High-Rise Anxiety? : Half of San Diego’s Skyscrapers Lack Sprinklers to Douse Fires, but Officials Say Cost of Retrofitting Is Much Too Steep

Although 51 of the 105 high-rise buildings in the City of San Diego don’t have sprinkler systems, many building managers say that the precautionary systems that do exist would avert or contain a fire like the one that broke out Wednesday night in the First Interstate Bank building in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles fire officials have said that a working sprinkler system would have put out the bank fire, which killed one man and destroyed five floors of the building.

Among the San Diego buildings not equipped with sprinkler systems are City Hall, the Centre City Building, the Union Bank Building, the Home Federal Bank Building and the Great American Bank Building.

The managers of most of these buildings said that the possibility of retrofitting the high-rises with sprinkler systems had been discussed on and off since 1979, when a state law began requiring new buildings higher than 75 feet to contain sprinkler systems, but the cost was deemed prohibitive.

William Toms, a former San Diego fire marshal who works as a fire safety consultant, said the average cost of installing a sprinkler system is $1.25 to $2 per square foot. Home Federal spokeswoman Monica Wiley said her research had shown that it would cost $800,000 to install sprinklers in a 12-story structure.

Installation Relatively Inexpensive

“It is expensive,” said Toms, who would like to see the city require that all high-rises have sprinklers installed. “But it is relatively inexpensive compared to rebuilding a whole building.”

City Manager John Lockwood said the city had not considered retrofitting City Hall because of the cost and because of the disruption it would cause. Because the ceilings of the 13-story building contain asbestos, the building would have to be closed for the duration of a retrofitting project, he said.

Lockwood also said that, since the City Council will be considering sites for a new City Hall beginning in June, it “would not be prudent” to invest in improving the current structure.

Lockwood said he had no qualms about his safety should a fire break out in the building.

“If instead of being on the ninth floor, I was on the 90th, I might feel differently,” Lockwood said. “But I can get out of this building by shimmying down the sunscreen, if necessary. We would undoubtedly suffer a lot more physical damage without a sprinkler system. But, in terms of my personal safety, I have absolutely no concern at all.”

‘Disruption of Status Quo’

Bill Lamden, manager of the 61-year-old Centre City Building, said similar considerations had so far prevented the installation of sprinklers in his building.

“We’re not a high-rent building, but it’s not just that,” Lamden said. “It’s the design considerations and disruption of the status quo for current tenants.

“I guess if I had my druthers, I’d like to see sprinklers in the building . . . but you’re talking about 14 floors and running new water pipe from the ground up and through each floor.”

David Pino, manager of the 22-story Union Bank Building, said sprinkler systems are not the only effective means of containing a fire.

“Sprinklers are nice, they’re a good thing to have, but I think people are overemphasizing how important they are,” Pino said. “There are a lot of other tools just as effective. My understanding from the Fire Department is that the important thing is early detection.”

Variety of Other Mechanisms

Like most high-rise office buildings in the city, Union Bank has a variety of other response mechanisms in place should a fire break out. These include an alarm system that goes off on every floor and at the Fire Department; fire detection equipment, fire extinguishers and fire hoses on every floor, and an electronic system that locks fire doors and shuts down the buildings elevators. The building also has regularly scheduled fire drills for tenants.

“Although it’s a vintage building, I think it’s a very safe building,” Pino said.

But Toms said that a sprinkler system is more effective than any of the other mechanisms being employed by older San Diego high-rises.

“The problem with those (other systems) is that they don’t control the fire; they don’t put the fire out,” Toms said. “Hopefully, they contain the fire.”

But Pino said he is confident that his building is prepared.

“The Fire Department is one of our main tenants and I don’t think they’d live in a building or be a tenant in a building that was unsafe,” Pino said.

An Ironic Situation

San Diego Fire Department spokesman Capt. Ron Cervantes admitted that it is “ironic” for the department, an advocate of retrofitting all high-rises with sprinkler systems, to have its administrative offices in a building without sprinklers.

Cervantes said that, although the lack of sprinklers in the Union Bank and other office buildings is “kind of a problem,” the department has designed a system for handling high-rise fires that has been effective in the past.

The plan involves sending additional trucks and a rescue unit to the scene on the first alarm; carrying special equipment such as a system of ropes and harnesses known as a “zipper,” which is used to get people who are trapped on upper stories safely to the ground, and having a helicopter on call to rescue people from rooftops.

But the department’s ability to control high-rise fires has not been put to the test too often. Cervantes said that, in the past 10 years, there have only been two major high-rise fires. In 1978, it took 68 firefighters three hours to control a blaze at the 18-story Hyatt Islandia Hotel. The fire injured four people and caused about $30,000 in damage. In 1983, a more serious fire at the 15-story Cabrillo Square Apartments caused three deaths, 40 injuries and about $250,000 in damage. Both fires were contained on the floors where they started.

“We’ve been really lucky,” Cervantes said.

The department has a committee of fire inspectors at work on a proposal for a city ordinance that would require require retrofitting of sprinkler systems for all high-rise buildings. But Cervantes said he believes it would take more than a year for such an ordinance to reach the City Council.