BY EVONNE COUTROS – The Record

SADDLE RIVER — Borough officials would like to see sprinkler systems and strobe warning lights become standard features in new or renovated homes in town.

Strobe lights could provide a lifesaving warning if a fire were to break out in one of the wealthy borough’s many immense houses that have home theaters, the officials say.

“If the fire alarm does go off and a family is watching a movie, the strobe would go off,” said Richard Silvia, the fire subcode official and fire marshal.

Silvia and other officials are pushing for the strobes and sprinklers even though they are not required by construction codes.

“You can add a theater in your house and not do anything the way it is now. … We can’t supersede the state codes,” said John Scialla, the zoning officer and construction building code official for Saddle River. “You can only ask or educate people.”

Fifty percent of the new homes in town have a form of media room, Scialla and Silvia say. If a residence does not have one on the first go-round, owners generally install them eventually.

Scialla said he cannot understand why so many new homes in the borough lack sprinklers. “I think it’s the most logical way to protect your home,” he said.

“They’re aesthetically pleasing these days,” Silvia added of residential sprinkler systems. “They can be recessed into a ceiling or wall. One sprinkler head is the equivalent of having a firefighter in your home. It’s instantaneous water on a fire to keep it from spreading throughout the house.”

Borough Administrator Chuck Cuccia said an informational forum on sprinklers and strobe fire safety lighting will likely be held in coming months for residents.

“John and Rich have been working with residents on a voluntary basis. … The borough supports their proactiveness 100 percent,” said Cuccia, who is also a firefighter.

Mayor Samuel Raia said he is seriously considering a sprinkler retrofit in the home he has owned for decades.

“It’s not a significant add-on given the cost of new construction,” Raia said. “I think sprinkler systems are a real benefit to a town like ours.”

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