By Ann Craig-Cinnamon
A fire broke out at in a unit at Lantern Woods Apartments Feb. 28.
By the time the seven dispatched units of the Fishers Fire and Emergency Services arrived, the fire had been put out by the automatic activation of the building’s sprinkler head. The fire apparently started in a storage closet in the common hallway on the third floor of the building and the damage was confined to the closet. There were no injuries.
The fire department has seized the incident as an opportunity to publicize a law that is being considered in the Indiana General Assembly that would change state requirements about sprinklers in multi-family buildings. It’s a complicated issue, but basically House Bill 1301 would change the designation of townhouses and put them in a category that would make them exempt from sprinkler requirements.
The Hamilton County Fire Chiefs said the bill is a huge step backward and is calling on that language to be removed from the bill. In a position paper HCFC asks for the “status quo to be maintained so that the Fire and Building Safety Commission can make the decision on sprinklers at the appropriate time and with appropriate deliberation. The “short” session of the General Assembly is not the place to make such a momentous decision,” according to the chiefs.
Fishers Fire Chief Steve Orusa is one fire official who is very concerned about the potential change. “In a building without sprinklers, a fire can grow from a single lit match to flashover in a matter of minutes – often less than 5 minutes. Flashover is a condition in which everything in the room catches fire; temperatures reach more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit,” he said. The chief added, “Nothing and no one will survive if they are in a room when it reaches flashover. Sprinklers are a critical component in the reduction of injuries and loss of life due to fire, including the lives of rescue personnel.”The bill has passed the house and now awaits action in the Senate.
