The San Benito County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved
an ordinance Tuesday that will require the inclusion of automatic
fire sprinklers in the construction of all new homes.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday that will require the inclusion of automatic fire sprinklers in the construction of all new homes.
Reno DiTullio, assistant chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s San Benito-Monterey unit, said the ordinance will save lives and reduce property damage.
“In the last 10 years there have been at least 10 deaths as a result of fires in structures in San Benito County,” DiTullio said.
Local insurance companies have told the Free Lance that fire sprinklers substantially reduce home insurance costs as well.
The supervisors rejected a similar ordinance in April 2007. Board members were worried the ordinance was too restrictive and applied to too many nonresidential structures, but many of their questions have been answered since then, Supervisor Anthony Botelho said Thursday.
*”I was happy with it,” Botelho said. “You kind of wish there was some other way to address a need other than regulation. We have a lack of fire service in this county that is troublesome, from my perspective, and I don’t think it’s going to be addressed any other way.”
The ordinance approved Tuesday makes local changes to the California Fire Code, including the addition of the fire sprinkler requirement, DiTullio said. The revised code now requires sprinklers in all new homes built in unincorporated San Benito County, as well as homes that are being substantially remodeled.
At the request of Supervisor Don Marcus, the board approved two last-minute changes before passing the new restrictions. Sprinklers are now only needed in garages if they are less than 50 feet from a home, not 100 feet as proposed, and “Class A” roofs are no longer required in all homes.
“We’ve gone a long ways and we’ve got this really to a good point,” Marcus said.
County Fire Marshal Jim Dellamonica told the Free Lance that the revised fire code also creates new restrictions on how people can store tires and pallets.
“I’m not so much worried about the pallets burning as I am about the neighbors,” Dellamonica said, adding, “I feel great (about the board’s vote). This county has definitely moved into the 21st century.”
