Fire code overkill at city parking garage?

The city of Glenwood Springs may have spent about $235,000 too much for fire protection and ventilation systems in its new $4 million downtown parking garage at Ninth and Cooper, according to a local engineer and architect who have been researching the matter.

Barney Mulligan, a retired engineer who specialized in fire protection systems for more than 50 years including as senior engineer for the Denver Fire Department; and longtime local architect Dean Moffatt, say the sprinkler, ventilation and related alarm systems in the partially enclosed structure alone are overkill.

A stand-alone, 4-inch dry standpipe system that was also included as part of the construction in 2012-13, at an estimated cost of around $50,000, is way over the top according to applicable fire code requirements, they claim.

City Manager Jeff Hecksel said he is having Glenwood Springs Fire Department officials review the issue, which was already investigated earlier this year after Mulligan and Moffatt first raised their concerns.

Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Biggers said at the time that, based on the architectural designs and because more than half of the parking garages lower level is underground, it is considered an enclosed structure, and that the fire protections are necessary.

But, Mulligan said in an interview following his and Moffatts appearance before City Council last week, The standpipe in this parking structure is the most ridiculous of the four non-required systems.

The sole purpose of standpipes is to expedite the application of water to fires on the upper levels of mid- and high-rise buildings, said Mulligan, who said he worked on the design of several such structures in Denver and in Alaska during his career.

Standpipe systems allow firefighters to pump water from a fire engine or hydrant into the built-in piping system so that water can travel quickly to the upper reaches and remote parts of a building, he explained.

Mulligan cites National Fire Protection Association requirements calling for standpipe systems to be installed in structures exceeding 50 feet in height. The two-level parking garage rises to a maximum height of 17 feet, Mulligan noted.

The lowest height in any type of structure requiring a standpipe starts at 30 feet, he said. This street-level standpipe system will never be used and should be removed.

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Fire code overkill at city parking garage?