John, Please keep us informed of how this develops. I have done several similar type homes; the last one being for 6 multiple handicapped children that are not self rescuing. All have been full 13 systems (wet). If there is a problem, I want to know about it. Fortunately, CT allows the locals to oversee pretty much everything and the State only gets involved for state-owned project or when asked. Never had a "butt out" line from the state to the locals. Very sad.
At 06:53 PM 3/31/2009, you wrote: >FYI > > > >John Drucker > > > >Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 10:34 PM >Subject: [NJFireSafety] Upstate NY Group Home Fire - Sprinkler System >Failure? > > > >An important fire that should be studied.... > >Here is he local newspaper's accounts of the fire. A 13D system? > >4 die as plan 'impractical' >State: Evacuation of group home not fast enough to ensure safety of >residents > >By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau >Click byline for more stories by writer. >First published: Saturday, March 28, 2009 > >State officials knew it would be "impractical" to evacuate all nine >residents of the Adirondack group home that caught fire a week ago. > >Tragically, they were correct: Four of the home's nine severely disabled >residents died in a pre-dawn blaze March 21 at the Office of Mental >Retardation and Developmental Disabilities' Riverview facility in Wells, >Hamilton County. > >According to documents obtained by the Times Union, the Riverview residents >were too frail or immobile to be quickly evacuated in the event of a fire. >For that reason, the home received the slowest of three ratings ? "prompt," >"slow" or "impractical" ? that OMRDD uses to describe how long an evacuation >should take. > >The difficulty of a potential evacuation "was anticipated from the very >beginning," said Patricia Martinelli, an OMRDD lawyer. "That's the >population we built it for." > >Only two of the residents had the ability to exit the ranch-style house >under their own power. > >An "impractical" rating doesn't mean people can't be evacuated, but >represents an acknowledgement that it couldn't be done quickly enough to >ensure the residents' safety given the number of staff members in a >building. > >As a result of the rating, and the fact that four of the residents had >previously lived in the notorious Willowbrook center in Staten Island, >Riverview was equipped with a sprinkler system, which is not required in all >OMRDD facilities. > >Following a 1972 lawsuit over Willowbrook's conditions, former residents of >the center were accorded extra oversight. > >State investigators are continuing to investigate the fire's cause, and it >remained unclear if the building's network of sprinklers and its water >supply functioned as they are supposed to. > >"We have every reason to believe at this point that they did function," >Martinelli said. > >There were two overnight workers at Riverview, and there have been questions >about whether that was adequate given the immobility of the residents and >the "impractical'' rating. > >"The real issue is what was the evacuation plan, and was it adequate, >including the number of staff?" asked Beth Haroules, an NYCLU lawyer who >represents the former Willowbrook residents. > >"Their evacuation plan was inadequate because it clearly failed," she said. > >In some OMRDD facilities, evacuation would be so difficult that residents >are supposed to remain in the building behind fire doors, and wait for help. > >These so-called "defend in place" policies, which have been used in some >Central New York OMRDD facilities, are controversial. > >"It's Russian roulette," said Susan McLaughlin, a former advocate for the >Willowbrook class of residents. > >McLaughlin said she had protested a "defend in place"-style policy that had >been proposed for a facility in Port Leyden, Lewis County. McLaughlin is >currently suing the state over what she contends is her firing for acting as >a whistleblower regarding OMRDD problems. > >According to OMRDD documents, the Riverview facility, which was less than a >year old, was inspected by the state Dormitory Authority and underwent >periodic inspections by OMRDD. > >For the most part, OMRDD sets its own standards for evacuation protocol. For >many smaller residences, fire drills call for evacuations within five or six >minutes. OMRDD oversees its own periodic safety inspections, once the >facility is certified by the state Dormitory Authority. > >The emerging details of the fire suggests a scene of horror inside the >building as the two overnight workers tried desperately to get people out of >a house that was supposed to be relatively fire-resistant. > >According to one report, two of those pulled out of the house suffered rug >burns as workers literally dragged them outside. And two of the dead >supposedly made it to the door of the house, but wandered back toward their >rooms in a disoriented state. > >Eyewitness accounts suggested a fast-moving, all-consuming fire. A woman >walking her dog 2 miles away said she saw a red glow in the sky. > >Sen. Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury, surveyed the Riverview fire scene hours >after the blaze. Little said she spoke with one of the two employees on the >11 p.m.-7 a.m. shift, a woman who suffered a dislocated shoulder ? possibly >from trying to pull people to safety. > >"This is a brand-new house, and how it got so out of control so quickly is >unbelievable," Little said. "Bedrooms had large windows at ground level. A >capable person could have lifted the window and stepped out." > >"It was a sturdy house," added Tony Abrantes, the Lake George builder who >put up the home. He didn't install the electric or sprinkler system, though >and the names of those contractors were not immediately available. > >First responders wondered if the home had experienced some kind of explosion >due to the scope of the destruction, Gov. David Paterson said during a news >conference Friday. > >Paterson said he had spoken to both of the Riverview workers on duty the >night of the fire and he was more than satisfied with the performance of the >state agencies who responded to the fire or are taking part in the >investigation. > >James M. Odato contributed. Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or >rkar...@timesunion.com <mailto:rkarlin%40timesunion.com> > >Fatal fire frustration >State rebuffs town building inspector before group home blaze claims four >lives > >By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer >Click byline for more stories by writer. >First published: Sunday, March 29, 2009 > >WELLS A building inspector was told by the state to "butt out" after making >inquiries in the months before the construction of a group home that caught >fire and killed four disabled residents, Town Supervisor Brian Towers said. > >Today, Towers is questioning the state's decision to refuse an inspection >and believes the tragedy at the Riverview group home will force state >officials to involve municipalities in the building process. > >The state "designed and installed everything" and wasn't required to get a >building permit from the town, Towers said last week after an emotional >service honoring the fire victims and rescue workers in this close-knit >Adirondack town. > >"We had almost zero to do with (the inspections)," he added. "We thought it >was unusual, and my building inspector tried to work with the state but was >told in a frank and polite way to butt out and it's not your business." > >Also, the town and county never received floor plans or blueprints for the >facility, which would have been helpful to firefighters and rescuers, Towers >said. > >The investigation into the cause of the March 21 fire, and whether a >sprinkler system malfunctioned, is continuing. Consumer Advisory Board staff >members were told that an electrical problem is the suspected cause of the >fire. The building was less than a year old. State officials will not name >the contractor. > >Two overnight workers frantically tried to rescue nine helpless residents >from the building. Two residents died inside the facility and two died on >the way to the hospital. The survivors have been moved to a nearby facility. > >According to documents obtained by the Times Union, the state Office of >Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities knew it would be >"impractial" to evacuate all nine residents of the group home in an >emergency, which is why sprinklers were installed. > >Nicole Weinstein with the state Office of Mental Retardation and >Developmental Disabilities did not return messages left on her cell phone >Friday. The workers involved in the rescue have not been permitted to speak >to the media. > >Gov. David Paterson said Friday he is more than satisfied with the >performance of the state agencies who responded to the fire or are taking >part in the investigation. > >Wells Building Inspector Gene Harrington said Friday a person she believes >was a state project foreman told her the state didn't need a local building >permit. > >"They told us we had no jurisdiction and were not wanted down there," she >added. With that, Harrington never returned to the site. The building opened >in June with no floor plans on file with the town or county. > >"It was just for us as a reassurance that the building was good to go, and >I'm not saying it wasn't, but we want some involvement on the local level to >make us comfortable with the building," Towers said Wednesday. > >Towers, who also responded to the State Route 30 site in his role as a >volunteer firefighter, said the blaze that roared through the home made it >impossible for fire crews to save lives, even though they arrived on the >scene three minutes after getting the 9-1-1 call. > >Towers believes any documents showing the layout of state-owned buildings >would be helpful to fire crews where split second decisions in an emergency >can be the difference between life and death. > >"That would have been handy for fire line officers to know the layout, and I >think that will happen," he said. "You would have to know the layout to be >more effective." > >No blueprints or floor plans for Riverview are on file in Hamilton County. >County Clerk Jane Zarecki on Wednesday showed a reporter only a map of the >property she pulled from a manila envelope. She checked with the Clerk of >the Board of Supervisors and also came up empty. > >And Wells Fire Chief Bernie Moldt said the state never gave him any floor >plans, nor did he ask for it. He said Friday, however, that he was in the >process of obtaining the documents from the director of the two remaining >homes on Buttermilk Hill Road and Algonquin Drive. > >Asked why he didn't request it before now, Moldt said "the state homes have >their own way of doing things and are controlled by their own people." > >The early morning fire in this bucolic Adirondack town of 730 residents >almost certainly will change the way the state does business in the future, >Towers said. "They will be going back procedurally over how emergency >management people deal with and react to these facilities," he added. "This >will affect more than just the community of Wells. It will affect every >community that has an intermediate care facility from Plattsburgh to Long >Island." > >While the layout of the group home remained a mystery to Wells officials, >the four fire victims were not. They and the workers who accompanied them >were a common sight around this tiny town. Gloria Bonilla, Anthony Vitti Jr, >Cory Desotelle and Theresa Williams attended local churches and regaled at >Old Home Days, an annual celebration held the first weekend in August. The >Rev. Michael Terrell recounted their unique qualities during a memorial at >Community Hall on Wednesday, punctuating his remarks by telling the crowd, >"these were our brothers who lost their lives." Terrell also said the lives >of the four surviving residents, Elaine, Blancha, Andrew and Raffi, have >forever been "changed and disrupted." > >The deaths of their housemates have shaken the region. > >Jacob Brenan, 15, was staying with his friend James Hoffman, who lives >adjacent to Riverview. By most accounts, James' father, Kenny, a volunteer >firefighter in Wells, was the first on the scene after the call came in at >5:30 a.m. March 21. Hoffman has repeatedly declined comment. His family >appeared overcome with grief during the memorial. > >Jacob Brenan said he was awakened when Kenny Hoffman dashed downstairs and >out the door toward Riverview that fateful morning. The boys rushed upstairs >to the attic window. "There was a lot of smoke and the roof was engulfed in >flames that were shooting about 15 feet in the air," he said, adding he >could see two people trying to guide residents into a dark blue van. "I was >scared for them and we were praying," he said. > >Wells Councilwoman Roberta Chamberlain said Wednesday the governing body >never had any safety issues with the group home and she had not discussed >the incident with her colleagues. > >Moldt said traumatized rescue personnel had debriefing sessions from a >county stress team. > >"Everyone is coming together as a group," he said. > > > >_______________________________________________ >Sprinklerforum mailing list >http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum >For Technical Assistance, send an email to: techsupp...@firesprinkler.org > >To Unsubscribe, send an email to:sprinklerforum-requ...@firesprinkler.org >(Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) Todd G. 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