HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.24 Correspondence from Fire Marshal 09.02.2015David Pesnichak
From: Ron Biggers <ron.biggers@cogs.us>
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 5:15 PM
To: David Pesnichak
Subject: New Creation Pre School
Follow Up Flag: Flag for follow up
Flag Status: Completed
Dave,
I have reviewed the development plans for the New Creation Pre -School at 44761 Highway 6, Glenwood Springs, CO
and Debra Shaner, PE Fire Protection Engineer's report on the sites fire protection needs. The fire protection systems
shown on the finial submitted plans, the sprinkler system plans including water tank and UL Listed fire pump meet
Glenwood Springs Fire Departments requirements for the Pre -School building to be built on this site.
The builder shall pull permits from Glenwood Springs Fire Department for the internal fire protection systems that will
be installed in the building. The permits, fees and plans for the systems shall be submitted to the Glenwood Springs Fire
Department for review and comment prior to installation. The fire sprinkler plans have been submitted, the fire alarm
plans have not been submitted.
Ron Biggers
Deputy Fire Marshal
Glenwood Springs Fire Department
Fire Sprinklers Save Lives!!!
970-384-6433
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1
Shaner Life Safety
PO Box 1073, Frisco, CO 80443
970.409.9082; fax 970.797.1898
August 7, 2015
Jim Bickling
New Creation Church
Glenwood Springs, Colorado
This letter is in regards to the Preschool currently under construction on the existing New Creation
Church site located west of Glenwood Springs in Garfield County. Under the adopted codes of the
Glenwood Springs Fire Department, this building requires a Fire Protection Engineering analysis to
determine if adequate water supply is present.
Glenwood Springs amendments to the International Fire Code, Section 903.2, item #5 states: "All
occupancies to be built in a location that is difficult to access, or has limited fire flow water supply as
determined by the fire code official or fire chief will be reviewed by the fire code official and or fire chief
for the need to be equipped with an approved automatic fire suppression system."
As a result of the code section noted above, the Preschool will be equipped with a fire sprinlder system.
The facility has opted to provide separate water storage tanks for each building. No central site water
supply is being planned.
The campus also houses an existing Church building with a sprinkler system supported by a 10,000 gallon
water tank and an Administration Building which is not sprinklered. The existing Church and its tank are
not considered in this analysis. Any future work on the Church may result in additional water supply.
The new Preschool is adjacent to the existing Administration Building. A new water tank will be
installed to provide water to the sprinlder system in the Preschool. This tank has been sized at 21,000
gallons. There is a fire hydrant currently installed, connected to this tank, for the purpose of providing
site firefighting water to the non-sprinldered Administration Building. A pump will be in place to
provide pressurized water into the Preschool sprinlder system. The information on this pump is outlined
in the Fire Protection submittal.
To ensure the tank is properly sized, two calculations are necessary. Calculation #1 is for the sprinkler
system at the Preschool. Calculation #2 is for the site firefighting water needed for the Administration
Building.
Calculation #1: Preschool sprinkler system
The Preschool will be outfitted with a wet pipe sprinlder system designed in accordance with NFPA 13,
Installation of Sprinkler Systems. I have reviewed the plans and calculations prepared by Eric Slater.
This system is adequately design based on the plans provided. As noted on Sheet FP -1, the sprinkler
system has a demand of 276.85 gallons per minute. Per NFPA 13, Table 11.2.3.1.2, for a Light Hazard
classification, 30 minutes of sprinlder water is required.
276.85 gallons per minute x 30 minutes = 8305.5 gallons of water storage required.
New Creation Church
FPE Analysis
Calculation #2: Administration Building fire flow/water storage
August 7, 2015
Page 2
For the site fire flow, NFPA 1142 will be used. NFPA 1142, Standard for Water Supplies for Suburban
and Rural Fire Fighting, provides a method for calculating the minimum water supply required for a rural
facility. The Administration building is approximately 11,000 square feet.
3,500 square feet of this building has a ceiling height of approximately 8'. The other 4,000 square feet
has a ceiling height of 10'. That gives an approximate building volume of 68,000 cubic feet.
NFPA 1142's formula for determining minimum recommended water supply is as follows:
Minimum Water Supply = (Total Volume of Structure)/(Occupancy Hazard Classification
Number) x Construction Classification Number
The Occupancy Classification numbers are assigned by Section 5.2 NFPA 1142 and are based on the
specific use of the building. The Administration building has been assigned an Occupancy Classification
of 7 which includes Offices. Note that the downstairs portion of this building is currently being used for
Youth Group activities. There are large bay doors which suggest this building could be used for vehicle
storage. In fact, that will not occur and the intended use of this building is for the Youth Group. Any
future work on this building would require an occupancy classification to be assigned. NOTE: This
evaluation is based on the downstairs being used for Youth Group activities only. Vehicle storage was
not considered.
The Construction Classification number is assigned by Section 6.2 and is based on the materials of
building construction. Because this building is combustible and non -rated, a Construction Classification
of Type V is assigned, which carries a 1.5 Classification Number.
Occupancy Hazard Classification Number = 7
Construction Classification Number = 1.5
Approximate Building Volume = 68,000 cubic feet
Minimum Water Supply = 68,000 cu.ft./7 x 1.5 = 14,571 gallons
NFPA 1142, Table 4.6.1 requires this water to be available at a rate of 750 gpm. This rate may be
reduced by the fire department based on their planned operations, location of the hydrant, etc. With a
single hydrant being provided, a rate of 500 gpm is a more realistic, expected delivery rate.
There has been indication that a 1,500 square foot addition to the Administration Building may occur.
This would add approximately 12,000 cubic feet of volume to the building. The NFPA 1142 calculation
for the Administration Building with this addition is as follows:
Occupancy Hazard Classification Number = 7 (assuming use is consistent as noted above)
Construction Classification Number = 1.5
Approximate Building Volume = 80,000 cubic feet
Minimum Water Supply = 80,000 cu.ft./7 x 1.5 = 17,143 gallons
New Creation Church
FPE Analysis
August 7, 2015
Page 3
The addition would subject the building to a code study including an allowable area analysis to determine
if fire sprinlders are required. This evaluation is based on a non-sprinklered building.
Water Storage summary
Based on this analysis, including the new Preschool and the existing Administration Building, I offer the
following summary of planned water storage:
Preschool sprinlder system = 8305.5 gallons required
30 minute duration; 276.85 gpm including 100 gpm hose stream demand
Administration Building (existing) = 14,571 gallons required
Delivery rate of 750 gpm per NFPA 1142
Administration Building (with 1500 sq ft addition, not sprinklered) = 17,143 gallons required
Delivery rate of 750 gpm per NFPA 1142
Proposed storage tank size = 21,000 gallons
Adequate based on calculations above. With new Preschool and existing Administration
Building, approximately 6400 gallons of excess storage is provided.
This analysis assumes only one building is in a fire condition. The 21,000 gallons exceeds each of the
three numbers calculated above.
Additional Recommendations
The Preschool will have a fire alarm system in place to monitor the sprinlder system. I recommend that a
temperature sensor and tank level monitor be added to this system. This will ensure that notification is
given if the water supply is experiencing low temperatures or low water levels. The tank should be full at
all times, but under no circumstances may it dip below 15,000 gallons. To provide the maximum level of
life safety, the tank low level sensor is recommended to activate when the tank level is below 20,000
gallons.
To provide additional life safety on this campus, full fire alarm and detection is recommended in both the
Preschool and Administration Building. Because water supplies have been calculated using NFPA 1142
and NFPA 13 rather than the International Fire Code, early warning of fire is crucial. By providing
smoke detection throughout the Preschool, automatic detection of smoke will occur, resulting in
automatic notification to the fire department. This will significantly improve response times and give the
fire department the best opportunity to successfully fight the fire.
Please contact me if you have any questions or need additional information.
Sincerely,
Deborah L. Shaner, P.E.
Fire Protection Engineer