McMahon

Sprinklers save lives - no question. Should they be law - it all depends. If you build a 2000sf + house out of osb / styrofoam, wrap it in vinyl, and cover it with light weight trusses, and support the floors with beams made out of wood chips and glue, how long do you think it takes for a minor room contents fire to turn into a fully involved structure fire? I will tell you: 7-10 minutes. Typical Fire Department response time: 7-10 minutes. Do you expect those fire fighters (paid or otherwise) to enter that structure to look for your kids that hid under the bed when the smoke alarm went off? Older construction, real wood, real rafters - no problem. New construction - many firefighters killed each year because despite the known risks they do go in, even when they shouldn't. So yes - If we are going to continue light weight construction with highly flammable materials we should be mandated to install sprinklers.