City council votes Monday on buildings codes, fire

The Cape Girardeau City Council will vote Monday on an updated residential building code based on recommendations from the International Code Council, a national standards body that provides building code guidelines to government agencies. As part of the code adoption, the Cape Girardeau Fire Department has asked the council to include a 2009 ICC recommendation that builders install an additional layer of sheetrock on the basement ceilings of residential dwellings to reduce injuries suffered by firefighters and residents during a fire.

Fire Chief Rick Innis believes the city also should adopt residential fire sprinkler codes based on the ICC's recommendation. Innis is an advocate for residential sprinklers, but the city's hands are tied: Missouri's HB90 prohibits state jurisdiction from adopting mandatory fire sprinkler requirements. Since widespread adoption of sprinklers citywide is unlikely, he has asked the city council to approve a 2009 ICC code that requires local government subdivisions to install ½" finished sheetrock or similar fire-rated ceiling assembly to reduce the chance of rapid failure under fire conditions.

"Stripped of any opportunity to even debate... sprinklers, the fire department recommends the city adopts the 2009 IRC codes," Innis said.

The finished sheetrock provides an extra layer of protection to homeowners and firefighters, Innis said. Installing the extra layer will contain the fire longer at its point of origin, giving firefighters more time to knock it down the fire and for residents to escape safely.

It also reduces the probability firefighters will fall into a burning basement due to an already weak, lightweight construction material known to burn more quickly compared to traditional materials, he said. The U.S. Fire Administration reported that from 1990 to 2000, nearly 28% of firefighter fatalities and injuries occurred in residential properties built with lightweight construction products.

"The extra sheetrock also provides structural integrity, which could prevent a firefighter from falling through the floor," Innis said.

Fire codes are weak in Cape Girardeau because of HB90, said Tim Morgan, the city's inspections services director. At the same time, there is more need because of using lightweight construction materials in new homes, Morgan said. For example, residential structures in the city that are 10-years or older were built with 2x10 or 2x12 floor joist made out of one piece of wood.

In addition, builders now use I-joists, which is made of "glued-together wood chips," he said.

"The argument is that I-joists burn faster, which they do," he said. "They burn much faster."

Installing ½ inch sheetrock on the basement ceiling can contain the fire and slow down its spread, Morgan agreed. In fact, he has no doubt that its installation will provide residents with more routes and significantly more time to exit a residential structure. It also will reduce the fire spread to surrounding structures and the probability of firefighters falling through floors due to weaken joists.

However, it will raise costs on builders with an estimated price tag of $3,000 based on 2,400-square foot house, Morgan said. But it is worth it to protect the lives of Cape Girardeau's residents and firefighters.

"If residents are trying to get out of a burning structure, and happen on a weak spot, they could fall through the floor... and that would not be a good thing for them or the firefighters on scene," he said.

At the Cape Girardeau city council meeting earlier this month, the council voted 4-3 to adopt the ICC 2009 codes, without the sheetrock amendment suggested by the fire department. Debra Tracy, Ward 3 councilwoman, is a proponent of the code and voted to include the provision in the city's updated building code.

"Added costs are an important thing to track," Tracy said. "But in this case, considering the amount of added costs versus firefighter safety, I prefer to vote on the side of safety."

Tracy believes the council's concern is that the ICC provisions will add costs for builders and contractors. She said she has received an objection from one a local builder against the added costs and hasn't heard anything from constituents about the issue.

"This information needs to get out so that those who are going to live in a new house understand that it's not just an issue for firefighters, but it also would be an issue for their family," Tracy said.