AFTER HEARING concerns raised by Carmel High School student body president Kyle Macdonald and echoed by fire officials, Carmel Unified School District board members unanimously voted last month to put fire sprinklers in the new CHS library. The sprinkler system, which is not required under state code, had been removed from earlier plans in order to save money.

Macdonald, who represents students on the school board, had inquired at an earlier meeting about the decision to exclude fire sprinklers. He worried it could cost lives and result in unnecessary damage if a fire broke out in the new library, which will cost about $3 million and is funded by the $21.5 million bond voters approved two years ago.

Cypress Fire Battalion Chief Dennis Carreiro, whose fire district includes the high school, told the board of education Nov. 19 his district requires fire sprinklers in new homes to help save lives, and in new commercial buildings to help protect property. A bookstore, he pointed out, would have them, but the state architect’s office governs school projects and requires sprinklers in buildings over a certain size. The library, at 6,600 square feet, doesn’t qualify.

He encouraged the board to exceed the state requirements and sprinkler the library anyway. If a fire erupted there, Cypress would send at least two engines, and other departments would respond as well, but it could take as long as 12 minutes to get water inside the building. In a structure full of books, the damage could already be extensive by then.

“But with a sprinkler system, as soon as the ceiling hits just under 200 degrees, it activates,” he said. “As a fire marshall representing our board of directors and a 27-year firefighter, I encourage you to take action, research to get a price and spend a few extra dollars now to keep your library as safe as possible.”

School officials estimated the cost at $60,000 to $70,000, though Carreiro said a system might be installed for as little as $20,000. He also noted that, while students and teachers might not be in the building when a fire broke out, firefighters would have to enter it to put out the blaze, so their safety also argues for a sprinkler system.

Dollars vs. lives

District superintendent Marvin Biasotti wondered if a decision to put fire sprinklers in the library at the high school would require their installation in the libraries at River School, Tularcitos and the middle school.

“Whatever part of the argument is resonating with you, the exact same condition exists at other three libraries,” he said.

Board president Amy Funt asked what the community would want, considering its money is paying for the library. She also observed that while the state does not require sprinklers in buildings paid for with private dollars or local bonds, it does require them in structures built with state tax dollars.

“If the state wants to protect its investment for things built with state money, what does our community want us to do with their investment?” board president Amy Funt asked.

Colin Macdonald, Kyle’s father and a fire captain, speculated voters would support the board if it decided to sprinkler the library, though board member Howard Given suspected if the question were an either/or, such as, either the fire sprinklers or a new playing field at the high school, many would choose the latter.

“The bond holders are expecting us to deliver in a lot of different areas, and that’s what got us into this jam in the first place,” he said, as efforts to save money led to the decision to remove the sprinklers from the plans.

“The argument that $50,000 could save a firefighter’s life is very powerful for me,” Funt said, as was the argument that sprinklers could limit fire damage.

“I had not considered the firefighter safety issue; that didn’t come to my mind, and that is a really important thing to consider,” trustee Annette Yee Steck commented. “On the other hand, we are trying to spend our money in such a way that we can build everything that we need to build for our district and that we promised we would build.”

She wondered how to weigh the cost against potential loss of life and said she did not have enough knowledge of firefighting to judge how much of a difference the sprinklers would make.

“I would hate to see us put all that money into the building and then, through the fluke of a fire starting, lose that entire effort,” added trustee Marcy Rustad.

The board unanimously supported installing fire sprinklers in the new library, which is already under construction.

Afterward, Funt praised Macdonald, who had also spoken to the Cypress Fire Protection District board and received its support, for raising the matter.

“You did an extraordinary thing. You brought an issue to us that had very real meaning for you,” she said. “That brought about important discussion and a change for our district that no one envisioned.”