Note to City Hall workers: You don’t work in a fire trap
On Monday the City Council will once again take up the question of whether its primary office, the City Administration Building, should be exempt from a number of fire safety and health standards, notably including the absence of sprinklers on the first nine floors, and the 12th floor. The Council has been exempting itself from these rules since 1986, when they were first enacted, but there’s always been the prospect of building a new city hall as a reason to put it off. The Independent Budget Analyst released a report(PDF) today saying that it will cost $5 million to retrofit the building with sprinklers, and $37 million to do a complete overhaul.
But I was kind of wondering, with no sprinklers in place, are city workers in danger when they work there? Afterall, that sprinlker law was put in place for a reason, right? Fire Department spokesman Maurice Luque said having a sprinkler system would make occupants of those floors more safe, but they are not currently unsafe. He said there are 10 other buildings in San Diego which have had similar requirements waived for various reasons, and that even if the City Council didn’t extend its waiver, Fire Chief Tracy Jarman could waive the requirements on her own authority. He also mentioned that if she didn’t issue the waiver and the city failed to follow a plan for fixing the problem, the San Diego can’t sanction itself. A state fire inspector would have to be called in to put the city over his/her knee and deliver the Sacramento Spanking. But that’s pretty far down the line. So, City Hall staffers, in case you were worried, you can relax now.
The reason sprinklers weren’t installed is that up until a couple of years ago, City Hall was filled with asbestos insulation, which is fireproof. Therefore, no sprinklers were needed. Fireproof, but gives you cancer.
City Hall is the only building in downtown San Diego that does not comply with mandated safety standards.
Ok, so City Hall is not “unsafe” with respect to fire sprinklers. How about with respect to egress in an emergency? After a serious earthquake or fire, would several hundred people attending a Council meeting be able to get off the 12th floor in a timely manner? City Council meetings are frequently attended by individuals in wheel chairs…do conditions support their safe escape to the ground floor? Finally, is the City’s risk management department comfortable with the City’s financial risk resulting from a catastrophe and loss of life?