A state house bill mandating the installation of sprinkler systems in all college housing facilities was passed to prevent any further loss of life, Rep. Lynn B. Herman (R-Centre) said at a dinner given by a local fraternity last night.
Herman, who co-sponsored the bill, spoke to fraternity members at Beta Theta Pi, 220 N. Burrowes Road, about the need to take a stance to avoid tragedy.
"No monetary cost can be put on a life, especially a young person's," Herman said. "I try to refrain from mandates, but we can not afford to lose more people."
The Dormitory Automatic Sprinkler System Act, approved by the state House Labor Relations Committee on Sept. 27, was a direct result of two fatal fires at East Coast colleges. In January, three students were killed and 62 were injured in a dormitory fire at Seton Hall University. Two months later, a fire in a fraternity at Bloomsburg University left three students dead.
The act, which has yet to be passed by the Senate, requires all colleges, fraternities and sororities in the state to be equipped with automatic sprinkler systems within five years of the effective date of the act.
Penn State administrators have expressed concern that the sprinklers can not be installed within five years, Herman said. However, one of the amendments to the bill provides a two-year extension for those institutions that show they are making a legitimate attempt to install the system.
The bill has been met with some opposition still.
Some fraternity members are wary of the cost of installation and are concerned about the potential change in the aesthetic value of their houses, said Kurt Unruh (senior-political science), a member of Beta Theta Pi.
However, Unruh said he doesn't feel the bill will pose many problems.
"I think Rep. Herman will be able to get rid of a lot of misconceptions," he said.
Herman eased the fraternity members' fears by describing an amendment to the bill that provides low-interest loans to help pay off the cost of the sprinkler systems within 15 years.
Beta members also expressed concern that false alarms would cause unnecessary damage to their house.
Larry Miles, security consultant from Vigilant Security Inc. in State College, explained that the system is heat-reactive and won't be set off by smoke. He advised fraternity members to be careful not to accidentally hit the sprinkler heads because they will send out 52 gallons of water a minute.
Despite recommending caution, Miles reinforced the necessity of sprinkler systems.
"A few years ago, Pi Lambda Phi was fined $300 a week for resisting the fire code," Miles said.
"They finally installed the system over Christmas break, and it got done on a Thursday at 5 p.m. Thirty-six hours later a fire broke out. Thirty-five guys would have died if they didn't have a fire alarm. If they had had a sprinkler system, they wouldn't have lost their house," he said.
Miles' story reiterated Rep. Herman's claim that only having fire extinguishers, alarms and detectors is not enough.
These methods of prevention are susceptible to tampering, while sprinkler systems are automatic, hard to disconnect and actually put out the fire, Herman said.
"Sprinkler systems have been proven to be extremely effective," Herman said.
