Des Moines Register
11-21-06
Sprinklers urged now for Greek chapters
A Nebraska case highlights the issue in Cedar Falls and Ames, where the
devices eventually will be required.
By LISA ROSSI
REGISTER AMES BUREAU
Ames, Ia. - Fire chiefs in Ames and Cedar Falls are pushing fraternities and
sororities at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa to scrape
together enough money to install sprinklers in their houses.
But fire officials in Iowa City have dropped their efforts to force fraternity and
sorority houses there to install sprinkler systems, although officials at the
University of Iowa are encouraging the houses to install the life-saving
equipment.
The presence - or absence - of sprinklers in fraternity and sorority housing has
been in the spotlight following a fatal fire early Friday at a fraternity house in
Lincoln, Neb.
The fire killed one student and seriously injured three others. The house did not
have a sprinkler system.
"We've seen that too many times across the nation where a student lost his life
because a chapter hall or residence hall did not have a fire-suppression system,"
said Jason Pierce, the U of I adviser to fraternities and sororities. "It's just not
worth it."
Iowa law requires sprinklers to be in university dormitories built since the early
1990s. The law does not apply to older dormitories. Nor does it apply to fraternity
and sorority houses, which are privately owned.
Only a few of the fraternity and sorority houses at Iowa's three state universities
have sprinklers now: Seven of 10 houses at UNI do not have the equipment; 25
of ISU's 42 fraternity and sorority houses do not have the sprinklers; and officials
at the U of I estimated that 16 to 19 of their 26 fraternity and sorority houses do
not have sprinklers.
Cedar Falls Fire Chief Steve Mitchell said the UNI fraternity and sorority houses
that do not have sprinklers are required by a city ordinance to install them by
2008, although the houses can each obtain a two-year extension.
Mitchell said the sprinklers are needed because the number of high-profile
deaths at fraternities and sororities like the one in Nebraska.
"It's designed to protect life and to protect people from themselves, if you are
somehow unable to wake up or are somehow impaired," Mitchell said.
Ames Fire Chief Clint Petersen pushed for a city ordinance, enacted last spring,
that gives fraternities and sororities up to 10 years to install sprinklers. The
requirement also extends to other high-rise buildings in Ames, nursing homes or
places where occupants have limited mobility.
"The actions of a few can imperil a lot of people," said Petersen, explaining his
rationale for pursuing the ordinance.
Seventeen ISU fraternity and sorority houses now have sprinklers installed, and
the others are working to install them by the city's deadline, according to ISU
records.
Iowa City Fire Marshal Roger Jensen said he backed a similar ordinance in 2004
for fraternity and sorority houses at the U of I. But the effort was dropped when
the Iowa City Board of Appeals vetoed the proposal because the cost was seen
as prohibitive, Jensen said.
Reporter Lisa Rossi can be reached at (515) 232-2383 or lrossi@dmreg.com