Santa Clara, CA

January 23, 2004

Attendees:

George Blind - Sunnyvale DPS

Jim Bollier - Sprinkler Fitters Local 483

Dave Dewey - Daly City F.D.

Dave Downing- Millbrae F.D.

Steve Hart - NASIP

Sam Husoe - NFSA

Ray Gamma - Daly City (Retired)

Jarnail Dhalla - Stanford University

Jamie Wentker- Mt. View F.D.

Maurice Dong - S. San Francisco F.D.

Randy Dysart - Cal Safe/Beacon

Tom Bednar - Lund Pearson McLaughlin

David Hodge - Sacto Control Sys.

Jim McLaughlin -Lund Pearson McLaughlin

Daniel Najera -CSFM

Darrel Harguth- Brooks Equipment Co.

Robert Casey - Simplex/Grinnell

Doug Glimstad- Simplex/Grinnell

Luis Da Silva - San Jose Fire

Julie Burtusch - San Ramon Valley F.P.D.

David Stevens - San Ramon Valley F.P.D.

New Products – George Blind reported on a new sidewall sprinkler by Reliable that can cover 28 feet of a corridor. The only problem is that it needs 40 gpm per head to operate. He also discussed that New Zealand officials routinely promote use of integrated residential sprinkler systems installed by plumbers.

Residential Sprinklers – George Blind reported on some comments made by Russ Fleming regarding excessive water service and meter charges relating to residential sprinkler systems. George recommended that the committee work to standardize water purveyor charges such as standby charges and meter fees. The consensus was that because of the number of different water purveyors in the State the issue would probably need to be addressed by legislation.

Sprinkler Resolution: Darrel Harguth was upset with the language in the Resolution that had been approved by the NorCal and SoCal Executive Boards and forwarded to Cal Chiefs for their approval. He specifically objected to language in the Resolution that referred to possible trade offs in road widths and water flows. He felt that although allowed by the current Fire Code, these trade offs shouldn’t be publicized as they could be viewed in the future as entitlements. The Co-chairs and San Husoe reminded Darrel that a draft of the resolution had been extensively discussed at numerous committee meetings and had gone through six drafts before being presented to the Executive Board for approval. At this point the resolution is no longer the purview of the committee. Darrel did present a copy of a letter he was sending to the Presidents of NorCal, SoCal and Cal Chief’s that outline his objections.

Sprinkler Incentive Act (HR 1824) – Sam Husoe reported that there was widespread support for the bill in Congress and that there was a good chance it could be signed into law prior to the November elections. This bill would allow property owners installing sprinkler systems to depreciate the cost over 5-years.

CPVC Pipe – Steve Hart reported that there were cases of CPVC sprinkler piping that had been damaged by contamination from vegetable oil. Apparently oil residue had leaked from exhaust hood enclosures and contacted sprinkler piping. The contamination resulted in degradation of the piping, leading to failure.

Glass Bulb Sprinklers – George Blind said that U.L. will be instituting a side impact test for glass bulb sprinklers. The testing laboratory will also be requiring a 100% integrity test at the production site for all glass bulb sprinklers. Installers have complained about finding glass bulb sprinklers broken in their packing boxes. Jim Bollier also said that sprinklers with integrated covers make it difficult for field installers to inspect the glass bulb during installation.

NFPA 96 – Darrell Harguth said that the new edition of NFPA 96 will require 6-month replacement for fusible links for hood and duct extinguishing systems.

CAFAA News – Bill Hopple is now the President of CAFAA and Doug Shackley is the Vice President for the North. Current law requires all employees of a C-10 contractor to be certified by January 2007. Anyone performing work as a fire alarm technician must be certified as a Fire/Life Safety Technician. To this end, CAFAA and CAA have formed the WBFAA (Western Burglary and Fire Alarm Association) which has developed an apprenticeship training program recently approved by the Division of Apprenticeship Standards.

State Fire Marshal Advisory Boards - Dan Najera reported that Mike Waldron will be retiring soon. Mike is currently supervising the work of a number of Advisory Boards that our committee has members on.

NFPA 13/72 – Gini Krippner of the State Fire Marshal’s Office stated that the State Fire Marshal was asked to adopt the newest editions of NFPA 13 and NFPA 72. She has asked the committee to help in reviewing the new editions and make recommendations for possible state amendments.

WTC Simulation – Steve Hart stated that he had viewed an updated computer simulation of the WTC collapse. The material is available as an archive on the NY Times website for a $2.95 fee.

www.nytimes.com/2004/01/06/science/06FIRE.html?ex=1074446049&en=020673be50cd7943

Contact Steve for additional information.

Warehouse Fire – Steve Hart also gave a report on a pharmaceutical warehouse fire that resulted in a total loss. The warehouse was sprinklered, but they had been turned off while workers were conducting hot work.

Respectfully submitted,

George Blind / Dave Dewey - Co-chairs