Fire emphasizes need for sprinklers

BEAUFORT -- Carlton Smith, a resident of the former Heritage Woods apartment complex on Talbird Road, came home from work at 2 a.m. Nov. 19, 2004, and made himself a greasy late-night snack.

By 4:40 a.m., Smith, his girlfriend and their 2-year-old son were fleeing a fire that left seven families homeless.

Firefighters later determined that a pot left on the couple's stove had started the blaze.

If the building had a sprinkler system installed, the fire never would have left the kitchen, according to Beaufort Fire Department spokesman Lt. Dan Byrne.

"The building was within code, but if this complex had a sprinkler system, it would have been confined to one apartment," Byrne said.

A bill introduced last week in the state House of Representatives that pledges to make sprinkler systems more affordable would be the next best thing to stationing a full-time firefighter in every home and business in Beaufort County, local fire officials say.

House Bill 4470, introduced by House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, would grant a tax credit equal to 80 percent of the cost of purchasing, installing or retrofitting a sprinkler system.

The sprinkler tax credit is capped at $50,000.

The bill also would prevent municipalities from charging property owners more than the actual cost of installing a water line dedicated to the sprinkler system.

In some areas, municipal water authorities have quoted costs of up to $27,000 to hook up a new commercial sprinkler system, Byrne said.

The bill was introduced as a response to the Sofa Super Store fire that killed nine Charleston firefighters in June, according to Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston.

"The bottom line is they save lives and property," said Burton Fire District Chief Harry Rountree. "There are a lot of myths about sprinklers, like the water damage can be worse than potential fire damage. In a nutshell, I can dry your property out, but I can't unburn it."

The bill is being discussed in the state Ways and Means Committee.