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PrintThe Hiller Instinct: Club Codes
Rep. Ruth Balser (D) Newton
"There is no reason for people to die in fires anymore."
Newton State Representative Ruth Balser started pushing for automatic sprinklers right after a deadly fire in her district.
In November, 2000, five people were killed in a fire that started in a four story commercial building on Rte. 9.
Rep. Ruth Balser
"What I learned was that the single most important way to save lives is by installing automatic sprinkler systems in buildings."Andy Hiller
"What is the safety record?"Rep. Ruth Balser
"There has not been a single instance of multiple fatalities from fire in a building that had an automatic sprinkler system."
This video show a sprinkler quickly fighting flames on foam similar to what was inside the Rhode Island nightclub. In less than a minute, the fire is under control. Armed with that knowledge Balser proposed a bill on Beacon Hill in 2001 that would eliminate a dangerous loophole in Massachusetts’s law. A grandfather clause that means no sprinklers are required in buildings under 70 feet tall that were built before 1975.
Rep. Ruth Balser
"The only people, who testified against it, were some representatives of the real estate industry."Andy Hiller
"Greater Boston real estate board?"Rep. Ruth Balser
"I believe so."Andy Hiller
"And what did they say?"Rep. Ruth Balser
"They talked about the cost of installing automatic sprinkler systems."Andy Hiller
"And what's your reaction to that?"Rep. Ruth Balser
"My reaction is that you can't put a price tag on a human life."
No one from the Greater Boston Real Estate board would talk to us today about sprinklers and safety.
Gov. Mitt Romney (R) Massachusetts
"I don't think hazards should be grandfathered..."
Romney sounds ready for the law to change...
Gov. Mitt Romney
"The cost is a factor that has to be considered, but when it comes to hazards to the public safety, that cannot outweigh the ability of our citizens to know that they are safe in public places."
Looking ahead, look for the state fire chiefs to push for a new law that would require sprinklers in all buildings where the public assembles... No matter how big the building is, or when it was built. And consider this, right now there are no state laws requiring sprinklers in old school buildings, nursing homes or hospitals.