Fire suppression systems now needed in certain structures
Page 4 • Wednesday, May 23, 2018 • The Hammonton Gazette
FIRE, from Page 1
tems, the latter of which has been
enforced on some of the town’s
venues by the DCA even though
Chapter 9, Section 903 of the IBC
states that automatic sprinkler sys-
tems are required in new buildings
and structures.
“Every couple of years, they
pull a bunch of the larger projects
that we do; they pull the plans and
they evaluate it,” Hammonton
Public Works Manager/Business
Administrator Jerome Barberio
said.
Barberio said the DCA represen-
tatives meet with the town’s con-
struction official and zoning
officer Frank Domenico whenever
they desire to re-evaluate a build-
ing plan. Before 1977, Domenico
said there was no state construc-
tion code and buildings that were
built during that time didn’t face
the same requirements as today.
However, Barberio said the
DCA has asked for reviews of the
code compliance for many of the
town’s older venues. For review-
ing the necessity of a fire suppres-
sion system, Domenico said
factors such as square footage, oc-
cupant load capacity, and whether
the fire area is located on a floor
other than where the entrance and
exit are located.
Additionally, the fire protection
code can be enforced if a building
changes uses, such as Kathedral
Event Center, a concert venue that
is a converted church, St. Martin
De Porres, that recently had to in-
stall an automatic sprinkler sys-
tem.
“When it went from a church to
this theater, or assembly (A2), it
required a fire sprinkler … If St.
Martin’s would have sold the
church to St. Lucy’s, it wouldn’t
have mattered because it was still
a church. When you get into the
change of the use of the property,
it kicks in criteria because of the
different use group,” Domenico
said.
One of the municipal properties
reviewed by the DCA was the
Hammonton Municipal Airport,
where it was determined that the
state police hangar needed an au-
tomatic sprinkler system due to the
nature of its use.
“They asked us to look at the lat-
est municipal buildings that we did
and the latest one that we did was
the airport hangar … There’s a
space they use in between flights;
they have an office space, that kind
of stuff. So, [the DCA] looked at
that and they said ‘the guidelines
tell us you have to put a fire sup-
pression system there,’” Barberio
said.
Domenico said because the
4,200-square-foot hangar contains
areas where state police officers
can sleep between shifts, its use is
changed and, therefore, it requires
fire suppression capabilities.
“When you get the hangar, it’s
under the required square footage
for a fire sprinkler system, but if
there is possibility of people going
to be able to sleep in there, then it’s
considered a mixed use with R, or
residential, use that would require
fire sprinklers … When they said,
‘Hey, we’re thinking of sleeping
there,’ that threw up a red flag,”
Domenico said.
Barberio said town council re-
cently hired consultant and de-
signer Phiscon Enterprises to
design the airport’s fire suppres-
sion system so it complies with the
guidelines for its type of use.
After the May 21 town council
meeting, Barberio told The Gazette
that the town and Phiscon Enter-
prises recently agreed on a system
with a combination of fire suppres-
sion and a holding tank, which
Barberio said will cost between
$30,000 and $100,000, depending
See SuPPRESSION, Page 12
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