HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	243
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the State Fire Council to examine the feasibility and costs of installing and retrofitting residential care homes for the elderly with automatic sprinkler systems in accordance with National Fire Protection Agency Standards.

     WHEREAS, according to the United States Fire Administration, in 2005, there were 396,000 residential fires that caused 3,055 deaths, 13,825 injuries, and $6,900,000,000 in property damage; and

     WHEREAS, the health, safety, and welfare of elderly residents who live in residential care homes in Hawaii is of paramount importance to the State; and

     WHEREAS, a crucial component of ensuring the safety of elderly residents and their property is the provision of adequate and effective fire protection in residential care homes in which these elderly residents live; and

     WHEREAS, compared to younger people, elderly residents generally are not as physically mobile and do not hear as well; and

WHEREAS, these deficiencies expose them to increased danger when reacting to a fire alarm to evacuate a residence during a fire; and

WHEREAS, residences in which there is a high concentration of elderly people are particularly in need of adequate and effective fire protection; and

     WHEREAS, it is the official position of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's United States Fire Administration that all Americans should be protected against death, injury, and property loss resulting from fire in their residences and that all homes should be equipped with smoke alarms and automatic fire sprinklers; and

     WHEREAS, smoke alarms can only alert occupants of a fire whereas automatic sprinkler systems can actually extinguish fires; and

     WHEREAS, studies by the United States Fire Administration indicate that the installation of residential fire sprinkler systems could have saved thousands of lives, prevented many injuries, and eliminated hundreds of millions of dollars in property losses; and

     WHEREAS, it is in the public interest that residents in residential care homes for the elderly are adequately and effectively protected from death and injury from fires; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the State Fire Council is requested to examine the feasibility and costs of installing and retrofitting residential care homes for the elderly with automatic sprinkler systems in accordance with National Fire Protection Agency standards; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Fire Council is requested to include the estimated costs of installing automatic sprinkler systems in new construction and retrofitting existing buildings with automatic sprinkler systems; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Fire Council is requested to report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, with respect to the feasibility and costs of installing and retrofitting automatic sprinkler systems to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to fire chiefs of the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui, and the City and County of Honolulu.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Automatic Sprinklers; Feasibility/Cost of Installation/Retrofit