The city of Red Bank is considering requiring fire sprinkler systems in existing multi-family dwellings, which are home to the majority of the city’s residents.
“It’s a public safety issue,” City Manager Randall Smith said, as to why the city is considering the requirement. “These residents are basically unprotected. This is an opportunity to do something before the tragedy happens.”
Red Bank Fire Marshal Brent Sylar conducted an inventory of rental units in the city, which he presented to the commissioners at their Dec. 20 work session. He determined that 52 percent of the city’s residents live in rental units, most of which are located in multi-family dwellings, including 1,562 units located in large complexes of 10 units or more, and 225 units in smaller complexes containing four to nine units.
The requirement may be extended to duplexes and triplexes as well, though townhouses, which already require a greater degree of protection between units, would be exempt.
Sylar said none of the city’s multi-family housing – much of which was constructed in the late ’60s or early ’70s – is equipped with sprinklers, aside from one apartment building that was rebuilt after it burned down in 2013. Like the city of Chattanooga, Red Bank requires new multi-family dwellings to have a fire sprinkler system.
Chattanooga does not require existing multi-family housing to install sprinklers unless the building is undergoing extensive renovations, said Chattanooga Fire Marshal William Matlock.
Sylar estimated that the average cost of retrofitting a building with a fire sprinkler system would be $1.50-$2.50 per square foot, or about $1,200 for a 600-square-foot unit.