Bethlehem tweaks sprinker systems code to include audible devices

By Christy Potter, Special to The Morning Call

9:49 p.m. EDT, July 17, 2014

Bethlehem is continuing to tweak the city's code regarding sprinkler systems in the sprawling warehouses going up at the former Bethlehem Steel plant site.

During Tuesday night's meeting, City Council approved an amendment to the International Building Code ordinance, specifying that approved audible devices be connected to every automatic sprinkler system.

The alarm devices will be activated by water flow equivalent to the flow of a single sprinkler of the smallest size installed in the system, and will be installed on the exterior of the building in an approved location.

In automatic sprinkler systems with multiple sprinkler risers required, and with risers in separate areas within the building, an outside visible alarm notification appliance will be required for each riser. The appliances will be white strobes (minimum 95 candela strobe rating) placed in an approved location on the exterior wall, as close as practicable to each sprinkler riser. The strobe will activate when the water flow alarm for its respective riser is activated.

Deputy fire Chief Craig Baer said that although the changes are not in the International Building Code, they most likely will be when the next round of changes is issued.

"We're just trying to get ahead for the new warehouses being built in the city," he told council.

Earlier this month, the City Council's Public Safety Committee backed changes to the sprinkler law that would protect development going in at the former steel plant, as the buildings sprawl outward instead of upward.

That proposal specified that warehouses would need to affix strobe lights outside to let firefighters know exactly which sprinkler systems have been activated.

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Bethlehem tweaks sprinker systems code to include audible devices