Fire sprinklers could be mandated in all new Anne Arundel County single-family houses.
“The lightweight construction of houses today doesn?t stand up to fire, and sprinklers allow residents to escape and give firefighters reassurance when entering the building,” said Doug Alexander, a sprinkler expert with the Maryland State Firemen?s Association.
Alexander gave a presentation to the council Tuesday including a film of two test houses set ablaze ? one without a sprinkler that was gutted by fire and another with a sprinkler that had minimal damage to the room where the fire started.
But developers may oppose the mandate because of the cost and potential for water damage if a sprinkler was activated accidentally.
“We feel it should be an option made available to home buyers, who have more control over their lifestyles and are less subject to the accidental habits of people living in apartments and town houses,” said Susan Stroud of the Home Builders of Maryland, which opposes such laws.
She said Anne Arundel should consider a “mandatory option” similar to Howard County that requires developers to have sprinklers as an option.
Stroud said sprinklers can add $20,000 to the cost of a new house.
But fire officials said the cost is about $1.75 per square foot for a sprinkler system in a new house; retrofitting current houses would cost about $3 a square foot.
“It?s becoming a popular amenity in the housing market,” said John Spiker of the Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firefighters? Association.
As for water damage, the fire officials said only the sprinkler activated by the fire will go off, not the entire system.
Prince George?s enacted a similar law in 1992, one of the first in the nation. Since then, no fatalities have occurred in houses with sprinklers, Prince George?s Fire Department spokesman Mark Brady said.
Councilman Ed Reily, R-District 7, who is an insurance agent with customers in Prince George?s, said none of his clients have filed claims for water damage because of accidental activation.
Councilwoman Cathy Vitale, R-District 5, is drafting a bill requiring sprinklers in all new single-family and duplex houses. Vitale, whose husband is a lieutenant in the county Fire Department, did not return calls or an e-mail for comment.
AT A GLANCE
Sprinklers in new houses are required in:
Annapolis
Harford County
Montgomery County
Prince George?s County
For Howard County, sprinklers are optional
Source: County and city officials
