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This should be a choice, not a mandate. If fire officials spent more time educating the public on the value of smoke detectors and instituted a yearly inspection of all residences and building, it would have an immediate impact towards saving lives and property. Residentual sprinkler is a ill conceived idea that will take decades maybe centuries before it makes a significant impact on the approxiamately 2000 death by fire in the nation each year. Ensuring every residence has working smoke detectors would potentially cut the number of deaths per year in half immediately as more than 60 percent of the deaths are in homes that either do not have smoke detectors or smoke detectors that don't work.
Another concern I have is the sponsors of this idea try to sell this as only affect new home construction. What they don't mention if the owners of existing single and two family homes who want to increase living space, such as adding a bedroom, they will be required to install a sprinkler system. I'm speaking from experience as I recently went through this scenerio when I tried to renovate the basement in my duplex to add third appartment. To do this by building for a multi-family apartment I was required to add a sprinkler system throughout the 2900 sq ft house. The $30,000 cost was prohibative due to complexity of installing it in already existing construction. I still have a duplex.
- Mike, Franklin

So lobbyists want your home to cost more so they can make more money. Nothing new.
- Jack, Concord

Goffstown Fire Chief should check his math. $3000. mortgaged at 6% for 30 years is
$18. per month
$216. per year
$6480. 30 yr mortgage

Seems typical for many publicly financed quotes. (he was off by 411 %)


Also one quick note on quote from the Bedford Fire Chief about putting a price on a life...

Please lets all stop using this silly quote. If anyone was interested is "saving only one life" then they would spend every waking hour of every day to fight to lower the speed limit to 5 mph everywhere in the US. You would save 40 THOUSAND lives a year!! this sounds absurd but remember if we drove 5 mph no one would ever die from a hit and run, no speeding tickets, no fatal DWI's, No major car accidents, no car insurance...
- Howard T., Goffstown

Whether it's taxes or fees, you can always count on a government employee like Goffstown Fire Chief Richard O'Brien equating the additional cost burden of a $3,000 system built in a $300,000 home, to the cost of a coffee and a doughnut? These people never have a clue when it comes to costing property owners more money.
- gr chase, Exeter

Another aspect to be considered especially in NH is the cold weather !! Look at the sprinkler systems in Londonderry or was it in Manchester about two years ago that burst and ruined everyone's property. The pipes had been routed through the attic !!! Idiots. Pipes would have to be in the heated areas of the home, not in the outside walls or attics. Then how about kids setting them off and ruining property. But the cold weather is a big factor.
- Marie, Hudson

Funny how the "leaders" of Bedford cut out sprinklers at McKelvie school to keep the budget down...
- Mary Mags, Bedford

I am all for sprinklers. It will reduce taxes as the amount of full time fire personnel will ultimately be reduced. Strange how fire departments are the only industry actively trying to put themselves out of business. Oh wait, its already happening. That is why they send a big firetruck with the ambulance to a stubbed toe. Keep that call volume up boys!
- John, Weare

I agree with the concept but no matter how you dice it up installing a fire sprinkler is one pricey item to try and save a wood building. If plastic pipe is used as is the case these days plastic melts. It may work if you have city water but in a town chances are your well is not going to be sufficient to fight the fire. The last is whatever the flames don't destroy water and mold will. You can probably figure that your best to carry insurance if it ever happens your protected and worry about getting your keisters out of the house as quickly as possible.
- Jack Alex, Manchester NH

Yet another great idea that will be cost prohibitive, add tons of layers of bureaucratic paperwork and oversight and and the bottom line seems to be, it's not that cut and dried as to life and safety issues.
Just another great idea brought by democrats to keep chipping away at personal liberties.
But, if you think this is bad, wait until they start evaluating your personal homes under "Cap and Trade" and tell you you "VIL" spend thousands of dollars to make it more energy efficient in accordance with their rules, before you can sell it.
- Sandy, Thornton

Aside from the obvious ceding of responsibility from the individual to thw lawyers / courts / law makers ( "you owe me money because my house burned down, which was my fault, but it didn't have a sprinkler system in it!" ), where exactly is all the water going to come from? What is the plan -- and co$t -- for that little unmentioned detail?
- Ray Pendergast, Newport News VA

That's it, further destroy the housing market here. This idea had to come from Democrats.
- Mike R., Bedford

Jeesh! We're right in the middle of the most profound real estate downturn in decades and all the twits on the State Building Code Review Board can come up with is adding even more regulation and cost to builders and the home buying public. Who appointed these idiots anyway?
- Wrangler, East Hampstead

When we built 3 years ago we were told the price was $10K - that included a holding tank and a generator to come on in case of power failuer.
- J, Loudon

Funny a hose dragger told me sprinklers save property not lives. If anything the towns should pay for cisterns in these rural areas. Problem is they will not get a kick back from the companies installing them. Wait they probably think they would increase property value which increases taxes which puts more money in the town's pockets.
- rd, new boston

I'm a big fan of automatic fire sprinkler systems having been involved with them for over 25 years as a profession. However, I question the need for residential systems especially where water supply is an issue. I also have a problem "selling" the idea as a life safety issue.

Sprinklers need water at adequate pressure. With municipal water, there is usually no problem. With private wells, there is insufficient supply so a storage tank and pump are necessary. The pump requires electrical power (anyone remember last winter?). So I expect there will also be a requirement for back-up power as well. Still possible but the installation is getting expensive.

But what are we trying to save? They are being sold as life safety devices rather than traditional property protection devices. There are some valid arguments for life safety but they are more appropriately made where evacuation is more difficult such as hotels or nursing homes. We are talking single family homes. I agree that sprinklers would afford more time to evacuate. However, how long do you think it would take you to get out of your home if you were awakened by a properly located and functioning smoke detector? If anything, more smoke detectors should be required. If you have a two story home, evacuation ladders should be in each bedroom. If other factors (age, mobility) exist, then residential sprinklers might be the solution.

If your goal is to reduce property damage and/or limit the spread of fire in congested neighborhoods, sprinklers are by far your best bet. Rural fire departments (I'm including Bedford due to the lack of water in residential neighborhoods) have pushed this idea because they really can't "save" houses without hydrants. But if life safety is your goal, in most single family residential situations, evacuation is not an issue as long as early detection is provided.

Residential fire sprinklers are a choice I would make, if I were building a new home. But a requirement? I don't think so.
- Jake, Bedford