Saugus fire chief presses for attic sprinklers in GLSS housing project

SAUGUS – Developers by law do not have to include sprinklers in the attic of new construction, but Fire Chief James Blanchard is hoping that will change soon.Fire officials said the absence of attic sprinklers was the reason the Dearborn Road apartment complex burned to the ground in Peabody last month.Blanchard said he is now pressuring Greater Lynn Senior Services to include attic sprinklers in its new senior housing project on Denver Street.”The same people that built that Peabody development built Avalon Bay (in Saugus) and it has the same problem,” Blanchard said. “We have the same challenge that Peabody and Danvers had.”The fire in Peabody burned out of control after flames moved up the outside of the building through a soffit vent and into the attic. Once in the attic, Blanchard said it could burn unchecked because it was nearly impossible to get to.While sprinklers would have kept the fire in check, Blanchard said they currently are not required in attics. Developers are allowed to build to what is called Code 13R, which only requires sprinklers in rooms and common areas like hallways, where people might congregate.But he is beginning to push developers to sprinkler attics starting with the GLSS project, which recently broke ground Denver Street.Blanchard said he feels particularly with a senior housing complex there is a serious potential for loss of life if a fire like the one in Peabody breaks out.”They’re seniors and their reaction times are not as good,” he said.”They might surprise me,” he added. “They haven’t acquiesced but they haven’t said no yet either.”Like any other developer, GLSS doesn’t have to comply but Blanchard said he would take the developers to the Fire Marshal’s Sprinkler Board if he had too. Developers typically win against such a challenge, but Blanchard said he planned to use the Peabody fire for his defense.”The senior housing will be a good test case,” he added.Peter Rossetti, who sits on the board with GLSS, said the project manager and the architect “are going to figure out what can they can do whether it’s sprinklers or something else. The safety issue will be taken care of.”Blanchard has another card up his sleeve as well. The Balser-Harkins bill will soon be coming up before legislators. Penned by Boston Reps. Ruth Balser and Lida Harkins following the 2001 Newton fire that flattened an office building and left five people dead, the law would require sprinklers in every room of every new and existing building greater than 7,500 square feet.The bill has come up every year since it was first filed, but Blanchard said he’s been told it has the best chance of passing this year due in large part to the Peabody fire.”When it comes up I will solicit as many legislators as I can to sign onto it,” he added. “It would be great for us.”Blanchard said it still surprises him that people don’t realize how fast a fire can move and that sprinklers are the best defense against loss of life. They control a fire immediately, sound an alarm, are almost impossible to set off by accident and cause significantly less water damage than a fire hose.”If you look at my job or any other department in town, money is such that you can’t fully staff,” he said. “So anything you can do to retard a fire to help us out is a huge win. And the best life saving tool you could have is a fully sprinkled building.”