Questions about the fire sprinkler system at Jefferson Village School nearly closed the building this week. As of press time on Feb. 1, school is open and the sprinkler system is working properly, officials said.
Jefferson Fire Chief Walter Morris, Deputy Chief Darin Walker and Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz provided the following account of the events surrounding the issue. When asked to confirm this account, Kevin Bowman, owner of the company that built the school, declined to comment.
The problem arose in the wake of a flood in the JVS library on Jan. 17. After a pipe in the sprinkler system burst in the library ceiling, it was discovered that the system was installed close to the exterior of the building without enough insulation to prevent the pipe from freezing. It is unclear whether this is a design or installation flaw.
Because the roofing and sprinkler system is the same over the building’s two-story lobby as it is in the library, concerns were raised that the pipes over the lobby might freeze as well. In response, it was decided that the water should be shut off to the sprinklers over the lobby.
On Feb. 1, AOS 93 Supt. Steve Bailey said that following the flood Bowman recommended a valve to shut off water to the lobby on a “very short term” basis “for preserving other parts of the building” while the system was redesigned. The valve was only supposed to be closed during periods of high risk of freezing, Bailey said.
As originally designed, the sprinkler system in the entire upstairs is fed from a single point with no shut-offs for individual areas. After the flood a shut-off valve was installed to allow just the water to the lobby to be turned off until the insulation problem could be addressed.
The company that installed the system told officials the water to the upstairs west wing was rerouted around the valve to allow water to those classrooms to remain on.
By all accounts, the valve remained closed continuously for two weeks; during that period there was no sprinkler system in the building’s main exit.
Additionally, Morris and Walker said on Jan. 31 they can find no evidence that the water to the west wing was actually rerouted. If the water was not rerouted, there has been no functioning sprinkler system in half the upstairs classrooms for about two weeks while children have been in the building.
Morris and Walker both have extensive experience inspecting buildings for fire safety.
Oak Point Associates, the architectural firm that designed the building, was not consulted prior to the valve’s installation, said Tyler Barter, JVS project manager for Oak Point. Last week, when Barter saw the valve and that it was off, he sent an email to Bowman and the school district cautioning them against turning off the water because “it leaves a large portion of the building unprotected,” and it needs to be approved by the fire marshal, Barter said.
Bailey said school and district officials discussed the matter after receiving Barter’s email, but it was determined that preventing damage to the building was “also a major concern,” Bailey said.
At that time, officials believed water was reaching the sprinklers in the upstairs west wing and that the shut-off to the lobby would not be in place for much longer.
Bowman declined to comment about the installation of the valve.
“A major portion of the building has been without sprinkler protection for two weeks,” Morris said. “Nobody wants to take financial responsibility, and they’re putting the kids’ lives in danger.”
As of press time, it could not be determined whether the water to the west wing had been shut off, or if the water had in fact been rerouted. Unfortunately, the test valve for the upstairs sprinkler system, which would indicate whether water is reaching sprinklers, is before the new shut-off valve. This is a code violation, Morris said.
On Jan. 31, the valve was opened, allowing water to reach the lobby. With the valve open, there is no reason water should not reach the west wing.
As long as the valve remains open, the school may remain open, Morris said.
The problem was discovered after a fire alarm went off in the building on Jan. 30. There was no fire, but while firefighters – including Walker – were in the building, they noticed the shut-off valve and noticed that it was off.
Additionally, the false alarm indicated that the problem was in air handling unit two, when it was in fact a problem in air handling unit one, Walker said. This problem should have been caught during the inspection of the alarm system, and calls into question “how many other parts of the system aren’t working properly,” Walker said.
Morris said the alarm system issue highlights a problem throughout Maine: in keeping with regulations, the company that installed the system inspected it. The same is true for several other life safety systems in the building. The state only performs inspections upon request. Some larger towns have a fire inspector, but in towns like Jefferson there is often no one to perform inspections of key life safety systems.
“I have a kid in this school, and I know a lot of people who have kids in this school,” Walker said, frustrated by what he sees as an ongoing series of unresolved issues with the building’s design and/or construction. “This is getting ridiculous.”
