By Meredith Armstrong

The International Code Council is an organization of building inspectors and fire officials.

They are charged with setting building standards, recommending in 2009 that all states and municipalities adopt codes requiring sprinkler systems in homes and town houses less than three stories high.

Just last year, Georgia law changed making it illegal to require fire sprinklers for residential structures.

Bill Hart at the Greater Columbus Homebuilders Association said Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue signed House Bill 1196 into law less than a year ago, deleting the requirement for sprinklers in single family homes.

A spokesperson from the Columbus Fire Department said he’s not aware of a single case in Columbus where a person has died where there’s a properly maintained sprinkler system.

Columbus Fire Marshal Chief Ricky Shores said, “They’re just simply magnificent in keeping a fire in check until we can get there to properly extinguish it.”

Shores said fire doubles in size every 45 to 60 seconds, and when seconds count, there’s no substitute for delivering water to a fire.

In 2009, 2,100 people other than firefighters died in one- and two-family homes, according to the Insurance Information Institute. In that same year, 9,300 injuries were reported.

A single family home caught fire over the weekend. Flames did $100,000 worth of damage, according to the Columbus Fire Department.

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