Four Habitat for Humanity homes damaged or destroyed in fire. Charity fought residential sprinklers.
On Sunday, a 3:00 AM fire destroyed two homes and damaged two others in Nashville, Tennessee. The fire was pushed by high winds. The homes were built in 2006 by the Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity. No word yet on what caused the fire inside the house where it began. Click here to read more about the fire.
You may recall in September and October the parent organization, Habitat for Humanity International, took part in the effort to fight residential sprinklers. Habitat lobbied with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in what became an unsuccessful effort to defeat the sprinkler requirement as part of the 2009 Residential Code.
Click here to read the NAHB press release about Habitat’s position on sprinklers.
On October 1, CONTRACTORMag.com wrote about Habitat’s involvement in the sprinkler fight. The article pointed out that not all of its affiliates are in agreement on this issue. Here are excerpts from the story by Robert P. Mader:
“Our concerns center on the potential of pipes being susceptible to freezing in colder climates, damage from the accidental discharge of sprinklers and the availability of an adequate water supply in areas served by wells or where water is a scarce resource,” said Sandy Dunn, NAHB president and builder in Point Pleasant, W.Va. “Some homeowners may choose to have them installed anyway, but that’s where these systems should remain: as a choice, not a mandate.”
Elizabeth Blake, senior vice president of advocacy, government affairs and legal with Habitat for Humanity said, “Our affiliates build all across the country and around the world. Mandating fire sprinklers fails to recognize their varying needs, and runs the risk of requiring something that may be impractical for some of our partner families.”
“Habitat’s mission is to provide simple, decent and affordable shelter for families,” said Blake. “Each home we don’t build due to an added and unjustified regulatory requirement such as this can leave yet another family in substandard housing.”
Nevertheless, Habitat affiliates in North Carolina have been building houses with fire sprinklers for a number of years. Habitat board member John Sehon said the Chapel Hill affiliate has been including fire sprinklers for the past four years. It was an idea brought to them by the Pinehurst, N.C., affiliate that taught them how to do it.
Chapel Hill Habitat Construction Director Tyler Momsen-Hudson said all of the pipe and sprinklers are donated and they are installed by firefighters and other volunteers. He said another builder estimated the fair market value at around $3,000, but he said he would not build a house without fire sprinklers, even if they had to pay for them.
Momsen-Hudson said sprinklers have saved one of their Habitat houses. The family spent just one night in a hotel and returned to their home the next day.
