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Fire sprinklers spare lives and contain property damage.
That's the message area fire chiefs are spreading as they be coextensive with chiefs and firefighters across the state who are protesting a building code in Massachusetts that does not ask for sprinklers for new one- and two-family homes.
Greenfield Fire Chief Michael Winn said the technology is nearby and should be required, while others say the safety benefits far outweigh the costs.
"It's a one-stretch cost to homeowners and it will pay off big in the end if there is ever a fire," Winn said. "The get of not requiring sprinklers ends up being much more than people imagine when there's a fire."
Winn said sprinklers, in most cases, put a fire out before it has a accidental to spread.
"There is a popular misconception that when there is a fire, sprinklers will go off throughout the entire edifice and cause a lot of damage," he said. "That's not true. It is only in the arena of the fire that the sprinklers will turn on.
Source: GazetteNET