Sprinkler inspections should be the first priority

By Letter to the Editor on February 24, 2020.

When the Cottonwood area was developed we were advised by the fire department and city council that we were required to install fire sprinklers (at our own expense). The story was that we were more than eight minutes away from the nearest fire station (not six minutes). At that time the powers that be knew that a new station was going to be built at the airport.

A meeting was requested with the fire chief and members of council and there was no changing their mind. At that particular time there was also an expansion being built at Sunnyside Nursing Home by the airport but no sprinkler system was installed. Our question them was who would get out of their home quicker – a disabled person or the residence in Cottonwood? They replied that there was 24-hour staff in the nursing home. My question then and now is how quickly can you evacuate all the patients that are disabled or have breathing problems.

We complied with the city’s ruling and installed a sprinkler system at great expense (no subsidy was mentioned). Once it was installed we went to city hall to have it inspected. We were told they weren’t responsible for inspecting it that we should go to the fire department. We did so and again were advised that they weren’t responsible and couldn’t inspect it.

Although Cottonwood area may not be as large as Coulee Ridge, our safety is still equal. I don’t feel that the city should be subsidizing any areas and maybe some of this responsability should fall to the developers. Also possibly the location of the firehall in the S.E. area could have been built in an area serving Southridge and the Coulee Ride area quicker. Southridge is growing further away from this service each year.

Before any sprinklers are required the city should ensure there is someone able to inspect them.