By Richard Kerns
:rkerns@newstribune.info
Tribune Staff Writer
WESTERNPORT – The Westernport Mayor and Town Council approved a municipal ordinance that will require installation of sprinklers in new homes built in the community.
Meeting Tuesday night for their monthly session, the council voted 3-1 in favor of the ordinance, which would take effect one year from now if it passes at a second reading next month.
Westernport resident Tom Marsh spoke against the ordinance, which was opposed by Councilman J. Thomas Martin.
The measure was proposed by members of the Westernport Fire Department as an issue of both public safety and firefighter safety.
Among those in attendance at the meeting, which as usual was crowded with more than two dozen town residents, were representatives of the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office and the Maryland State Firemen's Association, who traveled to Westernport from downstate to testify on behalf of the sprinkler ordinance.
Doug Alexander, a Carroll County firefighter and member official with the state Firemen's Association, said nine counties and 82 municipalities in Maryland have such an ordinance, and efforts are underway to make it mandatory statewide.
Alexander said in-home sprinklers address a fire-safety problem with what he described as “light-weight wood construction” typical of new construction. Extensive use of thinner plywood with heavy concentrations of glue have made modern homes prone to burn faster than houses of older construction. He said the typical new home can become engulfed in flames an average of nine minutes after ignition, compared to 30 minutes for older homes.
“We are concerned about it for firefighter safety, as well as public safety,” Alexander said.
Alexander said sprinklers add from 1 to 1.5 percent to the cost of a new home, and are designed so that they will only go off in the room where the fire occurs. Additionally, such systems
are installed to be resistant to freezing, even for upper-floor construction. They are also designed to be triggered by heat, not smoke.
Addressing concerns about water damage from sprinklers, Alexander said, “Everything will dry out, but nothing will unburn.”
In speaking against the ordinance, Tom Marsh said the sprinklers will add to the cost of a home, making homeownership less affordable for area residents. “I see it as a burden on the homeowner ...,” he said. “I see something like this adding five, eight, $10,000 to the cost of a new home. I think it's a bad idea to impose on a person trying to buy a home.”
Marsh also asked why the ordinance applies only to single- and two-family construction. Officials said apartments and other multi-tenant buildings are already covered by a state mandate requiring sprinklers.
Joining Mayor Amel Morris in supporting the measure were council members Richard Davis and Charles Legge. Davis recalled watching a DVD the State Firemen's Association had provided as background on the issue, in which two firefighters entered a burning, multi-million dollar home, and fell through the floor after walking in the front door.
"A fireman's life is worth more than anyone could put into a sprinkler system," he said.
Westernport, Md. —
