The following is an extension of Paul W. Eichler’s letter in the July 22 edition of the Cape Gazette, talking about fire sprinklers being included in the Sussex building code.

When we were designing our beach home, we gave considerable attention to including a residential fire sprinkler system in the design. We are at least 20 minutes from the firehouse in good conditions and 30-plus in bad weather or when tourists are visiting. We can have stiff winds that fan the flames to quickly engulf residential fires. Since residential sprinklers can retard an incipient fire or even put one out, this seemed like a responsible move. For over 30 years, I worked in a 22-acre industrial building, totally protected by sprinkler systems, and quickly became a fan of sprinkler systems.

Sprinkler manufacturers advertised typical installation costs on a square foot basis to protect property, which seemed to be a doable cost for us. The first requirement was to design a sprinkler plan, which involved detailed drawings of the layout of the system. The price quoted for this design was almost three-quarters of the price the manufacturer suggested for the system installation. Another issue showed up: our water is provided by a private water company, which could not provide the quantities or pressures required for an approved system. At this point, we abandoned the fire sprinkler plan.

This brings another question to mind, since Sussex is a rural county, many homes have a well and pump for domestic water. Will this code change require larger wells and pumping systems?

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