Last week, Massachusetts lost three residents to fire. Two young boys aged 4 and 9 years died in a fatal blaze in a six bedroom multi-family home in Lawrence after becoming trapped in their third floor bedroom. Neighbors and family members were unable to reach them and the fire spread too quickly for firefighters to save them. A 58 year old woman, who was found in a wheelchair, also died as a result of a fire in her Springfield home. Their deaths bring the state fire death toll for 2014 up to 49, the highest it has been since 2011.
Often times it is the young and the disabled that are overcome by fire conditions. Smoke alarms are an effective tool to warn residents of a fire yet the only thing that would have given those boys the time they needed to escape or first responders the time they needed to arrive is a fire sprinkler system.
Unfortunately, there are those that would have the protection of a fire sprinkler system in multi-family homes much like the one in Lawrence removed from the fire code for new construction. What was their reasoning? That, while fire sprinklers no doubt would save lives, there just are not enough fire deaths in Massachusetts to justify the cost. The question I pose to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards who are currently calculating the value of human life is: how many lives need to be lost to justify fire sprinklers in multi-family homes?
I send my condolences to the families of the victims and for those families who have experienced the true cost of fire in Massachusetts.
Sincerely,
John Grant, President Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts and Chief of Milton Fire Department
Milton, Mass.
