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Pasco fire chief outlines sprinkler triggers, council weighs retrofit costs and grants
Summary
Fire Chief Crowley told the council that A-2 occupancies trigger sprinkler requirements by area, occupant load or concentrated standing space; councilmembers pressed on retrofit costs and a small CDBG grant to subsidize fire-protection engineering.
Pasco’s fire chief reviewed the city’s interpretation of sprinkler requirements for A-2 occupancies and described alternatives to full retrofits as the council debated how to support downtown businesses.
Chief Crowley told the council that under the International Building Code and state law, an A-2 occupancy (restaurants, bars, nightclubs) triggers sprinkler requirements when the fire area exceeds 5,000 square feet, when occupant load reaches 100 or more, or when 350 square feet is primarily used for standing or concentrated viewing. “If one of these occupancies is, say, on the third floor,” Crowley said, “not only does that one floor need to be sprinklered, but every floor to the exit needs to be sprinklered as well.”
Councilmembers and downtown business owners raised the cost of retrofits — figures cited during public comment ranged up to $150,000–$200,000 — and asked about grandfathering and other cities’ approaches. Staff said the city has a small grant program (established with CDBG funds) to help pay for a fire-protection engineer consultation; roughly $10,000 remained in the account at the time of the workshop and one business had used the assistance.
Inspection Services Manager Troy Hendren said alternative compliance paths are available: limiting an entertainment/viewing area to under 349 square feet, implementing a staffed fire watch for events, installing fire barriers to reduce effective fire areas, or working with a fire protection engineer to design equivalent life-safety measures. “There is other ways around the fire code…and it’s worked out really good,” Hendren said, pointing to past downtown cases where separation and engineering solutions preserved business activity while managing risk.
Chief Crowley emphasized life-safety as the guiding principle: while he acknowledged the city will try to support businesses, he said he could not “get behind letting things slide for a dollar when I know it’s going to potentially put people’s lives in jeopardy.”
Next steps: staff said they will continue outreach to building owners, use the small grant pool to subsidize engineering analyses, and return to council with any findings on whether other jurisdictions’ interpretations (including “grandfathering” approaches) would be feasible for Pasco.
