The Grantsville City Council voted down a modified proposal to adopt the state’s new fire code following a lengthy discussion at its Wednesday meeting.
Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Ted Black attended the city council’s work session prior to its 7 p.m. meeting and recommended the city adopt the state fire code, as well as two appendixes and a sprinkler requirement in residential dwellings over 3,000 square feet and built away from the city’s hydrants.
Black said the advantage of adopting the state code, which is the 2015 edition of the International Fire Code, is protection for the city from legal challenges due to its backing as a national standard.
The sprinkler standard for newly constructed homes outside the city’s hydrant system received the bulk of the discussion during the work session and subsequent business meeting. Black said he determined the 3,000 square-foot standard based upon the possible available water supply from one fire engine and one tender, using formulas in the state code.
The sticking point for the council came when the Grantsville City Fire Department reported flows of around 500 gallons per minute at hydrants throughout the city. Appendix B in the state code would require newly constructed homes to have 1,000 gallons per minute of flow from the hydrant system; if not, they would also need sprinkler systems.
“Now if you adopt [Appendix] B, with our hydrants being around that 500 [gpm] number, you’re going to start requiring homes have sprinklers that are next to a hydrant,” Grantsville City Attorney Joel Linares said. “And that, I don’t think anyone wants.”
Black suggested using some portions of the language from Appendix B, which would help determine a sprinkler standard for homes away from the city’s hydrants, without accepting all of it.
City Councilman Neil Critchlow, a captain with the city’s fire department, said more consistency was needed to determine when a home required sprinklers or another fire suppression system. In one instance, the property owner filled buckets for a set period of time to prove water flow at their well; in another instance, a homeowner was required to install a water tank for fire suppression, he said.
After more discussion, Councilman Mike Colson made a motion the city adopt the state code, two appendixes that deal with fire hydrant distribution and fire apparatus access roads, and language from Appendix B that would empower the city’s fire code official to reference National Fire Protection Association standards in rural and suburban areas without adequate and reliable water supplies.
The motion was denied by a 2 to 3 vote, with councilmembers Jewel Allen, Krista Sparks and Tom Tripp voting no.