Fire Suppression Systems

[john1082]

I know that HQ had a loan program at one time to assist chapters in installing sprinklers. I cannot imagine a responsible House Corp not taking the needed steps to make sprinklers happen. Yes, it costs money, but when the insurance break is amortized out perhaps the added cost isn't so bad. If the annual debt service is $10,000 on a sprinkler loan and the insurance savings is $8,000 then the actual cost is $2,000 a year.

The inertia may come from the difficulty some House Corp members have in dealing with numbers. At Cal it was a no-brainer given the composition of our board. For others it may take some selling. A good sales job by the High Pi, the guy that knows the kids best,and would have to deal with the parents should there be a loss, may be the best salesman of all.

Perhaps a survey of sorts might be in order: Who has sprinklers? How did you pay for them? What is the net cost (loan minus insurance savings)? Did your university assist in financing?

Would be a worthwhile topic for exploration. Short of a block party with an open bar sponsored by Budweiser with Jello wrestling on a beach, a chapter house fire is the scariest thing that I can imagine.

And coming from a lawyer, that says a great deal!

We had a fire at Texas in '84 and there was a death. We read about a couple of house fires every year. If we have a chapter without sprinklers at this late date then we might well get smacked and smacked hard by a jury. And no responsible plaintiff lawyer would EVER settle a fraternity house fire out of court. That's just leaving money ont he table.