Montgomery County homeowners would be required to install sprinkler systems in their homes by 2030, under one of 37 recommendations Wednesday from a task force seeking to stop disproportionate deaths of county seniors in fires.
Sixteen of the 19 Montgomery residents killed in fires since 2005 were 65 or older. In 2006, Fire Chief Tom Carr and former Montgomery County executive Doug Duncan convened a 25-person committee to investigate ways to improve senior citizen fire safety.
The 37 recommendations run the gamut from helping homebound seniors check or install smoke alarms to requiring all high-rise buildings and single family homes be retrofitted with sprinkler systems, which would require County Council approval.
Assistant Fire Chief Mike Love said since the 1980s, county law has mandated sprinkler systems in all new high-rise buildings, but National Fire Protection Association standards now urge communities to require retrofitting older high-rise buildings with sprinkler systems.
“From our standpoint, it’s not difficult to enforce that, but it costs millions to do so for a building owner,” Love said. “Typically owners of these buildings are very strong voices in a community, and they do point out the cost and that it is often very disruptive to residents to have to relocate them while the systems are installed.”
Love said around 90 of the roughly 200 high-rise buildings in the county do not have sprinkler systems.
Since 2004, Montgomery County has required all new single-family homes to be built with sprinkler systems, but Love acknowledged that requiring owners of older homes to retrofit their properties by 2030 could be difficult.
John Livingston Jr., president and CEO of sprinkler-installation firm Livingston Fire Protection Inc., said it typically costs thousands — about $1 to $5 per square foot of a home — to install the systems, depending on the number of rooms and interior work necessary to conceal the sprinklers.
Montgomery County currently offers financial incentives to residents who do retrofit their homes with sprinklers: The county will give you half off your next property tax bill or cover half the cost of installing sprinklers, whichever is cheaper for the county.
“The rule of thumb is that after a few years, it really pays for itself since the county will cover part of the cost and you’ll see reductions in homeowner insurance,” fire department spokesman Pete Piringer said.
