED PHOTO / GERT ZOUTENDIJK, LOFD

A badly burned couch was the worst thing that happened when a fire recently broke out at a Lake Oswego senior resident center. The center’s sprinkler system prevented much more serious damage, possibly even the loss of life.

Phil Sample says he sometimes likes to get on soap boxes when it comes to fire prevention in Lake Oswego.

“Fires keep killing 3,000 people a year in the USA,” said Sample, who is fire marshal for Lake Oswego. “We let them die in fires that we know how to stop. This makes me absolutely irate.”

To Sample, the best method of stopping fires is installing home sprinkler systems. But Sample and his fellow fire marshals are facing some tough opposition from Oregon builders, who claim home sprinklers would add too much to the cost.

“Just about every other state is adding home sprinklers to their building codes, but Oregon is taking exception to this,” Sample said.

One other claim that Sample gives thumbs down: Home sprinklers might accidentally go off and ruin the carpeting and furniture in a house.

“That’s like saying you don’t want plumbing because 1 in 10,000 spring a leak,” Sample said. “The bottom line is that history shows home sprinkler systems do not discharge accidentally and they do save lives.”

On June 20 there was a recent example of this right in Lake Oswego at a senior resident center.

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