MEMORANDUM
April 21, 1994
TO:
Commander. Bureau of Fire Prevention and Public Safety
FROM:
Kevin Patrick, Inspector I Valley Public Safety Unit
A significant thing has happened since our tour of the CSUN campus, and I wanted to make you aware of it.
If you recall, there are 15 student housing apartment buildings…. Four of these are four-story buildings that are fully sprinklered. The other 11 are three-story, unsprinklered buildings.
During the earthquake, 50 door locks to individual rooms jammed, trapping some residents inside (not all of the 50 rooms were occupied). In my discussions with campus personnel, I suggested that if the 11 unsprinklered buildings were to be equipped with sprinklers, residents trapped inside in a future quake would at least be afforded that added protection. I further suggested that if the buildings had enough damage, it might be required that they be brought up to today’s standards (sprinklered).
CSUN personnel took the suggestion to heart and pursued FEMA funds for a sprinkler retrofit. Apparently there was enough demonstrable damage to the buildings that FEMA now has agreed to fund bringing these 11 buildings up to today’s State Building Code requirements. and these 11 buildings will be fully sprinklered.
