Sprinkler Systems

The costly fire at the 62-story First Interstate Bank building in Los Angeles had firefighters in Orange County taking inventory, and what they came up with should move local elected officials into speedy action. A partial list of tall buildings that were constructed before a 1974 state building code change made sprinkler systems mandatory in high-rise structures included eight hotels, a 14-story retirement tower and several office buildings.

It's raining. It's pouring. Or at least it was at 4 in the morning a couple of Saturdays ago. And though no old men were snoring in my vicinity, some sprinklers were watering lawns, rain or no rain. It was waste in its purest form because during and after a downpour the water runs right off the saturated soil into the street. Turning curbs into waterfalls is a side effect of technology that lets us run sprinklers on timers that we set and forget. In theory, they allow watering at optimal but inconvenient times, such as early morning, when cooler air minimizes evaporation.

Six months after the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire that killed 97 people, Gov. Rafael Hernandez Colon on Thursday signed into law a bill requiring all high-rise hotels and condominiums in Puerto Rico to install sprinkler systems. The bill covers both public and private buildings and applies to existing as well as proposed structures. The bill was introduced in the Commonwealth Legislature after the New Year's Eve fire at the luxury hotel.

Homeowners who may have hazardous Chinese drywall in their homes should remove it, two government agencies said Friday, in effect advising thousands of people from Florida to California to gut their homes. Consumers should remove "all possible problem drywall" and replace their electrical wiring, sprinkler systems, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, according to new guidelines issued Friday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The City Council adopted a sweeping ordinance governing the installation of automatic sprinkler systems in buildings. After a short presentation by a County Fire Department representative, the council voted 3 to 1 to adopt a new ordinance that brings the city's fire codes up to state standards but goes beyond the state code to require the installation of sprinkler systems in most new hotels, apartments and multi-unit residences, as well as in all new single-family homes.

A 12-year-old boy was arrested Sunday for allegedly causing $25,000 damage to a high-rise hotel here when he held a match to a sprinkler head in one of the rooms, triggering the building's automatic sprinkler system, authorities said. The boy, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was detained by arson investigators shortly after the 10:22 a.m. incident at the Waterfront Hilton.

If you are one of those people who spend hours watering your garden and lawn by hand, consider installing the ultimate timesaver: an underground sprinkler and irrigation system. With automatic sprinklers, you'll not only notice that you have more spare time, but you'll see a difference in the quality of your lawn as it is watered evenly. You will also be saving water, since a sprinkler system is generally more efficient than watering by hand.

A committee of the Los Angeles City Council voted this week to ask for more information about the cost to apartment renters and condominium owners before requiring that all high-rise residential buildings be equipped with fire-prevention sprinkler systems.

Concerned about fires similar to the one that raged through Los Angeles' tallest skyscraper last week, the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday asked City Manager James Hankla to calculate the cost of requiring all high-rise buildings to install sprinkler systems. Of Long Beach's 54 high-rise buildings, only 13 have sprinkler systems and 25 have partial systems.

With the destructive and very dangerous bank fire in downtown Los Angeles over, this brings up an important issue: fire sprinklers. According to Los Angeles Fire Chief Donald Manning, if sprinkler systems inside the building had been operational, the fire would be either extinguished or confined to a single floor. I challenge city councils in this county, as well as throughout the state, to not only require automated fire sprinkler systems in all commercial buildings, but also in all new residential homes.

It's another hot summer, and California is officially in a drought, according to the Governator. A Los Angeles company, Cyber Rain Inc., has come out with a water-saving solution. The doodad, called Cyber-Rain XCI, attaches to sprinkler systems and wirelessly looks up online weather forecasts to determine how much to water the lawn. Hot days will see Cyber-Rain doling out more water. Cool, cloudy days would result in less watering. And, of course, the gadget lays off the drink entirely on rainy days.

The Bush administration said it would put in place a rating system for nursing homes by the end of the year. It's designed to give consumers another tool to consider when shopping for a nursing home. The ratings would be placed on a government website. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it would seek comment from the industry and consumers to determine what criteria to use. Federal officials also unveiled new regulations that would require all nursing homes to have sprinkler systems by 2013.

When Long Beach launched tough watering restrictions last month, city officials asked residents to report leaky sprinklers and other wasteful water practices. So far, 428 complaints have been logged, 83 of them targeting leaking sprinkler systems in city parks, street medians and along freeways. In call after call, citizens asked: Why are public sprinklers spewing water across sidewalks? Why do sprinklers run in parks at times that residents are barred from watering their own lawns?

The absence of a working sprinkler system in the former Deutsche Bank Building where two firefighters died Aug. 18 was not an accident, city and state officials said Thursday. Shutting off the system was a deliberate decision made by regulators well before workers started taking apart the toxic, flammable building. Explanations differ as to why and exactly when the building's sprinklers were shut off.

Fire sprinklers at a Los Angeles International Airport terminal turned on Sunday after a water pipe broke, dousing passengers waiting for flights or picking up their bags. Terminal 1 was temporarily evacuated, and the baggage claim and screening areas experienced minor flooding, said airport spokesman Marshall Lowe. At the Southwest Airlines check-in counter, computers were covered in plastic.

RE "For Peace in the Garden: Just Let it Be," [Oct. 26]: I hope you inspire many people since you hit the big points of saving our money and saving our oceans. Plus, imagine! Being able to enjoy our yards because they are quiet and take less work. I have fooled around with native plants for 20 years. I am about to take out most of the old St. Augustine lawn and put in much-needed new drip/sprinkler systems and Mediterranean plants, along with a few California natives. A mini Getty Villa here in northwest Alhambra.

An ordinance requiring automatic sprinkler systems to be installed in existing Glendale buildings of 4 stories or more was unanimously approved by the City Council on Tuesday. The ordinance will apply to 28 buildings, including 11 residential buildings that do not have sprinkler systems, according to Fire Marshal Christopher Gray. The time allowed for installation of the sprinkler systems will vary according to the size of the building.

AS you dutifully water your parched garden this summer, here's something to think about: Outdoor water use can account for half or more of all residential water use, depending on the area. This is especially true in hotter inland areas where population growth is now the fastest, according to the new report "Lawns and Water Demand in California."

Question: My board is easily sold almost anything, including an automated sprinkler system we didn't need. The board spent tens of thousands of dollars installing a complicated system merely because the gardener said we needed one. Due to the hard sell and exorbitant amount of money spent, our board refuses to listen to owners who complain about it. Rain or shine, the system goes on two to three times every evening. It wakes people up in the middle of the night and soaks everything.