Fires raise interest in building code
Local fire officials want a task force to examine whether Pierce County should require greater fire safety standards for homes built closer than 10 feet apart.
Current county building code allows most single-family homes to be built as close as 6 feet apart before requiring additional fire safety protections such as sprinklers, second-story rescue access or fire-resistant building materials.
But fire officials told a Pierce County Council committee Monday that fires can spread easily even between homes separated by as much as 10 feet, as demonstrated by two fires in March that jumped quickly to neighboring homes.
The five homes damaged in a Graham fire March 14 were zoned to be 10 feet apart on each side, which is 4 feet more than the county building code requires before special exceptions to fire safety protections must be used.
Another two homes damaged in a fire in Graham on March 20 were also zoned to be 10 feet apart.
The county council’s Community Development Committee decided to review the issue of home proximity and fire safety following those two fires, said Councilman Terry Lee, R-Gig Harbor, who chairs the committee.
“This is the result and reaction from some tragic events that have occurred in Pierce County,” Lee said as he opened the study session Monday.
Gary Franz, deputy fire chief for Graham Fire and Rescue, told the committee that he and members of the Pierce County Fire Chiefs Association would like to see the County Council create a task force to review how close together homes can be built without special fire protection provisions. The task force could include fire officials, developers, county planning staff and other stakeholders, he said.
Meanwhile, while the task force is conducting its review, the fire chiefs’ group would like to see Pierce County deny permit extensions for all housing projects that have stalled because of the economy or otherwise, Franz said.
That way, any new building regulations that come out of the task force could apply to the developments as they move forward, he said.
“If within the county, developers want for their own interests and purposes to build higher densities, we bring no objection to that,” Franz said. “But because it is their interest to do so, it should be their responsibility to mitigate the increased risk that is associated with this kind of building.”
The County Council already imposed greater fire safety regulations on special kinds of high-density developments, called Planned Development Districts, in 2006. Back then, the county required fire safety additions for most single-family houses built less than 10 feet apart, but developers could apply to build a Planned Development District to get an exception to the rule.
Since then, the state and county building codes have changed to allow regular homes to be built as close as 6 feet together without any extra fire safety mitigation.
Franz said that given the recent relaxation of the building code, the fire chiefs’ association would like to see some of the 2006 rules the council passed for Planned Development Districts apply to all housing in the county.
A special task force could review that idea along with other options and pass on recommendations to the County Council, he said.
The council committee on Monday asked its staff to check with County Executive Pat McCarthy’s office to see whether the county has money and resources to create a task force right now. The county is facing a projected $10 million to $12 million budget shortfall this year.
Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, said that even though times are tough, he thinks the county’s fire safety and building standards could benefit from a task force’s review.
“I think getting a group of folks together to look at the issues raised today makes a lot of sense,” Bunney said.
The Community Development Committee will revisit the issue May 4, with the possibility that it will ask for a study session before the entire County Council, Lee said. The group didn’t discuss Franz’ recommendation that the county halt granting development permit extensions temporarily while the task force completes its review.
But the discussion is far from over, Lee said.
“There’s more to come,” Lee said. “I think you’re hearing that.”
Melissa Santos: 253-552-7058
